Mon.Jul 11, 2022

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Why a fail-fast culture is key to keeping up with consumers

Inside Retail

Research shows that companies need to make big, bold moves to see major leaps in business performance. While taking an incremental approach to change may sound less risky, it actually increases the likelihood of stagnation and decline. But how can business leaders ensure their bold moves are a success? The secret is creating a fail-fast culture, where teams are empowered to innovate and learn what doesn’t work to disrupt the status quo.

Consumer 147
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Spending habits are changing. Is your in-store marketing keeping up?

Retail Dive

After years of isolated shopping and dining from home, people are eager to get back out into their communities.

Marketing 122
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5 Top Customer Service Articles of the Week 7-11-2022

Hyken

Each week I read many customer service and customer experience articles from various resources. Here are my top five picks from last week. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think too. 3 Ways to Create a Better Customer Experience That Increases Conversions by Joel Comm. (Inc. Magazine) As the global marketplace shrinks and communication channels continue to evolve, competition is heating up.

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5 Things Brands Need to Know About the Gen Z Customer Experience (and Employee Experience)

Retail TouchPoints

If we were to sum up what brands need to know about Gen Z customer experiences preferences (and employee experience preferences) in a few words, it would go something like this: they’re different. Revolutionary even. This may seem like an oversimplification, but when you think about it, Gen Z grew up in a world that is more connected than ever, has more access than ever, and accomplishes everything faster than ever.

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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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Hungry Jack’s coffee offer to be added to 410 stores nationwide

Inside Retail

Fast food chain Hungry Jack’s is rolling out a barista coffee offer dubbed Jack’s Cafe across 410 stores nationally after a successful pilot program. With coffee being the third most-ordered item on Hungry Jack’s breakfast menu, the company wants to capitalise on consumer demand for on-the-go barista-made coffee. It might also be considered a strategic response to rival McDonald’s McCafe chain in a coffee-shop market estimated to be worth $10.7 billion annually.

Consumer 246
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CVS Pilots New Skin Care Concept at 3 Locations

Retail TouchPoints

CVS has unveiled a new shop-in-shop concept called Skin Care Center featuring solutions for skin health in three U.S. locations — New York City, Woodland Hills, Calif. and Walnut Creek, Calif. The new concept builds on the retailer’s BeautyIRL concept, which launched in 2018 and is now available at more than 50 locations. Through the Skin Care Centerspaces, which were developed in partnership with L’Oréal , CVS said it hopes to offer experiences formerly afforded only to those who shop prestige

Location 297

More Trending

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Kohl’s Highlights Brands that Give Back With Curated Discovery @ Kohl’s Experience

Retail TouchPoints

Kohl’s has launched Discover @ Kohl’s, an in-store experience that curates new, seasonally relevant brands throughout 600 locations and online at Kohls.com. The initial Discover @ Kohl’s experience — which runs from July through October — features a designated back-to-school area that highlights brands that incorporate a give-back purpose, as well as collections themed Get Outside, Fall Family Fun and For Women By Women, a selection of female-founded activewear.

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Gap CEO walks the plank as Old Navy’s woes worsen

Inside Retail

Sonia Syngal, the CEO of Gap, has quit suddenly as the US fashion giant’s board looks to address poor sales, especially at its traditional growth engine, price-oriented Old Navy. While the reasons behind Syngal’s departure are unclear, its suddenness shocked retail industry observers. In a statement released overnight, Gap said Syngal would depart her role, and leave the board with immediate effect.

Fashion 239
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Madewell and J.Crew Streamline Inventory Planning as Retail Faces Product Glut

Retail TouchPoints

J.Crew and its sister company Madewell have both implemented a new integrated inventory planning solution that allows the retailers to increase efficiency when creating new products and tap into comprehensive data insights to inform assortment and merchandising decisions. The companies have deployed a new integration between PTC ’s FlexPLM product lifecycle management (PLM) platform and the assortment management workspace MakerSights that allows them to synchronize product data with consumer ins

Planning 277
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5 Most Popular Hobbies For 2022

Retail Focus

Downtime is crucial. Many of us are trying to get more time and figure out the best ways to spend it. If you’re searching for a few ways to kill some time here are the 5 most popular hobbies worldwide. Live Casino Games. In recent years, this hobby has gained a significant amount of popularity. For years, players have been able to enjoy the excitement of live casino games such as crazy time without leaving the privacy and convenience of their own homes.

