Thu.Jan 12, 2023

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Walmart Expands Reach of Third-Party Retail Services with Salesforce Integration

Retail TouchPoints

Walmart ’s burgeoning slate of white-label retail tech will be made more widely available via a new partnership with Salesforce. Retailers will now be able to plug into Walmart Commerce Technologies’ Store Assist local fulfillment services and the Walmart GoLocal delivery solution through the Salesforce AppExchange. The new partnership is part of a growing push by Walmart to mimic the business model of arch-rival Amazon: packaging the technology built to power its own operations and offering it

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Deep dive: What social commerce looks like around the world

Inside Retail

Social commerce – shopping on social media platforms – is expected to reach US$1.2 trillion ($1.9 trillion) in global sales by 2025. It is growing three times faster than traditional e-commerce. McKinsey & Co stated in mid-2022 that social commerce comprised more than 13 per cent of China’s total e-commerce sales. In the US, social commerce is anticipated to double to US$80 billion in annual sales between 2021 and 2025, putting the US second only to China in social commerce, although China o

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Mattress Firm Puts IPO on Ice, Citing Market Volatility

Retail TouchPoints

Mattress Firm has withdrawn its plans for an IPO this year, according to documents filed with the SEC. In January 2022, the mattress chain announced its plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange via an IPO that would have returned the furniture retailer to the public markets six years after South Africa’s Steinhoff International took the company private.

Marketing 311
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Eye Candy: how “beautification” becomes the new retail currency.

Retail Focus

Ownership has become a burden of the current society. Having come to the realization that customers will be less able to purchase and that production itself is endangered, the concept of ownership is shifting towards sharing. It comes down to partially owning, even, experiencing ownership for a limited period. Some brands have come across the realization that a product orientation is not in the long run.

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A Roadmap For Modernization: How To Break Free From Your Monolith Before July 31, 2026

Speaker: Jason Cottrell and Gireesh Sahukar

Retailers know the clock is ticking–legacy SAP Commerce support ends in 2026. Legacy platforms are becoming a liability burdened by complexity, rigidity, and mounting operational costs. But modernization isn’t just about swapping out systems, it’s about preparing for a future shaped by real-time interactions, AI powered buying assistants, and flexible commerce architecture.

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The Home Depot Introduces New Associate-Facing App, Updates Hourly Pay Practices

Retail TouchPoints

The Home Depot is enhancing its associate experience with a new app developed to help them prioritize tasks more effectively, and a new pay policy that rounds clock-ins and clock-outs to the nearest minute rather than the nearest 15 minutes. The new app, dubbed Sidekick, is aimed at improving the customer experience as well. Sidekick is powered by machine learning and works to guide associates to the highest-demand products, inform them which shelves need restocking and help them locate excess p

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How Roblox is helping The Athlete’s Foot win in a competitive kids’ market

Inside Retail

Gaming app Roblox is used by nearly 60 million people around the world every day, the vast majority of whom are under the age of 16. For brands, it presents a rare opportunity to speak directly to a consumer demographic that may not be holding the purse strings, but still accounts for a significant amount of spending. “It’s always a challenge to find something that’s engaging and meaningful to that age group of six to 12 year olds,” Ian Taunton, general manager of The Athlete’s Foot, told

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More Trending

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“Breadth of interest is underrated”: New Aim co-founder Cecilia Chiu

Inside Retail

Cecilia Chiu didn’t set out to work in e-commerce; she was just looking for a part-time job to support herself while studying. It just so happens that job was at New Aim, an eBay seller that is now one of the biggest e-commerce companies in Australia. Chiu quickly developed a passion for online retail and abandoned her plans to become a lawyer to help grow the business.

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Best Practices for Selling on Amazon You May Be Missing

Retail TouchPoints

We hear it from retailers all the time. They’ve created a sales presence on Amazon.com, but inexplicably, the vast majority of their sales continue to be generated from their own website. This leaves them frustrated, confused and left leaping to the wrong conclusion. They explain they want to do better on Amazon. They know there are many benefits for having a retail store there.

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Uniqlo parent says profit slipped as Japan, China drag growth

Inside Retail

Japan’s Fast Retailing Co, owner of clothing brand Uniqlo, said first-quarter profit slid 2 per cent, reflecting weakness at home and continuing Covid-19 restrictions in China. A day after announcing plans for big wage rises, the company said operating profit had been US$889.82 million in the three months to the end of November. Domestic results were hit by warmer weather in November that stifled sales of fall and winter wear, while Covid curbs continued to weigh on China, including the te

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Centric Software Helps Retailers Enhance Planning with Cloud-Native Solution

Retail TouchPoints

Centric Software will introduce Centric Planning, a retail planning solution designed to help companies achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals, at the 2023 NRF Big Show. The AI-driven solution aims to leverage advanced analytics and forecasting for enhanced decision-making and optimized SKU and omnichannel management. Centric Planning utilizes cloud-native architecture, enabling high-speed processing and powerful performance even when handling large volumes of data.

