July, 2024

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Exclusive: Automated Voice Agents are Hurting Customer Retention

Retail TouchPoints

Everyone’s been there — you try your mightiest to get the machine on the other end of the phone to understand what you need, until you give in to frustration and just begin to scream “representative.” Generative AI was supposed to change all that — with this magical new technology, automated voice agents were going to be smarter, more responsive and, most importantly, more accurate.

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State Farm Issues Ultimatum to California

Retail Wire

California's largest insurer, State Farm, has issued a stark ultimatum to the California's Department of Insurance: approve significant rate hikes for home insurance or face the company's exit from the market.

Marketing 321
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Country Road Group may layoff staff in planned restructure

Inside Retail

Country Road Group is set to restructure its fashion retail business, which is expected to result in massive staff layoffs, The Australian has reported. The company, currently facing sexual harassment and workplace bullying allegations , has been struggling to generate sales, according to the report. Inside Retail has reached out to Country Road Group for comment.

Planning 271
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Co-op launches brand campaign to ‘re-introduce core values’

Retail Gazette

Co-op has launched one of its biggest ever brand campaigns to encourage the UK to turn into a nation of co-operators. The ‘Owned by You. Right By You’ campaign highlights the social and financial benefits of a co-operative business model, and comes as a new survey by the retailer found that more than 50% of consumers don’t understand what it means when a business is a co-operative or a mutual.

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A Blueprint for B2B Commerce

In the B2B space, digital expectations are higher than ever. Consumer platforms have made online experiences incredibly user-friendly and efficient, adding pressure for businesses to follow suit to meet the expectations of the modern B2B buyer. Take inspiration from B2C commerce strategies and adapt them for B2B digital interactions. Learn to create engaging and well-crafted consumer shopping experiences with insights and tools from Orium’s report, A Blueprint to B2B Commerce.

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Black farmers call on Tractor Supply CEO to resign following diversity about-face

Retail Dive

John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, a Tractor Supply shareholder and fourth-generation farmer, said he has tried to reach out to the company’s top executive.

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The shortlist for the Creative Retail Awards 2024 is LIVE!

365 Retail

After a close-fought judging process the shortlisted entries have been named. At a crucial time for the industry, The Creative Retail Awards is the ultimate celebration of innovation and excellence in retail, leisure and hospitality design. It allows retailers and creatives from around the world to compete for glory in a range of categories, culminating in a glittering awards presentation in London, a global hub for the creative industries.

Shopping 115

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Del Taco Introduces Value Menu and Becomes No.1 in US

Retail Wire

Del Taco has launched its new Del’s Real Deal Menu featuring 15 items, all priced at $2 and under. This value menu includes popular choices like tacos, burritos, nachos, and now includes freshly made chips & house-made guacamole.

ATS 278
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Aesop’s comeback: Beauty brand to return to David Jones stores

Inside Retail

Aesop will return to David Jones next month as part of the department store chain’s strategy to boost its luxury beauty offerings. Aesop’s full product range of skincare, body care, fragrance and home essentials will be available on David Jones’s website starting August. The brand will later launch at Chadstone Shopping Centre and Bourke Street Mall as part of the stores’ $15 million beauty hall redevelopment.

Returns 278
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Asda superstore workers to walk out for second time

Retail Gazette

Asda employees at its Wisbech store are set to walk out for the second time in a dispute over working conditions. GMB Union confirmed that over 150 workers at the superstore in Cambridgeshire will walk out of the store from 3am to 10pm on 2 August. It said the employees were angry over cuts in hours, poor quality training, bullying management, fire safety breaches, as well as health and safety issues not being addressed.

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Saks Global confirms layoffs

Retail Dive

The HBC-owned business is prepping for its takeover of rival Neiman Marcus Group, which includes Bergdorf Goodman, a spokesperson said Wednesday.

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How Harry Rosen Turns Targeted Personalization Data into Retail Loyalty

Speaker: Shaunna Bruton and Kailey Holmes

Unlock the potential of customer data to create personalized retail experiences that resonate with your audience. This webinar will explore the critical role of customer data in modern retail, providing you with strategies to collect, analyze, and apply data to enhance personalization. Learn from leading retailers, like Harry Rosen, and experts on how to turn data into actionable insights that drive customer satisfaction and loyalty.

