Know What's Happening in Retail
Know What's Happening in Retail
AI start‑ups deploy virtual‑try‑on tech to slash $850 billion retail return losses
AI start‑ups such as Catches are launching virtual‑try‑on platforms that create realistic digital twins of shoppers, aiming to reduce the retail sector’s $850 billion return problem. The National Retail Federation reports that 15.8% of U.S. sales – 19.3% online – were returned in 2025, eroding margins. Generative AI and cheap cloud compute now make these tools cost‑effective.
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Lowe’s MyLowe’s Pro Rewards program offers contractors free standard shipping and same‑day delivery on eligible orders over $25, subject to weight and size limits. Members also gain upgraded purchasing tools, including volume discounts, Scan‑to‑Pay, order quoting, and Pro Business Solutions that analyze spend. A standout perk is a 20% discount on new paint cans once annual paint spend exceeds $3,000. The program is free to join, but benefits reset each January, encouraging ongoing loyalty.
Target celebrated the opening of its 2,000th U.S. store in Fuquay‑Varina, North Carolina, marking the largest physical‑store expansion in its recent history. The retailer pledged $5 billion for 2026, with more than $1 billion earmarked for new locations and remodels, and plans...
Nordstrom’s Spring Beauty Savings Event offers a rare 15% discount on luxury brands such as Charlotte Tilbury, Hermès, Dior, and Tom Ford, with deeper cuts of 25% on Estée Lauder/Lancôme and 20% on MAC. The promotion runs through March 15 and includes free gift...
UK supermarkets have begun deploying live facial‑recognition cameras to curb shoplifting, scanning every shopper in real time. The technology matches faces against law‑enforcement and private watchlists, aiming to deter theft before it occurs. Campaign groups, led by Big Brother Watch,...
Target Plus is Target’s invite‑only online marketplace that partners with select U.S. third‑party retailers. Launched in 2019, it now hosts more than 1,500 curated brands and charges a referral commission of 5%‑15% per sale, with no setup or monthly fees....
The episode explains how Dick’s Sporting Goods’ app surged to #3 on the Apple App Store’s free chart, not because of its retail brand but due to a viral AI‑related news cycle involving Anthropic’s Claude. The boost was driven by...
The episode discusses Kroger's deployment of Corvus Robotics' autonomous inventory drones, called Corvus 1, in sub‑freezing warehouse environments to perform cycle counts without human intervention. Hosts Chris and Jen highlight how the drones operate without Wi‑Fi, markers, or infrastructure changes,...
Costco CEO Ron Backris announced that any tariff refunds the company receives will be passed directly to members through lower prices and greater value, pledging full transparency on how the savings are applied. The statement came after a U.S. Court...
Walmart is rolling out digital shelf label technology to all 4,600 U.S. stores, creating the largest electronic shelf label deployment ever. The system, supplied by Vusion, lets associates change prices via a mobile app and includes Stock‑to‑Light and Pick‑to‑Light features...
Urban Outfitters has introduced a Vans shop‑in‑shop at its Herald Square flagship, featuring custom‑built structures, live camera feeds and a curated mix of sneakers, apparel and accessories. The activation also incorporates musicians Thomas Day and Juliet Ivy, marking the first...
In this episode, David Gottlieb (CRO of Form) and Jeff Wrona (VP of Product, Image Recognition at Form) discuss the strategic merger of Form and Trax Retail, highlighting how the combined platform delivers best‑in‑class task management and computer‑vision capabilities for...
Heineken announced it will intensify its focus on India, calling the country the world’s biggest untapped beer market. The brewer, which controls United Breweries and the Kingfisher brand, already commands close to 50% of Indian beer sales. It cites structural...
Former Lululemon founder Chip Wilson has launched a new website accusing the brand of losing its way and demanding a "quantum of change" at the retailer. Wilson, who pioneered the athleisure concept and exited the company years ago, has intensified...
Buy‑Now‑Pay‑Later platform Sunbit has hired Shachar Scott as its first chief marketing officer, bringing experience from Snap, Bumble and Meta Reality Labs. Scott sees the role as a "zero‑to‑one" opportunity to build product, brand and communications from the ground up...
ShopMy’s February Top 10 data, shared exclusively with Line Sheet, shows a sharp surge in U.S. demand for “easy pants,” the unfussy, comfort‑focused trousers dominating online searches. The same period highlights white flats as a pervasive footwear trend, appearing across multiple...