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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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Giant Food Local Produce Boxes Return for the Summer

Retail TouchPoints

Greater Washington, D.C.-area grocery chain Giant Food relaunched its Local Produce Boxes that feature locally sourced items from farms within Maryland, Delaware and Virginia. The boxes are sold exclusively through the retailer’s Giant Delivers service through September 2022 or while supplies last. By offering the weekly service for a second year , Giant Food aims to promote food traceability and transparency while offering locally sourced, healthful products to customers. .

Returns 276
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Alibaba’s Australia-NZ chief Maggie Zhou steps down

Inside Retail

The CEO of Alibaba’s Australian and New Zealand operations, Maggie Zhou, is to leave the company after 22 years. One of the early employees of Alibaba after it was founded in China, Zhou relocated to Melbourne in 2016 to head up the Australian business and has subsequently played a leading role in helping businesses from Australia and New Zealand join the platform and expand their reach to the e-commerce giant’s 1 billion Chinese customers.

Marketing 162
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Instacart Aims to Improve Employee Experience with New Rewards Program for Order Pickers and Drivers

Retail TouchPoints

Instacart has launched a rewards program for its employees, called Shoppers, which offers workers incentives from both Instacart and third-party partners based on the number of orders picked and delivered. Called Cart Star, the rewards program has three tiers — Gold, Platinum and Diamond Cart, — with benefits increasing as Instacart Shoppers fulfill more batches (orders).

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5 Tips for Creating an Effective Retail Strategy

Wiser

Any retail business without a solid strategy is bound to fail. It’s essential that your business is able to engage shoppers, build customer loyalty, and drive sales. But developing an effective retail strategy takes more than just attracting customer attention. Several factors need to be considered so you can get shoppers to the shelf and making purchases.

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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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The 2022 Wedding Season and Implications for Retailers

Retail TouchPoints

The 2022 wedding season is expected to be a record breaker, with an estimated 2.6 million weddings taking place. Now more than ever, with your business likely growing, it’s paramount for wedding retailers to ensure that their sales and use tax obligations are being met. After all, no one wants compliance obligations to bog down your business, especially when you are at your busiest.

Jewelry 246
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Ransomware attacks can and will shut you down

Cisco Retail

No, Ransomware attacks are not random. From extortion to data breaches, ransomware is always evolving, and is becoming very lucrative with Ransomware-as-a-service kit making it easier to target organizations. The days of just a single bad actor searching for vulnerabilities in your security stack are over. Security Operations Centers (SOCs) and the security analyst community are dealing with a sophisticated global network of adversaries who can do irreversible damage.

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Could ThirdLove-Kit Undergarments Combo Become an Intimates Powerhouse?

Retail TouchPoints

ThirdLove has had a busy year. The digitally native intimates and lifestyle brand re-entered brick-and-mortar retail and launched products in the activewear and sleepwear categories , but it was its acquisition of Kit Undergarments , a foundation brand founded by celebrity stylists Jamie Mizrahi and Simone Harouche, that generated the most interest.

Consumer 246
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Why Your Network Automation Should Shift Left Now

Cisco Retail

My friends in the enterprise software development community have been talking recently about “shifting left,” especially when it comes to security. As it turns out, the idea of shifting a process left on the timeline – that is to say, earlier – applies to the world of network automation and development as well. Shifting network automation to the left is not that much of a conceptual leap, especially when we think of the recent and rapid adoption of IaC (Infrastructure as Code) and GitOps for net

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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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Report: E-commerce sales to exceed $1 trillion this year

Retail Dive

Online shopping is expected to grow despite concerns about inflation and a potential economic downturn, according to FTI Consulting.