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Brown Thomas Arnotts to deploy latest versions of Aptos’ Sales Audit and CRM solutions

Retail Times

Retail Times publishes international & UK retail news covering products, data, tech, packaging, people, research, comment and more besides! Aptos, a leader in unified commerce solutions, announced today that Brown Thomas Arnotts, Ireland’s leading luxury retailer, will upgrade to the latest versions of Aptos’ Sales Audit and CRM solutions. Once deployed, Brown Thomas Arnotts will benefit from new capabilities that unlock greater levels of customer engagement and loyalty whilst promoting omni

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Amazon Teams with Better Business Bureau to Sue Fake Review Site

Retail TouchPoints

Amazon and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) have jointly filed a lawsuit seeking to shut down ReviewServiceUSA.com, a site that allegedly attempted to sell fake positive reviews for Amazon product listing pages or BBB business profiles. The suit, filed in King County Superior Court, is the latest effort by Amazon to stem the tide of fake reviews. On its own, Amazon blocked more than 250 million suspected fake reviews on its ecommerce site in 2023.

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Sam’s Club Makes Controversial Membership Policy Changes

Retail Wire

Sam's Club has quietly implemented a policy that requires shoppers to pay extra for access during designated hours, a revelation that sparked discussions among concerned consumers across various social platforms.

Consumer 299
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Creating community: how retail brands can capitalise on the ‘third place’ 

Inside Retail

If you’ve seen an episode of Friends , Seinfeld or How I Met Your Mother , you’ll notice most scenes occur in a space other than the main characters’ homes or workplaces. In cafés, bars and diners, friendships are made and bonds strengthened as the most impactful memories of the characters’ lives unfold in this so-called ‘third place’. It’s a concept sociologist Ray Oldenburg identified in 1989 and it speaks to a physical location where people can belong – outside of home, school or work.

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Innovation Fest: Summer of AI

Join Bloomreach at Innovation Fest: Summer 2024, a virtual event, to explore the future of personalized marketing and merchandising! Along with the company’s top product experts, CEO Raj De Datta will provide an exclusive look at the company’s latest AI innovations reshaping the omnichannel experience. Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity to connect with fellow industry leaders and explore the latest trends in retail technology.

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Majestic Wine invests £1m in store estate expansion

Retail Gazette

Majestic Wine has unveiled a £1m investment into its store estate, as it plans to expand at an average of one new shop per month over the coming years. The alcohol retailer has opened two new stores in the South East of England and completed two major refurbishment projects in the Midlands and Scotland within six days, as it ramps up efforts to expand and modernise its stores.

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Conn’s to close over 70 stores amid bankruptcy speculation

Retail Dive

The closures represent about 13% of its store fleet and come amid a Bloomberg report that the home retailer is prepping to file for bankruptcy.

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SJC Ventures, Nuveen to Develop 88,938-Square-Foot Mixed-Use Center in Metro Miami

Shopping Center

Doral, Fla. — SJC Ventures and Nuveen Real Estate have acquired a 10-acre parcel in Doral, roughly 17 miles outside Miami, with plans to develop a mixed-use center at the site.… The post SJC Ventures, Nuveen to Develop 88,938-Square-Foot Mixed-Use Center in Metro Miami appeared first on Shopping Center Business.

Planning 105
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Walmart Leases Space for Senior-Focused Primary Care in 23 Locations

Retail TouchPoints

Walmart will lease clinical space for senior-focused primary care centers at 23 Walmart Supercenter stores in Florida, Georgia, Missouri and Texas. Health care services company CenterWell will operate the clinics under its Senior Primary Care and Conviva Care Centers brands. While Walmart still offers pharmacy and optical services in many of its stores, the retailer recently exited the primary care business by closing all 51 Walmart Health centers, calling the business model unsustainable.

Location 255
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Secrets of a Successful Sale: Optimizing Your Checkout Process

Speaker: David Nisbet, Everett Zufelt, and Michaela Weber

Once upon a time, in the vast realm of online commerce, there lived a humble checkout button overlooked by many. Yet, within its humble click lay the power to transform a mere visitor into a loyal customer. 🧐 💡 Getting checkout right can mark the difference between a successful sale and an abandoned cart, yet many businesses fail to make payments a part of their commerce strategy even when it has a direct impact on revenue.

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In-N-Out Owner Slams Viral Video of Non-Existent ‘Monkey Style’ Burger

Retail Wire

In-N-Out Burger has been the subject of a viral TikTok trend, and the owner of the popular fast-food restaurant has had enough of the monkeying around.

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Moncler boosts first-half sales by 11 per cent, fuelling profit surge

Inside Retail

Italian luxury fashion retailer Moncler Group has posted growths in both sales and profit for the six months ended June 30 despite a “complex operating environment”. The company’s consolidated revenues rose 11 per cent year on year to EUR1.23 billion (US$1.3 billion), with sales up 15 per cent for the Moncler brand and down 5 per cent for the Stone Island label.

