Retail TouchPoints
JANUARY 24, 2025
The Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (MoCRA) introduces significant regulatory changes for the cosmetics industry, aimed at enhancing consumer safety and product transparency. This article explores the essential MoCRA requirements, from new facility registration and labeling rules to adverse event reporting and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).
Inside Retail
JANUARY 8, 2025
Christmas and end-of-year sales are big business for retailers but they also drive enormous returns. The high volumes of unwanted gifts and remorseful sale purchases have implications beyond the bottom line the environmental impact of emissions, repackaging and damaged goods is becoming excessive. The Australia Institute projected an estimated $1 billion worth of unwanted Christmas gift waste in 2024, with 27 per cent of Australians expected to receive gifts they will not use.
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Tokinomo
JANUARY 22, 2025
Retail media is rapidly transforming how brands connect with consumers, but succeeding in this dynamic space is far from simple. Many companies struggle to unlock their full potential, held back by complex challenges that demand innovative solutions. In this article, we explore the critical retail media challenges and provide fresh strategies to help brands stay ahead, build resilience, and drive meaningful results.
Retail Focus
JANUARY 2, 2025
Its that time of year again when we can sit down, pour ourselves a little (or indeed large) glass of something, and reminisce about the year that was. It is fair to say that retail has had its ups and down in 2024, with plenty of challenges accompanying the good times. While certain trends that were apparent this year may not be as key in 2025, others will continue into the next year and beyond, playing a major role in shaping customer demand.
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.
Retail TouchPoints
JANUARY 9, 2025
NRF 2025: Retails Big Show will return to New York Citys Javits Center January 12-14, with attendees from all over the globe converging on the Big Apple to visit the more than 1,000 exhibitors and attend the 175 sessions, starting with AI and continuing through the entire retail alphabet. Last years show drew approximately 40,000 attendees. High-profile speakers at the 2025 event will include: Tracee Ellis Ross, Founder, Pattern Beauty ; Pete Nordstrom, President, Nordstrom ; Joshua Schulman, CE
Retail Gazette
JANUARY 13, 2025
Asda chairman Allan Leighton has launched his first set of cost-cutting at the grocer, following its disastrous Christmas period. The beleaguered supermarket cut roles for 13 regional managers last week under a shake-up designed to reduce headcount and improve performance, The Telegraph reported. The cost-cutting measures come after Asda delivered its worst Christmas since 2015, with sales falling 5.8% during the 12 weeks to 29 December, according to data from Kantar.
Experience Retail Today brings together the best content for retail owners from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Inside Retail
JANUARY 13, 2025
If you don’t have your narrative set, someone else will tell your story, said Katie Welch, the chief marketing officer of Rare Beauty. That was one of the key messages delivered on the second day of Retails Big Show, the National Retail Federations (NRF) annual conference and expo, which is being held in New York City this week. Major players in the retail industry like Tracee Ellis Ross, the founder and co-CEO of Pattern Beauty; Tommy Hilfiger, founder of the iconic eponymous apparel bran
Tokinomo
JANUARY 22, 2025
In an era of rapid change in consumer behavior and retail dynamics, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) brands are turning to new strategies to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Among these, in-store retail media has become a game-changer, offering brands a unique opportunity to connect with shoppers at the point of purchase. This article delves into the power of in-store retail media, highlighting its benefits for CPG brands, its role in shaping the shopper experience, and the emerging trends drivi
Retail Focus
JANUARY 20, 2025
Festive sales at Battersea Power Station increased by 13.4% in November and December 2024 and footfall grew by 11% compared to the same period in 2023, as the riverside neighbourhood celebrated its best Christmas to date. By the end of 2024, the riverside destination had welcomed more than 26 million visitors since the Grade II listed Power Station and Electric Boulevard, the neighbourhoods pedestrianised high street, opened to the public in October 2022.
Retail TouchPoints
JANUARY 8, 2025
Ulta Beauty has teamed up with Instacart to offer same-day delivery from its more than 1,400 stores acrossthe U.S. in as fast as one hour. Instacart customers can now shop a wide selection of skin care, hair care, cosmetics, fragrances and wellness products from Ulta. The partnership also integrates Ulta Beauty Rewards into the Instacart app , allowing members to earn points on every Ulta Beauty purchase made via Instacart by linking their accounts through Ulta Beauty’s storefront.
