Blogs
March 2021
Mar 29
Social Justice Plays a Growing Role in Retail
Protests over mass shootings, attacks on Asian and Black Americans, and lack of diversity have roiled the retail landscape. In response, retailers are pledging action. Will shoppers buy it?
February 2021
Feb 24
Why Retailers Are Learning to Love Robots
The pandemic lit a fire under retailers to expand the use of robotics, but COVID-19 is not the only accelerant.
Feb 01
Rethinking the Post-Pandemic “Store of the Future”
Attempts to create a “store of the future” are littered with failure due to gimmicky concepts that over-promised and under-delivered. Here are concepts that change the rules and work.
January 2021
Jan 13
Hip Hop Legend Inspires at RetailROI SuperFriday
Darryl McDaniels, superstar founder of Run-DMC, learned he was in foster care and adopted at age 35. His inspiring story exemplifies the mission of RetailROI’s SuperFriday event.
December 2020
Dec 22
Hello 2021, Farewell Year of Chaos
The year of chaos is finally ending. However, instead of doomscrolling, here’s a look at tectonic shifts and lessons learned that will continue to transform retail in 2021.
Dec 14
Who Are the Top Software Vendors in Retail?
There is one sure way to find out who the top software vendors in retail are – checking out the 2021 RIS Software LeaderBoard. Here is an inside look at this year’s leading tech vendors in retail.
November 2020
Nov 19
Store Closures Mask Retail as an Investment Hot Spot
Stories about store closures and bankruptcies mask the fact that retail is an active investment hot spot where cash flows, IPOs flourish, and opportunities boom. Here’s the rundown.
October 2020
Oct 26
Will It Take a Supply Chain Moonshot to Save Apparel?
There have been 97 major retail bankruptcies in the last four years. A big majority (57%) were in apparel. Clearly, the apparel business model is broken. Here’s how to fix it.
September 2020
Sep 28
Voice Transforms Kiosks from Touchscreen to Touchless
Development of voice-recognition technology is shifting into high gear as contactless methods gain importance during the pandemic for touchless ordering, payment and a wide range of retail services.
Sep 16
Pandemic Lessons Learned: Fixing Supply Chain Blind Spots
Blind spots were exposed in the retail supply chain during the pandemic. The RIS Supply Chain Technology Study 2020 identifies them and recommends investments to help retailers recover quickly from future disruptions.
August 2020
Aug 31
Planning for a 2020 Holiday Season Like No Other
Holiday planning 2020 will be “like no other,” according to Kohl’s CEO, Michelle Gass. To succeed, retailers need to make sharp adjustments to align with changes in consumer behavior caused by the at-home economy.
July 2020
Jul 27
How Kroger Solved the ROI of Home Delivery
Some of retail’s smartest brains believe profitable home delivery, especially in grocery, can’t be done. Kroger proves them wrong.
Jul 13
Why “Essential” Is the Gangster Move in Retail
The pandemic has had a profound impact on shopper behavior and retail success, but will it last? One thing will. “Essential” retailing. Find out why.
June 2020
Jun 29
Kroger Tech Investments Deliver Impressive ROI
The big lesson learned from Kroger’s recent quarterly report is that its massive investment in technology, which Wall Street considered risky, is delivering huge returns.
Jun 10
Time to Break Up a Broken Supply Chain
Many shoppers experienced break downs in the retail supply chain during the crisis. This exposed a decades-old, slow-to-change system that needs kicking into high gear.
May 2020
May 27
Retail’s Moonshot Moment: Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity
Retailers have a unique opportunity to shoot for the moon and re-engineer their businesses after coronavirus.
May 06
Retail Heroes Stand Tall in Tough Times
Store associates have become heroes by supplying essential items during the pandemic. Now, as stores reopen, retailers need to live up to the high bar set by their frontline workers.
Retail matters today like never before.
April 2020
Apr 22
Spring Season Merchandise Is Dead, Now What?
Will stores be able to sell spring inventory when they fully open? Unfortunately, no, and, moreover, surplus inventory will have long-lasting effects.
Apr 08
Coronavirus Response: Best Practices Emerge for Retail
The urgent question among retailers today is, who’s doing it right? Fortunately, best practices for responding to the pandemic are emerging. Here’s a smart, targeted list.
March 2020
Mar 25
Retailing Post-Coronavirus: Part 2
There are two big questions in retail today: What can we do now and how can we plan for the future? Here are answers provided by experts in a follow up blog that incorporates insider feedback.
Mar 16
Retailing Post-Coronavirus: What to Expect
An altered landscape will emerge for both consumers and retailers after Covid-19 passes. Here’s a look at some long-lasting effects to plan for.