Shopping 140
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Analysis: Why synergy is Southeast Asian app Grab’s super power

Inside Retail

On 1 July, Grab Thailand announced the launch of a pilot called Digital BagAds, which are LED digital advertisements displayed on the large green bags delivery drivers use as they buzz around the city bringing Grab’s prepared food and groceries to their customers. The BagAds are being trialled initially in the Greater Bangkok area. It’s the latest example of the potential for Grab’s four separate businesses to help drive growth for one another.

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The pandemic is not over

Retail Wire

The BA.5 subvariant of the Omicron variant is multiple times more infectious than previous strains of the novel coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the past week reported more than 100,000 new cases a day. The actual number of cases is thought to be much higher as most people test at home and do not report their illness. About 38,000 people across the U.S. were hospitalized across the country with COVID-10 as of Friday.

ATS 130
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Officeworks raises $1 million in Make A Difference Appeal

Inside Retail

Officeworks’ annual Make A Difference Appeal raised $1,000,456 this year. With children’s health and education the focus of this year’s appeal, Officeworks store teams selected organisations they wanted to help that they considered were relevant to their local communities. Customers were encouraged to either round up the cost of their purchase or make a direct donation at check out in-store or online.

Planning 130
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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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How to Prepare for a Recession

Small Biz Trends

A recession or economic downturn is a business owner’s worst scenario. As it might affect not only your personal finances but also threaten your business’ survival. The impact of a recession on your business at times can be hard to predict. No matter how bad it gets, preparing for a likely recession can go a long way to mitigate the adverse effects of the recession on your business.

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Beyond sales: A case for brand intangibles for long-term wins

Inside Retail

We like to invest in tangibles for our retail businesses. Warehouses. Websites. Shopfronts. SaaS products. And we love the data around KPIs: CPC. Average transaction sizes. Sales per square metre. It’s comforting and logical because tangibles seem to offer the presence and process that drive sales. But what if most of our sales are made before customers even enter those spaces?

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How Will Blockchain Change The Music Industry?

365 Retail

Did Napster really kill off the music industry? Well, it’ll depend on the person you’re asking. Like, some people will be affirmative to the question. However, people like me might argue against it and consider it a revolution of peer-to-peer music-sharing platforms. But, there’s something we can say for sure – it did change the music industry to some extent, just like blockchain.

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A taste for convenience: Guzman y Gomez bets big on mobile orders

Inside Retail

Mexican fast food chain Guzman y Gomez (GYG) is going all-in on mobile ordering as it looks to satisfy the growing appetite for convenience in the restaurant industry. The business recently relaunched its mobile app to allow users to customise menu items, save their favourite orders and choose whether they want to collect their food in-store or via drive-thru.

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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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Shoe companies pause hiring and investing as they brace for weaker sales

Retail Dive

Concerns have shifted from supply chain to inflation and consumer behavior, according to the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America.

Consumer 111
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Biotech, virtual pop-ups and indie brands: Here is the future of K-beauty

Inside Retail

Although facing stiff competition from Western brands and changing consumer demands, the Korean beauty (known as ‘K-beauty’) market is forecast to reach $13.9 blilion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 9 per cent between 2021 and 2027, according to Allied Market Research. According to Sharon Ahn, beauty trend forecaster and analyst at WGSN, K-Beauty is synonymous with innovation in the wider beauty industry.

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Cryptocurrency Regulations In The United Kingdom – A Guide To Follow

365 Retail

In essence, Cryptocurrency isn’t really considered to be a legal tender model in the UK. But, the government of the nation is moving gradually to accept the same. As per CNBC, the UK administration has announced a plan to mint their own NFT recently in April, 2022. Even though the specifics are yet to be stated, it’s only a matter of time before the UK becomes a global leader in the Crypto market.

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Hallenstein Brothers gets new CEO

Inside Retail

Hallenstein Brothers will soon have a new CEO – the menswear retailer’s third in two years. Stuart Duncan, CEO of the chain’s listed parent company Hallenstein Glasson Holdings, revealed Monday that Rob Brown will take on the role from October 17. He will replace Jason Barrow who resigned effective May 1 after a decade with the company. Brown has been a brand manager at True Alliance since 2009, most recently managing the Ben Sherman brand.

Wholesale 130
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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.