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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
Retail Gazette
JANUARY 15, 2025
Frasers Group has confirmed that two-thirds of its retail staff remain on zero-hours contracts ahead of new legislation aimed to limit their use. The retail giant, which was recently booted from the FTSE 100, told MPs examining the proposals to improve protection for workers that 11,500 staff members remained on the contracts and were not given any compensation even if shifts were changed at the last minute.
Hyken
JANUARY 14, 2025
This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions and more: What is hospitality mentality? What role does storytelling play in creating memorable customer experiences? Why is meeting or exceeding customer expectations important in the hospitality industry? How do personal interactions complement technology in creating a seamless customer service experience?
Inside Retail
JANUARY 14, 2025
Last week, a new addition to Kmarts product range made Alex Gransbury rethink his approach to patenting. He was on a call with one of his Dreamfarm employees when he first heard that one of his inventions had been copied and pasted. For Gransbury, who has invented products in a MacGyver-like fashion for over 22 years, designing new products that are fit-for-purpose and exceed customer expectations.
A1 Retail
JANUARY 21, 2025
The collection features more than 40 affordable and stylish wardrobe staples across womenswear and menswear, adapted to meet a range of needs Developed alongside award-winning adaptive fashion designer and disability campaigner Victoria Jenkins, the range will be available in 31 stores nationwide and through the 113 UK stores offering Click & Collect from Tuesday 28th January New research highlights the challenges and frustrations disabled people face when it comes to fashion and buying
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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.
Retail Focus
JANUARY 7, 2025
Aldi is set to continue its expansion in Scotland, confirming today it plans to invest more than 40m over the next two years, opening three new stores in Arbroath, Baillieston and Kirkintilloch in 2025. The investment supports the retailers growth ambitions north of the border and will allow it to keep up with growing consumer demand. In 2024, Aldi celebrated 30 years in Scotland, having opened its first store in Kilmarnock in 1994.
Retail TouchPoints
JANUARY 13, 2025
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a headline topic at the National Retail Federations annual Big Show , and NVIDIA is undoubtedly one of the companies leading the industrys innovation in this sector. Typically known for its Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), which power breakthrough technologies for companies like Meta and Open AI , NVIDIA is now staking a claim in the retail industry by powering solutions for companies ranging from LOral to Lowes and Walmart.
Retail Gazette
JANUARY 8, 2025
Home Bargains billionaire owner has paid himself more than 1bn as the discount chains sales topped 4.2bn. Tom Morris, who owns 98% of TJ Morris, the firm behind the retailer, received the majority of the 1.22bn in dividends and asset distributions last year, CityAM reported. The payout came as pre-tax profits for Home Bargains surged 35% to 454.8m in the year to 30 June, up from 336.5m.
Retail TouchPoints
JANUARY 15, 2025
Actress Tracee Ellis Ross started building her vision for Pattern Beauty while starring on the sitcom Girlfriends , but it was her lifelong experience as a curly girly (a woman with curled and coiled hair) that inspired the idea and was validated by generations of women with similar experiences. I wanted to actually create products that supported hair the way it grew out of its head not to straighten it or anything, Ross said during a conversation with Business of Fashion s Sheena Butler-Young
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.
Retail TouchPoints
JANUARY 16, 2025
As digital experiences have evolved over the past few years, personalization and emotional connection have become central to customer engagement strategy for companies. According to Forresters U.S. Customer Experience Index (CX Index ) rankings , only 3% of companies are currently customer-obsessed and put their customers needs front and center. Which is completely counterintuitive.
Retail TouchPoints
JANUARY 3, 2025
Given that different cannabis products can produce a wide range of effects among consumers, one of the biggest challenges facing cannabis retailers is matching the right product with the right customer. To the newbie consumer, theres a confusing welter of terms like indica and sativa as well as the multiplying variations of edible products, each with different levels of THC and other ingredients that affect the products impact.
Retail TouchPoints
JANUARY 23, 2025
Following a raft of stores closures in 2024, retail advisory firm Coresight Research predicts that closures will escalate further this year, to approximately 15,000. Store openings are expected to remain steady at approximately 5,800 (compared to 5,970 in 2024), but that would still represent a net loss of more than 9,000 stores. Supporting these expectations is the fact that more than 2,000 planned closures already are underway this year.