February 2020
Feb 26
CBD and Alcohol: Big Buzz in Retail
Despite store closings and ghosted malls, one strategy in retail is experiencing a period of high times.
Feb 05
Three Supermarkets Collapse in a Week: Turmoil Ahead for Grocers
Three regional grocers declared bankruptcy in a week – Earth Fare, Lucky’s Market and Fairway. Here’s why this turmoil will likely spread to the big national chains.
January 2020
Jan 29
Rebirth of the Resilient Store: 2020 Store Experience Study
Say “goodbye” to the 2010s with its brick-and-mortar turmoil and “hello” to the 2020s when the essential beauty and strength of stores converge with the intelligence and efficiency of digital technology.
Jan 27
Inside Vitamin Shoppe’s Reinvention and Store Transformation
Change agents Sharon Leite, CEO, and Andy Laudato, COO, of the Vitamin Shoppe offer an inside look at how the 750-store retailer transformed its business model and reinvented its stores.
Jan 15
NRF 2020: MegaTakeaways Overheard at the Big Show
The NRF Big Show is the world’s greatest showcase for technology designed to create exceptional shopping experiences. Retailers go to the show to listen and learn.
December 2019
Dec 15
Smart Stores for Smart Shoppers
Say adios to a record number of stores that failed in 2019. They will not be missed except as an example of what not to do. Find out specific steps to take to avoid making 2020 another record year.
Dec 09
Top 10 Software Vendors in Retail
Customer feedback is critical to every retailer and essential to the "2020 RIS Software LeaderBoard." Based on retailer feedback, here are the top-10 software vendors of the year.
November 2019
Nov 20
5G Timeline and Everything Retailers Need to Know
Digital transformation and the store of the future are impossible without advanced data networks. Fortunately, the rollout of 5G will be a gamechanger that supports the next generation of retail services and in-store innovations.
October 2019
Oct 28
Where Do Walmart, Nike and REI Stand?
By taking a stand on social issues retailers risk alienating 30%-40% of their customers, so why do it? Because taking a stand adds a layer of meaning to a retailer’s brand image and deepens engagement with shoppers.
Oct 02
What Retailers Can Learn from Iron Man
Whenever Iron Man gets into trouble he requests data-backed options from Jarvis. Jarvis is not a superhero. He is an advanced analytics engine, a futuristic example of real-world technology retailers can use to win their battles in the marketplace.
September 2019
Sep 25
American Dream Launches New Era of Wireless Connectivity
Everything about the American Dream complex is wildly ambitious including its massive connectivity needs. To solve them, the cutting-edge megamall is pioneering new wireless technology that promises to be a game changer.
Sep 16
Break through Gatekeepers of AI-Voice Communication
When I met Jon Stine I immediately knew he was thinking several moves ahead in the retail tech game most of us were playing. Now Jon has moved to the Open Voice Network. Here’s why that matters.
August 2019
Aug 22
How the Art of Merchandising Should (and Should Not) Work
One of the hottest trends today is the expansion of fresh products in virtually every segment of retail. The trend is a perfect case study of how the art of merchandising should (and should not) work.
Aug 07
2019 Shopper MegaTrends: Hot or Not
Emotional connections are the secret to success for retailers who have strategically built deep relationships with their customers. Find out which retailers, strategies and technologies are the keys to making emotional connections.
July 2019
Jul 15
7 Ways Retailers Can Steal Amazon Prime Day
The mad rush to capitalize on the Amazon Prime Day juggernaut is the latest proof that retail is a copycat industry. But can copycats beat the leader? Here's how retailers can steal Amazon Prime Day's thunder.
Jul 01
How AI Will Kill Traditional Merchandising Methods
After cutting through hype about the role of artificial intelligence in retailing one thing is certain – it will drive a stake through the heart of linear merchandising processes and managing by averages.
June 2019
Jun 05
Race for Competitive Advantage Reshapes the Grocery Landscape
Fear of falling behind omnichannel shoppers is driving grocers to deploy new technology at a furious pace. This tipping point is analyzed in depth in the recently released "2019 Grocery Tech Trends Study."
May 2019
May 22
Self-Service: Where Retailer and Shopper Goals Overlap
Resolving the brick-and-mortar dilemma of divergent shopper and retailer goals is an urgent task for retailers. Fortunately, there is one strategy where they overlap – self-service technologies.
May 06
Embracing an Agile Mindset at Aptos Engage 2019
The 2019 Aptos Engage conference hit many powerful notes currently resonating in retail, including AI, microservices architecture, personalization, digital transformation and more. But the most important may have been the embrace of an agile mindset.
