Shadow Buyers: How to Reach ‘Invisible’ Purchasers - Retail TouchPoints
Meet the shadow buyers: decision makers who research and influence purchasing decisions without leaving obvious signals of interest.| Retail TouchPoints
Tecovas, the Austin, Texas-based Western wear apparel and cowboy boot retailer, will deploy AI-powered allocation and replenishment solutions across its 30+ stores, following a pilot that increased both in-stock rates and weeks of supply. The solution, from Invent.ai, also helped boost sales for newly launched products by 20% by placing these items where customers most […]| Retail TouchPoints
Pet Supplies Plus has partnered with Instacart for deliveries in as fast as one hour from its 700+ stores across the country. The agreement also covers the 20+ Wag N’ Wash stores, the self-wash, grooming and natural pet food franchise that’s a sister brand to Pet Supplies Plus. The retailer had added a Grubhub delivery […]| Retail TouchPoints
Target is betting big on in-store experiences this holiday season, including turning its nearly 2,000 stores into Alpine Villages filled with festive décor and surprises. For the first time, the retailer also will host weekend events in each store throughout the season. Target also has created multiple seasonal promotional programs, from daily and weeklong deals […]| Retail TouchPoints
Etsy has named its current President and Chief Growth Officer, Kruti Patel Goyal, to succeed Josh Silverman as CEO, effective Dec. 31, 2025. Goyal, who has worked for Etsy since 2011 in a variety of roles, was CEO of Etsy subsidiary Depop from September 2022 through May 2025. To assist with the transition, Silverman is […]| Retail TouchPoints
The 2025 holiday season is shaping up to be driven by AI-driven discovery, economic caution and performance-obsessed marketing, and retailers are facing a simple choice: compete on price or convert through influence. But what if they had a strategy that doesn’t just sell products, but builds trust, urgency and conversion in one seamless motion? The […]| Retail TouchPoints
Ebay and publisher Condé Nast have entered a multi-year partnership aimed at accelerating the movement toward pre-loved and circular fashion. Ebay will now serve as the official Pre-Loved Partner of Condé Nast in an initiative that will span the Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, Wired, Architectural Digest, Teen Vogue and Glamour publications in the U.S., UK and Germany. The […]| Retail TouchPoints
Grubhub and Instacart are teaming up to bring a wider selection of groceries to Grubhub customers. Grubhub’s 20 million customers can now order from Instacart’s network of more than 1,000 national, regional and local grocery retailers directly through the Grubhub app and website. The experience begins rolling out on Grubhub today and will be available […]| Retail TouchPoints
Meet the shadow buyers: decision makers who research and influence purchasing decisions without leaving obvious signals of interest.| Retail TouchPoints
Lululemon has been raising its profile in big-name sports, including a 2024 partnership with the NHL and its growing roster of sports-linked spokespeople, including PGA golfers Min Woo Lee and Max Homa, ATP tennis pro Frances Tiafoe and NFL player DK Metcalf. Now the athleisurewear mainstay will seek to score a touchdown with licensed apparel […]| Retail TouchPoints
Now the retail media space must enter a further, critical evolution: creative enablement that unlocks brand investment.| Retail TouchPoints
Discover how artificial intelligence is reshaping the way consumers shop across digital and physical channels. From visual and voice search to personalized recommendations, AI checkout, and data-driven forecasting, see how brands using AI deliver consistent and confident shopping experiences that convert customers.| Akeneo
This story is part of Retail TouchPoints’ ongoing “Small Business, Big Ideas” series, focusing on smaller retail brands that have found big success and have even bigger ambitions. On the path to creating a category-disrupting product, coming up with an idea is often the easiest part. For entrepreneurs who decide they want to take action […]| Retail TouchPoints
For many years, ecommerce companies prioritized advertising on the web because it provided significant control over ad targeting, and it was relatively easy to place ads alongside content likely to attract their target audience. Meanwhile, mobile apps have historically had some problems. High ad exchange rates (around 20%) and higher funnel goals — around cost […]| Retail TouchPoints
U.S. consumers can now receive on-demand deliveries of sneakers and sports-related fashion from nearly 900 of Hibbett’s 1,000+ stores via the Uber Eats platform. Hibbett is the latest non-food retailer to partner with Uber Eats: in September 2025 Best Buy partnered with Uber Eats for on-demand delivery from its 800+ stores, following Dollar Tree and […]| Retail TouchPoints
Beginning early next year, Morrisons will roll out 10.8 million smart electronic shelf labels (ESLs) across its 497 stores, eliminating traditional paper labels and automating the repetitive manual tasks of repricing and relabeling products. The technology from VusionGroup will be integrated with Morrisons’ digital shelf-edge cameras to help efficiently guide associates to product gaps, speeding […]| Retail TouchPoints
