Mailbox Providers Retiring Inactive Accounts: The Risks & How to Respond
Roop
Increasingly, Google, Yahoo, and other mailbox providers are retiring inactive accounts. That introduces some risks for email marketers, as well as for consumers. …
Barnes & Noble to acquire Books Inc., Saving 174-Year-Old Store From Bankruptcy
Joe Keenan
Books Inc. will live on — as a Barnes & Noble brand. The 174-year-old San Francisco-based bookstore chain, which filed for bankruptcy early this year, announced Wednesday a proposed sale to the category behemoth. The sale, which must be approved this fall by a bankruptcy …
How Smart Brands Orchestrate Authentic Experiences That Convert
Steve Maher
In the rapidly evolving retail world, consumers are becoming increasingly discerning. They’ve grown weary of superficial personalization efforts that feel contrived or irrelevant. Instead, they seek seamless, intuitive interactions that demonstrate a genuine understanding of their needs — whether browsing online, checking emails, or visiting …
Sitting on the Sidelines Isn’t a Business Strategy; In Fact, it’s Ruining Your Brand
Brian Holland
In today’s unpredictable global economy, retailers of all sizes, from big-box chains to regional grocers, are now taking a pervasive “wait and see” business approach. Economic slowdowns, persistent inflation, and tariff changes have understandably led many retail executives and operations leaders to hit the brakes …
The Silent Decision-Makers: Tapping Into the Hidden Buying Journey
Unnikrshnan Kurup
In order to focus efforts on the appropriate demographic, any successful marketing strategy must include a step to determine the target buyer. In fact, 39 percent of consumers now expect brands to speak directly to their needs. Who are shadow buyers? They’re the people who …
Why Live Shopping is the New Affiliate Marketing
Mike Jaconi
Live shopping is quickly becoming a powerful tool for retailers seeking to drive conversion, particularly in price-sensitive moments like back-to-school season. Consumers trust influencers — 71 percent of U.S. consumers purchased a creator-founded product last year, and that number is rising. By leveraging trusted influencers …
Agentic AI in Retail: ALDO Group Data and AI Expert on Real-World Impact
In this episode of Total Retail Tech Insights, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan speaks with Nicola Kinsella, chief strategy officer at Fluent Commerce, and Fatih Nayebi, vice president of data and AI at ALDO Group. Listen in as Nayebi discuss his career background and academic work in …
Alt Text: Best Practices & Evolving Concerns
Alt text helps a wide range of people fully understand your content, but using it optimally isn’t as simple as just inserting a text description into an image’s alt tag. …
Kroger Announces Corporate Layoffs, Structural Changes
Marie Albiges
Kroger will lay off nearly 1,000 corporate employees as part of structural changes to its administrative teams across the U.S., multiple news outlets reported Tuesday. According to an internal memo obtained by the Los Angeles Times and other news outlets, the grocer is moving to …
The Future of Commerce Media Isn’t Retail. It’s Everywhere
Lynn Rupprecht
To many parts of the advertising landscape, there’s the singular gravitational pull of retail media at the center. And then there’s commerce media, a multivaried grab bag coming up on the periphery, constituting retail’s extraneous parts. There’s no argument that commerce media is having a …