Retail TouchPoints
JANUARY 20, 2025
The holiday season brings a surge in shopping, both in-store and online. From mountains of packaging to returned products that may contain hazardous materials, management of returned, damaged or expired products becomes increasingly complex and voluminous during the holidays and post-holiday season. Retailers must navigate these challenges while staying compliant with regulations so they can ensure smooth operations and demonstrate environmental responsibility.
Advertiser: ZoomInfo
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.
Retail TouchPoints
JANUARY 6, 2025
The re-emergence of tariffs on the global trade horizon has once again thrust the retail industry into uncertainty. While policymakers often champion tariffs as a mechanism to protect domestic industries, their ripple effects are far-reaching, inflating costs, disrupting supply chains and, ultimately, burdening consumers. As retailers brace for this looming economic shift, learning from past experiences and implementing forward-thinking strategies is paramount to mitigating risk and seizing oppo
Retail TouchPoints
JANUARY 31, 2025
At their very core, brick-and-mortar stores are meant to be the physical manifestation of a brand a distillation of its promise and the experience it aims to create for shoppers and associates alike. Now, as new marketing and advertising formats venture further into the store, store teams must work more thoughtfully to ensure these touch points are intentionally integrated into their designs.
Retail TouchPoints
JANUARY 3, 2025
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has sued Walmart and Branch Messenger , alleging that the partners forced the third-party delivery drivers in Walmarts Spark Driver program to use costly deposit accounts to access their earnings and in the process harvested more than $10 million in fees from the workers. Walmarts Spark Driver program uses gig workers to make last-mile deliveries from Walmart stores across the U.S.
Retail TouchPoints
JANUARY 7, 2025
With the holiday season out of the way, next to come is a wave of returns that will stretch into the new year. Given the heightened focus on return policies during this period, it is an opportune time for customer fulfillment leaders to raise awareness within their organizations about a persistent challenge confronting retailers: the rise in retail returns fraud.
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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.
Retail TouchPoints
JANUARY 9, 2025
Barnes & Noble will open approximately 60 stores this year, according to reporting in the Financial Times (FT). The retailer, owned by Elliott Investment Management along with the UK bookseller Waterstones , opened 57 stores in the U.S. and 12 in the UK last year. The retailer currently operates 650 stores. Waterstones Managing Director James Daunt, who also leads Barnes & Noble, told FT that last year represented a really significant expansion, and that the company plans to do that or m
Retail TouchPoints
JANUARY 1, 2025
Delivering a smooth and frictionless post-purchase experience should be a top priority for every retailer. According to PwC, businesses that reduce friction for consumers and empower all employees to make things right whether through returns, price adjustments or other policies bring higher customer satisfaction and more forgiveness. This point is critical because even when customers love a company or product, 59% of shoppers in the U.S. will walk away from a business after several bad experie
Retail TouchPoints
JANUARY 24, 2025
Ebay , DoorDash , Instacart and Uber are among the companies that have signed on to participate in the research preview of OpenAI s new AI agent interface, called Operator. OpenAI describes Operator as an agent that can go to the web to perform tasks for you. Similar to other agentic AI tools from companies like Google , Salesforce and Perplexity , Operator acts as a virtual assistant, autonomously performing tasks across the internet, including online shopping, ordering groceries, filling out f
Retail TouchPoints
JANUARY 13, 2025
With the holiday season just concluded, the challenge of managing merchandise returns is a reality for many retailers. According to the latest data from the National Retail Federation (NRF), merchandise returns are projected to reach an astounding $890 billion in 2024, accounting for approximately 16.9% of sales. While this underscores the inevitability of returns, it also highlights the need for retailers to refine their digital strategies.
Speaker: Ethan Woolley, Director at Kharon
This webinar will explore how companies can proactively address compliance risks–rather than reactively responding to–UFLPA enforcement actions. Ethan Woolley will provide insights into the latest CBP enforcement trends, entity list updates, and industries under increased scrutiny, with a look at potential shifts under the Trump administration. Ethan will also explore how predictive data and strategic due diligence can help organizations stay ahead of regulatory challenges and strengthen complia
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