Amazon has long been known as the Everything Store, and while the platform’s wide selection is one of its biggest selling points, it also can be one of its biggest pain points. To help, Amazon has released a new AI tool in the U.S. called “Help Me Decide” to assist customers deciding between similar products. […]| Retail TouchPoints
Retailers will be forgiven if their heads are spinning after this turbulent year of near-constant shifts in the landscape thanks to both AI and tariffs. Now, the holiday season is upon us with a (perhaps predictably) unclear picture of where consumers’ minds are, because their heads are spinning too. To help us all cut through […]| Retail TouchPoints
E.l.f. Cosmetics will collaborate with Amazon-owned video game livestreaming platform Twitch to allow viewers to seamlessly purchase E.l.f. products directly through Twitch streams. The “eyes.lips.first.” shoppable element, powered by Amazon Ads, will initially appear on the official E.l.f. Twitch channel, e.l.f.YOU! Since launching on Twitch in 2020, E.l.f. has built a community engaging with gamers, […]| Retail TouchPoints
AI will drive $260 billion in global online sales and $1.6 trillion in in-store sales this holiday season, according to Salesforce. Not entirely surprising given that 62% of consumers say they now trust AI to guide their brand decisions, on par with traditional search. But as consumers rapidly test out and become regular users of these new tools, brands […]| Retail TouchPoints
Southeastern Grocers, which has been through a series of ownership changes over the past few years, will rebrand in early 2026 with a name that carries a century of retailing history: The Winn-Dixie Company. The rechristened supermarket also will narrow its focus to its home state of Florida — it has reached agreements or is […]| Retail TouchPoints
It’s no secret that cybercrime is a growing threat to every organization, and retail companies are no exception. In fact, 80% of retailers experienced a cyberattack, according to a 2024 report, and 22% faced as many as 15 attacks. These incidents don’t just result in lost sales: they can significantly damage brand reputation and erode […]| Retail TouchPoints
Walmart has teamed up with Stadium Goods to bring a selection of top sneaker brands to its marketplace. The deal follows similar integrations with other collector-driven marketplaces, including comics site Shortboxed, luxury resale platform Rebag and sneaker site StockX. “Our customers trust Walmart to deliver not only everyday essentials, but also the latest and most […]| Retail TouchPoints
Albertsons plans to invest heavily in its owned brands as it seeks to both boost customer loyalty and provide shoppers with some relief from inflationary price increases. In a conference call discussing the supermarket retailer’s Q2 results, CEO Susan Morris said she believes Albertsons can drive “outsize growth” in its private label brands, “reinforcing our […]| Retail TouchPoints
Macy’s has debuted a new 2.5 million-square-foot fulfillment center in China Grove, N.C. equipped with state-of-the-art automation and an advanced warehouse management system (WMS). The facility, which will support all product categories, will initially support customer fulfilment and store replenishment for the Macy’s nameplate, with plans to expand to additional Macy’s banners over the next […]| Retail TouchPoints
The future of shopping is supposed to look like this: you tell your AI agent — whether powered by ChatGPT or Perplexity — that you need batteries, a new desk chair and maybe a vacation. Minutes later, the items are purchased, the trip is booked, and all you had to do was…nothing. This vision — […]| Retail TouchPoints
Self-described “embarrassing self-care” brand Norms has created a community retail space devoted exclusively to a difficult-to-spell, difficult-to-discuss subject: hemorrhoids. The Norms Clubhouse, open in NYC’s SoHo through Nov. 25, 2025, is a place where New Yorkers can learn, have shame-free conversations and purchase the brand’s array of hemorrhoid treatments, currently available on Amazon and including […]| Retail TouchPoints
DoorDash will bring autonomous delivery to the Phoenix metro area via an expansion of its partnership with Waymo and will promote the new service with a limited-time $10 Waymo promotion for DashPass members in Phoenix as well as Los Angeles and San Francisco, where Waymo already is a delivery option. Testing of the driverless deliveries […]| Retail TouchPoints
Today’s parenting consumer is time-starved, research-obsessed and driven by trust, making their path to purchase more intentional than ever. With an overwhelming number of options in the marketplace, brands can no longer rely on paid tactics alone to stand out. PR still plays a critical role not just in building awareness but in guiding parents […]| Retail TouchPoints
Bombas, known both for its comfy socks and undergarments as well as its social conscience, isn’t exactly a stranger to brick-and-mortar; its products have been available for several years at retailers including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Nordstrom and Scheels. But while direct-to-consumer (DTC) will remain the brand’s primary sales channel, it’s now taking some major steps […]| Retail TouchPoints
Per-consumer spending for the holiday season will average $890.49, down 1.3% from the 2024 record high of $901.99. That’s according to the National Retail Federation (NRF)’s annual consumer survey, conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. Shoppers remain concerned about the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on their holiday budgets: 85% are anticipating that they will […]| Retail TouchPoints
