by Christel Grizaut The COVID-19 pandemic forced retailers to improvise and rapidly implement sweeping changes as they struggled to survive. Now, the chaos is gradually giving way to a new order, and as they look to 2022, many businesses are finally hoping for a more orderly and “normal” year. However, there is a catch: many […]
Retail News
Trending CBD Products for the New Year
In order to help continue to boost consumer confidence, the National Industrial Hemp Council of America is the next trade group getting involved in testing and labeling standards for hemp-derived CBD. Without any guidance from the FDA thus far, NIHC is stepping up to develop their own testing standards and labeling protocols that they believe […]
Independent Retailers & the US Labor Market
by Lauren Winans The disappointing November jobs report saved its worst news for retailers. Even with the holiday shopping season in more or less full swing, retailers lost 20,000 jobs during that month. Meanwhile, according to credit card issuer Mastercard, retail sales over the holiday season — defined as November 1st through December 24th — […]
LaserShip Study Highlights Consumers’ Growing Demands
by LaserShip The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to ecommerce and transformed consumer behavior and purchasing habits that require retailers to adapt, according to the results of a new study released by LaserShip, the largest regional ecommerce parcel carrier in the U.S. and leader in last-mile delivery. Consumers still overwhelmingly prefer home delivery over buy […]
Memberships are the New Loyalty Programs
Retailers have been using loyalty programs to turn new customers into returning shoppers for years. In 2016, the consumer loyalty management market was valued at almost $2 billion. By 2023, that figure is expected to reach nearly $7 billion — an annual compounded growth rate of nearly 21 percent. In the U.S. alone, consumers now […]
Sustainability Reigning Retail
Retail is undergoing an unprecedented transition. Ecommerce has been on the rise, and then COVID-19 happened, rocking the industry to its core as stores around the world closed and online sales skyrocketed. Amid all of these changes, sustainability has moved up the agenda for retailers and shoppers alike. Eco-Friendly Desires Increase Despite Pandemic Things did […]
6 Best Practices for Retail SMS Messaging
by Shannon Flynn More retailers are utilizing SMS messaging to engage their customers and update them on everything from new arrivals to order statuses. Text messages are one of the most direct ways of contacting a target audience. Recent research shows about 75 percent of consumers signed up for text messages from brands in the […]
Mastercard Rewards Consumers for Shopping Local
by Mastercard Consumers are shopping with intention this holiday season and prioritizing small and local businesses, according to a new Mastercard survey. In response to this growing desire to support Main Street and shop with meaning, Mastercard is rewarding cardholders when shopping local through a series of holiday campaigns in select cities nationwide. Unique Shopping […]
CryptoCurrency Paving the Way to Retail Success
An increasing number of businesses worldwide are adopting cryptocurrency as a way for consumers to pay for goods and services. Over the summer, Bitcoin Depot installed more than 700 of its Bitcoin ATM machines at Circle K convenience stores in 30 states, and they are continuing to expand in the U.S. and Canada. If this […]
Gen Z’s New Shopping Habits May Kill Off Unprepared Brands
by Mark Hook For the past decade, brands have scrambled to serve millennials, the first internet-obsessed generation that forced retailers to rethink their online-selling strategies. Now, brands are reinventing themselves for the next wave of shoppers – Gen Z, or ‘zoomers’, as they are also known. Aged between 13 and 21, zoomers are gearing up […]