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Humans + Agents = Rethinking Enterprise Commerce with AI

AI agents already analyze trends, draft content, and trigger actions across leading commerce platforms. Yet most organizations still rely on workflows built for human‑only teams, losing speed, margin, and customer loyalty. Humans + Agents: Rethinking Enterprise Commerce in the Age of AI Collaboration shows how to close that gap. In one concise read you’ll see where agent gains surface first, how early adopters prove ROI, and which lean controls keep innovation moving without risking data or bran

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A post-holiday slump is normal, but it might be time for a new job

Inside Retail

If you’ve found yourself feeling a bit flat after returning to work (or outright hating your job) this year, you’re not alone. #BackToWork is trending for Australia on Tik Tok, with plenty of users lamenting the return to the office. A growing body of research also shows this feeling is pretty common. But while there’s nothing new about the return-to-work blues, few companies have any strategy to facilitate readjustment to work after vacation.

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Reuters: NLRB Sides with Union at Staten Island Amazon Warehouse

Retail TouchPoints

A union formed at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island earned a victory when a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Regional Director reportedly agreed that Amazon should recognize the organization, according to Reuters and other media outlets. The ecommerce giant has the right to appeal the decision to a wider panel at the NRLB or can begin negotiating with workers at the JFK8 facility. “We knew it was unlikely that the NLRB Regional Office would rule against itself, and intend to appeal

ATS 277
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Retail appointments of the week

Inside Retail

Sophia Hwang-Judiesch to Succeed Iain Nairn as President of The Bay. By Anil Prabha. The Bay, the online arm of Canadian department store Hudson’s Bay, has announced that Iain Nairn, an Australian retail veteran and president and CEO of The Bay, will retire in January 2023. Sophia Hwang-Judiesch has been appointed president of The Bay and Hudson’s Bay.

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Circular retail, the High Street revival and cost-conscious consumerism tops 2023 retail trends, new research from Sensormatic Solutions by Johnson Controls reveals

Retail Focus

Circular retail prompted by sustainably-minded shoppers, a revival in bricks-and-mortar demand and continued cost-conscious consumerism by price-sensitive shoppers were among the emerging retail trends for 2023, the latest research from Sensormatic Solutions , the leading global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls , reveals. Circular retail goes mainstream.

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5 Tips for a Winning Category Management Strategy in 2025

Category Management is a cornerstone of a successful retail strategy. While it promotes collaboration between manufacturers and retailers to optimize category performance, challenges persist in its effective implementation due to hurdles in communication and collaboration across teams and partners, and more. In this guide, we outline five essential strategies for success in 2025 that will touch on all the essential pieces of a successful strategy and implementation.

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How Aussie start-up Morsl aims to change the way we eat at work

Inside Retail

As reported by Inside Retail , micro-market start-up Morsl has raised $5 million in a series-A capital round, which will be used to accelerate growth and development. Designed to look like cafes, the brand’s self-service kiosks enable employees to quickly purchase healthy food and drinks at any time. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the business pivoted from the corporate to the industrial sector, and is now located in sites such as Amazon and Officeworks.

ATS 130
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Unionized store workers to begin bargaining with Apple

Retail Wire

Unionized workers at an Apple Store in Towson, MD, have begun contract negotiations with the company. The union said its negotiators would focus on pay, working conditions and giving employees a voice in the decision-making process at the store. An Apple spokesperson said the company “will engage with the union representing our team in Towson respectfully and in good faith.”.

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Asos pins hopes on cost savings after Christmas sales slide

Inside Retail

Online fashion retailer Asos said US$365 million of cost savings would help drive profits this year after sales fell over its four-month Christmas period, showing the scale of the challenge facing the group’s new CEO. José Antonio Ramos Calamonte, who took over the role in June, wants to prioritise profits over sales growth and win back the company’s 20-something fashion-conscious customers after the group stumbled following the pandemic.

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Home Depot is changing its hourly pay policy

Retail Wire

Home Depot is updating its pay policy after receiving complaints that it was costing hourly workers wages. “Our policy has been to round total shift time up or down to the nearest 15 minutes … we’re changing our practice nationwide to pay hourly associates to the nearest minute,” a company spokesperson said.

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Cut Costs & Complexity: Smarter Fulfillment for Home, Furniture & DIY Brands

Late deliveries. Split shipments. Spiraling freight costs. For home, furniture, and DIY brands, fulfillment has never been more complex—or more critical. This report outlines how a smarter, AI-ready order management system (OMS) helps you reduce shipping costs, streamline project-based fulfillment, and ensure accurate inventory across every channel.