Choosing the right point‑of‑sale (POS) system is now a strategic decision for retailers, as modern platforms combine inventory, payments, reporting, and omnichannel capabilities into a single cloud‑based hub. In 2026 the market is led by Vibe, Square, Shopify, Lightspeed, and...
Artificial intelligence has moved from pilot projects to core infrastructure across B2B and B2C ecommerce, with 95.5% of surveyed firms reporting at least one AI capability. Companies are applying AI to both front‑end experiences—such as product discovery, chatbots and personalization—and...
Shopify announced that its new "agentic storefronts" will be available inside ChatGPT later this month. The feature taps the Shopify Catalog to syndicate product information across AI assistants while preserving Shopify’s standard checkout and payment processes. OpenAI’s recent decision to...
Store openings often falter not because of fixtures or POS issues, but due to chaotic back‑of‑house operations. The article outlines a checklist that treats stockroom and receiving as a launch system, defining zones, ownership, and verification steps. By establishing clear...
Stitch Fix reported a 9.4% rise in Q2 net revenue to $341.3 million, marking its second consecutive quarter of growth despite a 0.5% contraction in the broader U.S. apparel market. CEO Matt Baer credited enhancements to assortment, client experience, and new...
Best Buy is offering open‑box MacBook Neo laptops for $568, roughly $30 below the $599 MSRP, shortly after Apple launched the device on March 11. The Neo, an entry‑level 13‑inch notebook, runs the A18 Pro chip, 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD, targeting...
Regional supermarket chain Big Y announced a $130 million expansion to add six new stores in Massachusetts and two in Connecticut. The investment moves the retailer toward its goal of 100 locations by its 100th anniversary in 2036. The plan includes...
Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) is rolling out 63 new private‑label products in Q1 2026, expanding its AWG Brands portfolio across Best Choice, Superior Selections, Tippy Toes, TopCare and Simply Done. The additions span grocery, household and infant categories, emphasizing both...
Weis Markets posted a robust fourth quarter, with revenue climbing 5% to $1.3 billion driven by a 21% surge in ecommerce sales and higher pharmacy volumes. Comparable sales excluding fuel rose 2.5%, and full‑year revenue reached $4.96 billion, up 3.5% YoY. Despite...
Salomon, an outdoor‑apparel brand under Amer Sports, has traditionally focused on Europe and North America. The launch of Casa Salomon in Mexico City marks its first flagship in Latin America, a region where outdoor recreation and urban running are growing...
The USDA unveiled an updated food pyramid on Jan. 7, 2026, and Acosta’s shopper community found that 80% of consumers were aware of it within three weeks. Respondents said they plan to buy more fruits and vegetables while cutting back on...
Bombas has launched Bombas Sport, a dedicated performance sock sub‑line targeting activities such as running, skiing, and studio workouts. The new line has driven a 40% year‑over‑year increase in new customers and nearly doubled repeat purchases, pushing performance products to...
Reebok announced a high‑profile return to performance soccer, signing striker Dušan Vlahović and unveiling its upcoming "Sidewinder" cleat. In parallel, Amazon won a preliminary injunction forcing AI search startup Perplexity to destroy data harvested from its site, highlighting growing legal...
Kroger is running a limited‑time promotion that awards four‑times fuel points on all third‑party gift cards purchased between March 13 and March 15, and on fixed‑value Visa and Mastercard gift cards through March 17. Amazon and Kroger fuel cards are excluded, earning the...
A joint SparkToro and Gumshoe.ai study found that AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude and Google AI produce wildly inconsistent brand and product recommendations. Across nearly 3,000 prompts from 600 volunteers, the generated rankings changed almost every time, with no...
A YouGov study reveals that Gen Z remains strongly attached to brick‑and‑mortar retail, with 22 % visiting clothing stores at least monthly—twice the rate of the general population. Over half (51 %) browse in‑store to see what’s available, and 15 % convert online discoveries...
I was on a call with a high-end ecommerce brand this week, and they said something that stuck with me. They wanted the online experience to feel like walking into a luxury store. Calm. Confident. Easy. What they didn't want was the...
What is the marginal value of every ad you create? This is a critical metric to understand what you should be willing to pay for each asset you create. No different than COGs vs. MSRP. This idea is the starting point for...
