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The pandemic has brought about long-term changes for both business operations and consumer expectations, and 2021 taught us how far removed we are from ever returning to the old “normal.” Businesses continued to be put to the test over the last year, especially small business owners in retail and ecommerce. Relentless challenges including supply chain disruptions, weather disasters and a ship stuck in the Suez Canal slowed shipments and delivery of goods to consumers.
Woolworths Group has put forward its own non-binding bid to acquire Australian Pharmaceutical Industries at a cash price of $1.75 per security – a 20c per share premium on Wesfarmers’ $1.55 per security offer. According to Woolworths, API’s board has determined their proposal is likely to be superior to Wesfarmers’, and it is working to “quickly” finalise its due diligence enquiries.
In another sign that Black Friday, and to some extent the entire extended Thanksgiving weekend, has ceded its position as a truly peak shopping period, Black Friday 2021 was a mixed bag for retailers. Store traffic was 47.5% higher than 2020’s, although it was not yet back up to 2019 levels (Black Friday 2021 was down 28.3% from 2019, according to Sensormatic Solutions ).
After experiencing bullying in the workplace, Amber Wilkinson left her corporate job and started a small business with the aim of bringing a little more kindness to the world – through clothing. The Melbourne-born brand Kind is Cool has a range of clothing options for kids and adults featuring positive messaging. This Christmas, the brand has launched a festive range of unisex clothing and is donating $2 from every sale to anti-bullying foundation Bully Zero.
Speaker: Matt Sunshine, CEO at The Center for Sales Strategy
AI isn’t replacing salespeople—it’s empowering them. The most forward-thinking sales organizations are using AI to enhance human performance rather than eliminate it. From coaching and messaging to prospecting and pipeline accountability, artificial intelligence is giving managers and SDRs the new tools they need to work smarter, sell better, and close more.
The UK’s largest retailer, Tesco , has joined the likes of Walmart and Target by launching new advertising capabilities that will allow brands and agencies to reach its massive digital audience. The new retail media network — dubbed Tesco Media and Insight — will be powered by consumer data science company dunnhumby. “As the UK grocery sector evolves, we want to ensure we provide a more relevant and personalized offer to meet our customers’ changing needs,” said Alessandra Bellini, Chief Custome
Woolworths Group has put forward its own non-binding bid to acquire Australian Pharmaceutical Industries at a cash price of $1.75 per security – a 20c per share premium on Wesfarmers’ $1.55 per security offer. According to Woolworths, API’s board has determined their proposal is likely to be superior to Wesfarmers’, and it is working to “quickly” finalise its due diligence enquiries.
Hot Topic has partnered with Signifyd to revamp its online order approval process and reduce false declines. The retailer’s recent ecommerce growth has been hampered by its manual fraud review process, which was time-consuming and resulted in too many mistaken rejections of legitimate orders. Using the Signifyd Commerce Protection Platform, the retailer was able to use its database of previously seen customers to instantly recognize new Hot Topic shoppers as legitimate buyers.
Hot Topic has partnered with Signifyd to revamp its online order approval process and reduce false declines. The retailer’s recent ecommerce growth has been hampered by its manual fraud review process, which was time-consuming and resulted in too many mistaken rejections of legitimate orders. Using the Signifyd Commerce Protection Platform, the retailer was able to use its database of previously seen customers to instantly recognize new Hot Topic shoppers as legitimate buyers.
Premier Retail has suffered a stop-start beginning to FY22, with total sales down 3.5 per cent throughout the half-to-date due to the mandated closure of more than half of its store network. According to the business, which runs Jay Jays, Just Jeans, Peter Alexander, Smiggle, Portmans, Jacqui.E, and Dotti, it has already lost more than 42,000 trading days this financial year – though stores have already started reopening across key states in Australia and New Zealand.
There’s been a giraffe sighting at the American Dream mall in New Jersey, and this wasn’t just any old giraffe. Toys ‘R’ Us will open the doors of a new two-level , 20,000-square-foot flagship store at American Dream , just in time for the last few weeks of holiday shopping, and Geoffrey the Giraffe will be in residence. Slated to open in mid-December, the new mall-based flagship follows on a 2019 attempt to revive the toy store chain via smaller mall locations that was thwarted by the pandemic.
Toys R Us is opening a new U.S. flagship store at the American Dream mall in New Jersey. The store will feature more than 10,000 toys, a two-story slide and an ice cream parlor. “Toys R Us is back and it’s back in a mega way,” said Yehuda Shmidman, WHP Global and Toys R Us chairman and CEO. “This is going to be our largest format store in America.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has commenced legal action against supermarket Coles, alleging it underpaid thousands of salaried employees by a total of $115 million since 2017. Coles disclosed to the ASX and FWO last year that it was reviewing the pay of some of its workers, and was setting aside $20 million to backpay the 600 workers involved – less than 1 per cent of its total team members, according to CEO Steven Cain.
The rapid rise of AI-powered displays, touchless technology, and sensory marketing is reshaping the future of in-store engagement. Yet for many retail executives, the real challenge is not identifying new tools - it is knowing which signals to trust, which inputs to prioritize, and how to architect decisions that elevate in-store leadership rather than dilute it.