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How to Improve Business Processes with B2B eCommerce Software

Retail Focus

The wonderful thing about eCommerce is that it can run continuously without interruptions. That means you can have customers globally in different time zones visiting your website and making purchases. However, to do that, the system needs to be operable 24/7 throughout the entire year. The old-fashioned way of doing that was always to have staff available.

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Consumer prices fell again in December

Retail Wire

The Consumer Price Index in December fell 0.1 percent. The annual rate of inflation for December was up 6.5 percent, the slowest gain since October 2021. The annual rate in November was 7.1 percent.

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Volley and The Upside launch a limited-edition collaboration

Inside Retail

Tennis shoe designer Volley and Australian athleisure brand The Upside have joined up to create limited-edition kicks. . The brands say the shoes are vegan, have a lightweight cotton canvas upper, a reinforced toe cap for stability, and a gum sole with a herringbone pattern for traction and grip. The shoe’s design features the three-stripe detail on the Volley heel tape and the “Volley Up” logo.

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Morphe parent company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Retail Dive

Forma Brands — which also operates Playa Beauty and Jaclyn Cosmetics — has entered a proposed $33 million acquisition deal with lenders.

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What Your Financial Statements Are Telling You—And How to Listen!

Speaker: David Worrell, CFO, Author & Speaker

Your financial statements hold powerful insights—but are you truly paying attention? Many finance professionals focus on the income statement while overlooking key signals hidden in the balance sheet and cash flow statement. Understanding these numbers can unlock smarter decision-making, uncover risks, and drive long-term success. Join David Worrell, accomplished CFO, finance expert, and author, for an engaging, nontraditional take on reading financial statements.

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The Downfall of Sears, 5 Reasons Why it’s Struggling to Survive

Indigo 9 Digital

By Tricia McKinnon Did you know that at one time Sears was the largest retailer in the world? That was back in 1969. During that time Sears was so dominant its sales represented 1% of the entire United States’ economy with two thirds of Americans shopping there. A few decades later when Sears merged with Kmart in 2005 the combined organization generated a substantial $55 billion in revenue.

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‘Retailers are getting squeezed’ by price-weary consumers, supply chain costs: report

Retail Dive

Nearly all 50 retail executives surveyed in Deloitte’s latest study expect inflation to pressure profits this year.

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KLNB Arranges $10.8 Million Sale of Shopping Center in Metro Washington, D.C.

Shopping Center

Upper Marlboro, Md. — KLNB has arranged the $10.8 million sale of Marlboro Square, a 92,649-square-foot shopping center located in Upper Marlboro, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Vito Lupo, Chris Burnham, Andy Stape and Jake Furnary of KLNB represented the… The post KLNB Arranges $10.8 Million Sale of Shopping Center in Metro Washington, D.C. appeared first on Shopping Center Business.

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Rent the Runway teams up with Amazon Fashion in quest for growth

Retail Dive

The tie-up also expands the e-commerce giant’s assortment of better apparel.

Fashion 121
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State of AI in Sales & Marketing 2025

AI adoption is reshaping sales and marketing. But is it delivering real results? We surveyed 1,000+ GTM professionals to find out. The data is clear: AI users report 47% higher productivity and an average of 12 hours saved per week. But leaders say mainstream AI tools still fall short on accuracy and business impact. Download the full report today to see how AI is being used — and where go-to-market professionals think there are gaps and opportunities.

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What’s New In Business Automation? 

Mulesoft

How we make decisions that have long-lasting consequences is a strangely underappreciated skill. Making good decisions is hard – especially when the stakes are high. The biggest missteps in business become notorious. Today, enterprise automation is the decision that every business needs to make to support itself through this recession and beyond. Automation is powerful […].

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New Lands’ End CEO wants to grow customer base, open stores

Retail Dive

With rising customer acquisition costs online, Andrew McLean says traditional marketing methods — including its catalog — could be key.

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Actionline | Now is not the time to cut back on pensions

Talking Retail

Guidance from the Money & Pensions Service With the cost of doing business impacting independent retailers as much as the cost-of-living crisis is impacting consumers, some store owners may be tempted to cut back on their own pensions provision. But such a move would be a false economy, argues the government-backed Money & Pensions Service, This story continues at Actionline | Now is not the time to cut back on pensions.

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NRF forms cyberthreat intelligence partnership

Retail Dive

The association will work with the Retail & Hospitality Information Sharing and Analysis Center to help combat cyberattacks and protect consumer data.

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SEO vs. PPC: Which Strategy Is Best for Your Business?

When it comes to driving traffic and growing your online presence, businesses often ask: SEO or PPC—what’s the better choice? This guide breaks down the key differences between search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, highlighting their pros, cons, and best use cases. Whether you’re looking for long-term organic growth or immediate visibility through paid ads, we’ll help you determine which strategy—or combination of both—is right for your business.