Jefferies analyst Randal Konik says Nike’s wholesale business is regaining momentum at Dick’s Sporting Goods, citing strong product‑led demand and collaborative activations. He highlights that both Dick’s and Foot Locker have completed inventory clean‑ups, removing pressure on Nike’s sell‑through. Konik notes...
Prime Day’s three‑day lead‑up demands a repricing overhaul, not just standard tactics like Lightning Deals or higher PPC. Typical repricing rules, built for stable markets, either underprice high‑demand moments or lose the Buy Box amid rapid price swings. The article...
Austrian e‑commerce provider Niceshops reported a 20 percent revenue jump to €169 million in fiscal 2025, alongside an EBITDA increase to €8 million. After cutting 20 percent of its workforce in 2024, the firm now employs roughly 400 staff and serves 1.3 million active customers...
H‑E‑B announced plans to construct a new supermarket on a dormant landfill in Buda, Texas, backed by more than $20 million in public incentives. The retailer will fund land remediation and roadway upgrades, while the city and county cover up to...
Boll & Branch, a $300 million luxury bedding retailer, narrowly avoided a return‑fraud scheme when a scammer used generative AI to submit a fabricated photo of a ripped sheet. The AI‑generated image contained a visible watermark, which the seven‑person CX team flagged...
EuroShop 2026 in Düsseldorf showcased a decisive shift in physical retail toward intelligent, adaptable, and experience‑focused stores. Brands are embedding AI and digital merchandising directly into fixtures, turning the shop floor into a connected ecosystem. Modular displays and reconfigurable lighting...
Regional grocers like Publix face pressure from both low‑price discounters and high‑tech mega‑retailers. Dunnhumby’s retailer scorecard highlights Costco, WinCo, Trader Joe’s and Aldi as the most threatening competitors due to their quality‑and‑value mix. Publix’s consumer insights leader, Lorin Drake, says Costco’s...
Cornish Bakery is launching a new licensed concept called RISE, extending its brand into larger, community‑focused bakeries across the UK. The first three RISE locations—Betws‑y‑Coed, Portsmouth’s Gunwharf Quays, and Falmouth—will feature expanded floor space, extended trading hours, and a menu...
Instead of racing to the bottom as consumers double down on price, race to the top with pricing transparency. How Retailers Can Navigate 2026 Now That Price Has Become The Deciding Factor via @forbes https://t.co/RlfcUY7DPZ
Vessi, a Canada‑based direct‑to‑consumer sneaker brand, leverages its patented Dyma‑tex fabric to sell waterproof yet breathable shoes. Director of ecommerce Ray Hua explains that Meta ads dominate customer acquisition, while TikTok and Reddit generate traffic with low conversion quality. The...
Odette, a direct‑to‑consumer fashion brand founded in 2021, announced a June 2026 launch of a kidswear line and an aggressive rollout to 100 exclusive brand outlets by FY ’28. The company already operates over 35 stores across major Indian metros and is...
Convenience‑store operators are re‑imagining car washes as profit centers, adding subscription plans and digital loyalty ties to drive recurring revenue. Circle K’s parent runs standalone brands Clean Freak and Rainstorm, while Loop Neighborhood Market runs an app‑only subscription model that links...
India’s airports are evolving into major fashion destinations as passenger traffic tops 350 million annually, driving a surge in non‑aeronautical revenue. Retailers such as Marks & Spencer, Levi’s and luxury houses like Hugo Boss are expanding storefronts across existing and upcoming terminals, despite rents...
This week on the Mobile Dev Memo podcast, I interview Criteo’s CEO about the company’s RecSys system for retail use cases, its Criteo GO automation platform, and its recently-announced partnership with OpenAI. https://t.co/Tuy7wrnLJg
Happy Belly Food Group plans to open 30‑50 new restaurants across Canada this year, building on strong same‑store sales despite industry cost pressures. The expansion will focus on four core brands—Yolks, Rosie’s, Heal and iQ Food—and target growth markets in...
The One Group will rebrand five underperforming Kona Grill locations to its sister concepts Benihana or STK, part of a broader portfolio optimization after consecutive years of double‑digit same‑store sales declines. Conversions are slated to cost between $1 million and $1.5 million...
In this episode, Vessi’s Director of E‑commerce, Ray, explains how the D2C waterproof sneaker brand grew from a Kickstarter launch to double‑digit annual growth by focusing on a lightweight, breathable Diamond‑knit technology and a community‑first marketing strategy. He highlights the...
