“AI has the potential to revolutionize the retail industry by introducing innovative solutions that enhance efficiency, customer experiences and overall business operations.” That’s what a well-known AI model, ChatGPT, told me when I asked about positive use cases for AI in the retail sector. It went on to list several areas where AI could help
AMBLER, Pa. — Two short spans of time — one just over 7 seconds and the other just under 15 minutes — were among the many talking points at The Emerson Group’s 2023 Industry Day last week. The day-long event brought together retailers and suppliers, brand innovators and other thought leaders to discuss the future
The health care sector in the United States is worth about $4.4 billion — about the size of Japan’s entire economy, which is the third-largest in the world, behind only those of the U.S. and China. That’s another way of saying that the U.S. health care industry is massive, notes XIL Health and Visory Health
A recent article in The New Yorker gave vivid detail to something retailers are all too aware of — consumer norms about returning the products they buy have gotten seriously crazy. The article starts with an anecdote about a friend of the author who ordered six new dresses for an upcoming wedding, planning to send
It is no secret that size matters in mass retailing today, with larger chains enjoying efficiencies of scale and greater clout in their negotiations with suppliers. That translates into lower costs for bigger retailers, and lower prices for their customers. That dynamic is particularly important when it comes to online grocery sales, according to a
The shopping cart has been around since the late 1930s, and most consumers probably don’t give it a second thought. It’s just a part of the shopping experience — something simple and basic that just works. But it’s worth remembering that the need for shopping carts was not obvious before they arrived on the scene,
Low-income consumers tend to be underappreciated and misunderstood. But a recent study by the customer data science company dunnhumby suggests that grocers should consider paying more attention to their customers who are Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients. SNAP recipients spend more of their money on food than people with higher incomes, according to dunnhumby,
Technology is constantly giving retailers and suppliers new ways to figure out exactly what their customers want, and new ways to deliver those goods and services. Traditionally the main way to determine what shoppers want has been to look at what they buy, and technology has made it easier to do that. The rollout of
Retail sales in February were down from January but up year over year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, suggesting that consumers are still spending, despite inflation that remains stubbornly high. The figures were released earlier this month against a backdrop of mixed messages on the economy’s health. The tech sector was announcing big layoffs
The “retailification” of health care could be great news for rural Americans, making routine medical services more accessible and affordable in communities that are currently underserved. Paul Schuhmacher, a managing director in the health care practice of the global management consultancy AArete, points to Dollar General’s partnership with mobile health provider DocGo as a potential
The exhibit floor at NRF 2023: Retail’s Big Show was a cornucopia of technological innovation, packed with exhibitors showing off the latest robots, kiosks and mobile point-of-sale solutions, as well as scads of artificial intelligence applications designed to help retailers do everything from addressing theft within their stores to better forecasting their inventory needs. There
Shrink is a problem that’s as old as retailing, and it’s actually a number of separate issues — theft by customers (shoplifting), theft by employees, vendor fraud, operational errors and things like damage, waste and spoilage. But, as has been noted previously on this page, the shoplifting problem has increased dramatically in recent years, driven