Fashion 260
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Tapi confirms acquisition of Carpetright’s brand and 54 stores out of administration

Retail Gazette

Carpetright’s biggest rival Tapi has snapped up the chain’s brand and more than a fifth of its stores out of administration. The flooring retailer has acquired Carpetright’s intellectual property, two warehouses and 54 of its stores, which Tapi said will save 308 jobs and “expand [the business] into a number of areas we don’t currently serve” However, the deal will result in 1,018 job losses across Carpetright’s head office in Purfleet and its remaining

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Reporter’s Notebook: Blockbuster still wants you to be kind, rewind

Retail Dive

The video rental chain’s last-standing franchise location in Bend, Oregon, has both loyal customers and nostalgic fans.

Location 122
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Brick & Mortar Retail Relevance: How to Stay Ahead of the Curve

Speaker: Jay Black, Senior Account Executive

Let's set the record straight: in-store retail isn't dead - it's evolving! Faced with the digital age and the demands of omnichannel shopping, some retailers are thriving while others are struggling to adapt. Join Jay Black in this exclusive session as he explores the strategies that set successful stores apart, including: Crafting unique and unforgettable in-store experiences 🛍️ Mastering the art of retail demands 🛒 Navigating inventory challenges in today's climate 📦 an

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Back-to-school spending to set UK parents back £2.3 billion

A1 Retail

The average back-to-school spend has now reached £452.40 per child 61 percent of parents are worried about the financial burden of back to school 29 percent will use credit cards while one in 10 will borrow from family to afford the rising costs of uniform, stationery and technology Requirements for technology add to costs and stress, with the 23 percent required to buy a laptop or tablet this year planning to spend an average of £511.40 per child The summer holidays have just started for many,

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Solving the Challenges of All-AI Ecommerce Search with a Hybrid Approach

Retail TouchPoints

Once the purview of science fiction, artificial intelligence (AI) has now permeated our everyday lives — from the home devices that recommend songs for our playlists, to the apps we use to monitor commuter traffic, to the chatbots that pop up to ask if we need any help. Unbeknownst to many consumers, AI has become a powerful force steering online searches — serving up search results that, ideally, match exactly what we’re looking for.

Consumer 267
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Google Cancels Plans To Eliminate Third-Party Cookies

Retail Wire

Google has announced its decision to abandon plans to eliminate and replace third-party cookies in its Chrome browser, a move crucial for advertisers to track users across websites for targeted ads.

Planning 264
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Behind Booktopia’s demise and what it says about the future of indie bookstores

Inside Retail

The collapse of Australian online book retailer Booktopia has not come as a shock but rather a reminder that retailers, especially in publishing need to maintain a competitive edge. The compounding reasons that led to the voluntary administration have been cited as a slowdown in book sales, reduced discretionary spending and overspending on a distribution centre.

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How to Stay Competitive in the Evolving State of Martech

Marketing technology is essential for B2B marketers to stay competitive in a rapidly changing digital landscape — and with 53% of marketers experiencing legacy technology issues and limitations, they’re researching innovations to expand and refine their technology stacks. To help practitioners keep up with the rapidly evolving martech landscape, this special report will discuss: How practitioners are integrating technologies and systems to encourage information-sharing between departments and pr

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Data: Asda and Morrisons lose market share as Aldi falters

Retail Gazette

Asda and Morrisons’ market share has continued to fall, with discounter Aldi’s good run also faltering, as shoppers sought to splash out on groceries amid this season’s “summer of sport” According to latest NIQ Total Till data, Asda’s market share dropped from 13.1% last year to 12% in the 12 weeks to 13 July, while Morrisons slipped from 8.5% to 8.4%.

Marketing 114
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Dollar General agrees to settle OSHA safety violations for $12M

Retail Dive

The agreement with federal regulators requires the retailer to reduce its inventory and improve stocking efficiency to avoid safety hazards like blocked emergency exits and access to fire extinguishers.

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Creative Retail Awards Finalises Shortlist for 2024 Celebration of Innovation

365 Retail

The shortlist for the Creative Retail Awards 2024 has been finalised after a rigorous judging process. At a crucial time for the industry, the Creative Retail Awards remain the ultimate celebration of innovation and excellence in retail, leisure, and hospitality design. This prestigious event allows retailers and creatives from around the world to compete for recognition in various categories, culminating in a glittering awards presentation in London, a global hub for the creative industries.

Shopping 109
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Major Health System Teams with Instacart to Promote ‘Food as Health’

Retail TouchPoints

Northwell Health , the largest health system in New York State, will partner with Instacart Health to expand access to nutritious food, beginning with a focus on moms-to-be in communities that have long-standing disparities in maternal care. The first program to launch will integrate Instacart Health tools into Northwell’s Center for Maternal Health Maternal Outcomes and Morbidity Collaborative (MOMS), targeting people who are food insecure as well as the maternal health of Black and Brown women

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Optimizing Frontend Delivery in Composable Commerce: The Buy vs Build Decision