April 2019
Apr 10
Why Retailers Struggle in a Ferocious Labor Market
A tight labor market multiplies workforce management issues, which is bad enough, but even worse is struggling with shockingly inadequate labor forecast accuracy.
Apr 03
Retail at Crossroads: Investment, Re-Investment and Reinvention
Reinventing retail is not an option. It is an obligation to the consumer. These takeaways from the 2019 RIS Retail Technology Study will help you chart a strategic course.
March 2019
Mar 20
Store Closures 2019: Another Record Year for Mass Extinction
Earth’s mass extinctions discovered in the fossil record are tragic. For the losers. Survivors, however, benefit and thrive. The same is true in retail.
Mar 18
Microservices and Cloud 2.0: What You Need to Know
Phase one of retail’s cloud revolution is well underway, but even as it gains momentum a second phase is emerging that will transform software architecture, platforms and infrastructure.
Mar 06
Straight Talk from ShopTalk 2019
If you want a good snapshot of the the drivers of change in the retail industry directly from those doing the driving, go to ShopTalk. After three days in Las Vegas and participating in dozens of sessions and industry conversations, here is the best of ShopTalk 2019.
February 2019
Feb 11
Retail's Centenarians: Weathering Storms of Disruption for More Than 100 Years
Retail plays a decisive role in the economy in terms of revenue, labor and influence, which makes it important to give recognition to retailers that have weathered storms of change and disruption for more than 100 years.
January 2019
Jan 28
Invest, Reinvest and Disrupt: 2019 Recipe for Retail Success
Target is surging right now and CEO Brian Cornell feels the need to explain why. At the recent NRF Big Show, Cornell said 2018 was the best year Target had in a decade and the reason was investment, reinvestment and disruption.
Jan 16
NRF 2019: Dawn of Experiential Shopping
Exuberance and a superabundance of innovative technologies were defining characteristics of the just completed 2019 NRF Big Show. Here is my take on all the hottest trends, technologies and breaking news that came out of the amazing NRF Big Show!
Jan 10
Why Is There a Robot in My Store?
Robots are no longer science-fiction fantasies. On the contrary, they have already transformed supply chain operations and entering the store is the next logical step. For some retailers it is happening today.
Jan 07
Where Boots Hit the Ground for Digital Transformation
The most successful retailers today – the ones enjoying the largest revenue gains – began making substantial investments in digital transformation several years ago and are now reaping the rewards. Find out where they invested and why.
December 2018
Dec 05
2019 Oscars of Retail Technology Announced
The annual RIS Software LeaderBoard is one of the most eagerly anticipated and influential studies in retail technology. Now we can finally reveal the big winners for 2019.
November 2018
Nov 12
The Dawn of AI-Driven Price Management
Want to devastate your financial performance? Simple. Get pricing wrong. And yet, 42% of retailers still primarily use spreadsheets for pricing and 34% use internally built software.
October 2018
Oct 31
Disruption Rules at GroceryShop: Albertsons, Instacart, Boxed, Schnucks
Disruptive change was the clear focus of the just concluded GroceryShop event in Las Vegas, where grocers and food brands caught up with the latest innovations in artificial intelligence, computer vision, robotics, machine learning, voice command and autonomous delivery.
Oct 24
Why Shoppers Want Amazon More Than Any Other Retailer
Amazon Prime is the most successful membership program the retail world has ever known. Amazon blew up the traditional model when it created Prime and launched something new and overwhelmingly successful.
Oct 15
5 Shopper Study Megatrends
Shoppers tell RIS they want retailers to reinvent boring mobile apps, reinvigorate dying stores, personalize offers, and add technology to the shopping journey to make it convenient and compelling.
Oct 01
POS: A Massive Tech Problem Looking for a Solution
Retailers have long known POS systems have become a tech problem looking for a solution – massive, expensive and difficult to upgrade.
September 2018
Sep 17
The Growing Role of AI in the Store
More has changed in retail in the last 10 years than in the previous 100. Nowhere is this more evident than in brick-and-mortar stores, which are currently undergoing reinvention.
August 2018
Aug 08
Avoiding the Retail Tech Vendor Apocalypse
Your business is what you do. Your reputation is what people think you do. This is a harsh truth of the marketplace and one that can be painful to retail tech vendors.
July 2018
Jul 09
Ocado: The Tesla of Grocery
Every so often technology emerges that is so far ahead of everything else it seems like magic. Ocado, builder of the Ocado Smart Platform of automated robotic systems for grocery warehouses, falls into this category..
Jul 02
Personalization's Next Phase: Hacking Human Senses
Mega-retailers and mega-vendors are aggressively investing in ways to hack our basic human senses. They are using biological data and human emotion algorithms that fuse the physical, digital and biological spheres.