By the end of 2025, Toys ‘R’ Us plans to open 10 new permanent flagship stores in the U.S. as well as 20 seasonal holiday pop-ups.| Retail TouchPoints
Value retailer Dollar Tree has partnered with Legion Technologies to launch its first-ever workforce management solution, covering employees at its 9,000 stores and 18 distribution centers across North America. With the Legion mobile app, associates can request schedule changes, swap shifts, communicate with managers and access performance rewards and feedback via a single user interface. […]| Retail TouchPoints
As consumers increasingly begin their shopping journeys with conversational AI tools like Google’s Gemini, ChatGPT and Perplexity, there’s been a growing sense that’s it’s only a matter of time before the whole shopping journey — from initial query to purchase — will happen in these platforms. That time has come, with Shopify, Etsy, Salesforce and […]| Retail TouchPoints
Nearly 95% of consumers check online reviews before purchasing a product or service. They provide a valuable signal of trust for buyers based on other people’s firsthand experiences, and sellers rely on them to boost their reputations and sales in the crowded online marketplace. However, a new trend threatens to undermine this. Fake reviews generated […]| Retail TouchPoints
The National Retail Federation (NRF) is forecasting a 15.8% return rate in 2025, totaling $849.9 billion, according to the 2025 Retail Returns Landscape report created in partnership with Happy Returns, a UPS company. This represents a slight decrease from the 2024 return rate of 16.9% and $890 billion in sales of products that were eventually […]| Retail TouchPoints
The divide between brand and performance marketing is costing retailers revenue. Against today’s collapsed marketing funnel, the old playbook of awareness first, conversion later no longer applies. Shoppers move fast and unpredictably. They discover a product on TikTok, research reviews on Google, see a retargeted ad days later and still abandon their cart. Customers don’t […]| Retail TouchPoints
Coming off a quarter when it generated net revenues of $1.5 billion — a 7% increase over the same period the previous year — Levi Strauss & Co. President and CEO Michelle Gass revealed that the denim and lifestyle retailer had the potential to double its U.S. store count. However, she didn’t provide any timeline […]| Retail TouchPoints
Walmart will join Shopify, Etsy and Salesforce in linking its online catalog with the new ChatGPT Instant Checkout, enabling its customers to shop and buy its products directly within ChatGPT conversations. The Walmart-ChatGPT integration will take effect later this fall and will encompass both Walmart and Sam’s Club offerings. Walmart framed the move as another […]| Retail TouchPoints
[Update as of Oct. 14, 2025] Ecommerce customers of Salesforce — which include many large retail conglomerates such as L’Oréal Group, Pandora and Saks — will now be able to join Shopify and Etsy merchants in selling directly to customers within ChatGPT conversations. (Walmart also announced that it will integrating later this fall.) Salesforce has expanded […]| Retail TouchPoints
Ulta Beauty’s online marketplace is now live on the beauty retailer’s website and app. Plans to add a marketplace, built on the Mirakl platform, were first announced in March as part of the company’s Beauty Unleashed strategy, aimed at combating declining sales and market share losses. Ulta has framed the move as a way to […]| Retail TouchPoints
Retailers have endured something of a rollercoaster ride over the last few years, but the good news is that, even as continuing price rises eat into available spending power, consumer spending remains robust. The question now is: how can retailers make the most of consumer resilience? According to the Lloyds Bank Business Barometer, released in […]| Retail TouchPoints
Edible Brands operates both corporate-owned and franchised Edible Arrangements stores, but these brick-and-mortar locations have a few key differences from other kinds of specialty retail. In fact, they’re closer in form to takeout-heavy fast casual restaurants — which Edible Brands also operates, in the form of the Rōti chain of build-your-own-meal-style restaurants (think Chipotle with […]| Retail TouchPoints
The Body Shop has been through a challenging year-plus since it entered administration (the UK’s version of bankruptcy) in February 2024 and closed all its U.S. brick-and-mortar stores in March 2024. Now the brand — which still has strong name recognition among Gen X and millennials — is returning to the U.S. market via Amazon […]| Retail TouchPoints
Walmart has introduced the first of 10 planned “Auto Care Centers (ACCs) of the Future” in Fayetteville, Ark., providing customers with a contactless self-service car care experience via the retailer’s mobile app. After making an appointment, customers put their car in a parking spot near the ACC, then use the app to drop their keys […]| Retail TouchPoints
Gap Inc. has launched a social media advocacy platform that will serve as a centralized hub for creators to engage across the Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic and Athleta brands, providing them with access to new releases, product seeding and exclusive promotions as well as content collaboration opportunities. Creators also will gain the ability to […]| Retail TouchPoints