This blog is a joint collaboration between Ravi Balakrishnan (Cisco) and Tanya Mackenzie (AlgoSec). NCR Corporation is a leading global point-of-sale (POS) provider for restaurants, retailers, and banks and a provider of multi-vendor ATM software. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, NCR has over 36,000 employees in 160 countries, and solutions are distributed in 141 countries.
Asia-Australia focused chains AuMake and Miniso are partnering on a strategy to bring their customers together in new dual-branded Australian stores. Announced on Thursday afternoon, AuMake said it has signed a distribution agreement with Miniso’s Australian Master Franchisee, and will begin selling its products from three of its highest-traffic stores: Chinatown, World Sqaure CBD and Burwood in Sydney.
A floristry counter brimming over with flowers and foliage sits at the centre of this Vancouver lifestyle shop , which has been designed by studio Ste Marie. Nestled along a parade of shops in Vancouver's South Cambie neighbourhood, Cadine sells a selection of high-end homeware, books, clothing and fine jewellery, as well as fresh floral bouquets. At the centre of the Cadine store is a floristry counter.
When culture isn’t consistently lived out across the organization, engagement suffers—and it often starts with a disconnect at the top. In this session, Beth Sunshine, SVP of Up Your Culture at The Center for Sales Strategy, will reveal how HR and executive leaders can close the gap between vision and execution by equipping frontline and mid-level managers to become culture carriers.
CouriersPlease CEO Mark McGinley has left his role to take up a CEO position with Freightlancer, the freight division of Freelancer, the world’s largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace. McGinley said “This is an exciting opportunity for me to work with a dynamic and vibrant company led by the inspirational MattBarrie”. McGinley spent 18 years with CouriersPlease, and five years in the top role.
Lululemon and Peloton have gone from enjoying a co-branding relationship to facing off in court. The retailer claims in a law suit that Peloton infringed on multiple patents it owns when used in the design of leggings and sports bras. Peloton launched its own apparel brand shortly after the two companies severed a co-branding relationship that they had.
In the last financial reporting year, covering calendar 2020, the world’s top 20 technology companies booked revenues of US$2.1 trillion. This represented an increase of US$135.2 billion on 2019. So in a year when the world experienced its deepest economic contraction in modern history, big tech raked in sales equivalent to 2.6 per cent of the entire world’s gross domestic product.
U.S. consumer confidence fell to a nine-month low in November, according to the Conference Board. “This isn’t a cause for concern as the relationship between spending and sentiment is loose, particularly in the short-run,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “The good news is that consumers’ assessment of the labor market improved in November, pointing toward further acceleration in job growth.
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.
Covid-19’s impact on small and medium-sized businesses has been especially heavy. The restaurant and tourism industries have experienced the collective trauma of multiple lockdowns. These industries have demonstrated their resilience by thinking differently and creatively, to generate change. Innovative solutions emerged, inspiring consumers to step out and experience them.
The rise of the Omicron virus may lead to restrictions on travel and other experiential purchases, which may benefit retail sales in turn. “We know, unfortunately, that when the variants have had a real impact on the economy, the goods side of the economy has actually benefited from that because people change behavior away from the experience side of the economy and spend more time and more dollars engaged in the goods side of the economy,” said Matt Shay, CEO of the National Retail Federation.
Thousands of small business owners have signed a petition calling for Australia Post to stop “penalising” businesses that choose to use their own packaging when sending parcels. More than 5000 people have now signed the petition from Hero Packaging, which claims recent changes in the way Australia Post measures packages are effectively forcing small businesses to use Australia Post’s pre-paid plastic satchels instead of more environmentally friendly options, which are incurring higher postage co
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
Australian non-alcoholic beer start-up Heaps Normal raised $8.5 million in capital late last month, to drive its mission to disrupt Australia’s drinking culture. Backed by an impressive lineup of investors, including Who Gives A Crap founder and CEO Simon Griffiths, Athletic Ventures managing partner Matt de Boer and Tripple executive director Bec Milgrom, the business is under pressure to reach the next level.
Retailers that refuse to accept cash on hygiene grounds during the pandemic are doing so for “bogus reasons”, says the Cash Supply Alliance (CSA). The CSA, a cash industry organisation, is urging retailers to accept cash payments at least to the same level as the new £100 contactless limit. The organisation is also encouraging frustrated. This story continues at Refusal to take cash for health reasons is bogus, says lobby group.
Industry averted a major cyber incident amid warnings from the FBI and CISA, though home furnishings retailer Ikea fought to contain a sophisticated phishing attack.
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.
Proactive monitoring for API certificates is a must for every organization. For CloudHub customers, it’s important to consider certificate expiration when using certificates in MuleSoft. Why? Certificate expirations could lead to failing API calls. These API calls can be both inbound and outbound to the load balancer, internal system APIs, Process APIs, Experience APIs, and […].
In the best of times, it’s important to keep your best employees. In tough times, it’s even more important. Customers are beginning to feel the results of The Great Resignation , which quite honestly, is not so great. It has resulted in longer lines, longer hold times, and slower service – basically a lower level of customer service. . So, how can you keep good employees, and keep them not only engaged with their jobs but also engaged with their customers?
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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