Walmart Marketplace is determined to stake its claim in the collectibles arena, and it’s doing so at one of the largest pop culture events in the country: New York Comic Con (NYCC), running Oct. 9-12 at NYC’s Javits Center. The retailer has also added the Shortboxed comics marketplace, with a catalog of 75,000 books from […]| Retail TouchPoints
When autonomous shopping agents start making product decisions on behalf of consumers at scale, the retail world will change forever. Retailers already are experimenting with AI-powered product recommendations, dynamic promotions and personalization. But in this new era of agentic commerce, when AI agents research, compare and complete purchases for people — autonomously — one critical […]| Retail TouchPoints
A new Instacart integration with TikTok will enable select CPG advertisers to tap into the grocery services platform’s first-party retail media data, helping these advertisers enhance campaign targeting, drive purchases and measure performance — all within the TikTok Ads Manager tool. Soon, advertisers will be able to enhance shoppable ad formats via TikTok’s Smart+ campaigns, […]| Retail TouchPoints
Ingka Investments, the investment firm of Ikea parent company Ingka Group, has acquired U.S.-based logistics tech company Locus. The purchase will provide Ikea with an AI-powered logistics management platform featuring advanced route customization, real-time tracking and smarter uses of vehicles and resources. Integrating these capabilities will help Ingka Group enhance supply chain processes such as […]| Retail TouchPoints
Fast fashion is now a term familiar to most consumers, but similar “buy-it-and-toss-it” mentalities pervade many other categories as well, with far less discussion around the environmental and human impact. In 2014 refurbished electronics marketplace Back Market set out to change this cycle, which it has dubbed “fast tech.” Now, the online platform is bringing […]| Retail TouchPoints
The modern retail calendar is packed with mega-events like Prime Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and others that can make or break a brand’s quarterly goals. These are no longer just moments; they’re movements. And while consumers may wait for the clock to strike midnight on a sale, savvy marketers know the real work starts […]| Retail TouchPoints
A new partnership between United Airlines and Instacart will give the airline’s loyalty members $0 delivery fees for orders placed before, during or after they take a domestic flight, making it easier to replace forgotten items on the go or restock the fridge for their return home. United MileagePlus members who link their accounts with […]| Retail TouchPoints
Like its summer predecessor, the fall version of Prime Day — Prime Big Deals Days, taking place Oct. 7-8 — has become a major sales opportunity for more than just Amazon. Multiple competitors, including giants such as Walmart, Target and Best Buy, run their own deal days the same week as they seek to take […]| Retail TouchPoints
For many retailers, international orders are shifting from side business to core revenue, but along with increased opportunity comes hidden payment costs.| Retail TouchPoints
While ghosts and goblins might give you a fright this Halloween, there's something even scarier lurking in the world of retail: bad product experiences. From missing product information to incorrect or inconsistent data, discover how these product information ghouls can send shivers down your spine and what you can do to banish them, ensuring your product experience is more delightful than dreadful.| Akeneo
Food and beverage brands already know the value of reaching grocery shoppers digitally. Grocery ecommerce is transforming the entire shopper journey.| Retail TouchPoints
Discover how AI is reshaping search and discovery from natural language queries to hyper-personalized results, delivering better experiences.| Akeneo
Explore the ascent of artificial intelligence in the retail landscape, and the potential risks and rewards associated with implementing this technology.| Akeneo
From scattered systems to global success, see how Triumph Motorcycles, Igus, and Tiffany & Co. transformed product operations with Akeneo.| Akeneo
Discover how brand discovery sets the foundation for success by clarifying identity, strengthening customer connections, and ensuring consistent product experiences.| Akeneo
Learn what Product Content Management (PCM) is and how brands can use it to drive conversions, reduce returns, and deliver exceptional product experiences.| Akeneo
Joining the podcast 🎧 this episode is Ez Natarajan, the Founder and CEO of CoreStack, to discuss cloud governance and how to do it right and fast.| Driven
Discover the fundamental aspects of Artificial intelligence (AI), including the inner workings, historical context, and implications for the retail sector.| Akeneo
On this podcast ? episode, Mark Brohan, Senior VP of B2B and Market Research at Digital Commerce 360, joins us to discuss B2B e-commerce and digital strategy.| Driven
Join Brent Peterson and Sanne Bolkenstein as they discuss the vibrant Magento community, Meet Magento Netherlands, and the importance of MageOS and the Magento Association.| Talk Commerce
Ecommerce continues its rapid transformation, moving from transactions to customer lifetime value as a focus.| Signifyd
