Insights

U.S. retailers can breathe a sigh of relief. After a gloomy start to 2017 – where store closures and bankruptcy reports dominated the headlines – retailers have turned a corner, coming through the strongest holiday season in years.

Paula Rosenblum, co-founder and managing partner at Retail Systems Research, spoke with Chain Store Age about the potential of Blockchain, and what it means for the retail industry.

The customer experience as we know it is changing. The industry today is being transformed by some of the most significant technological developments of our generation including artificial intelligence (AI), big data, analytics and robotic process automation (RPA).

We all know mobile apps are on the rise, especially in retail where traditional brick-and-mortar store are searching for new ways to compete with online retailers like Amazon.

The beauty industry has in the last few years seen a backlash from the effect its marketing has on its consumers, particularly the youngest among them, as rates of eating disorders and body dysmorphia are thrusting upward at jet speed.

Amazon's move to increase Prime’s monthly rate while keeping its annual membership at $99 reveals one of two things — or a combination of both.

As technology disrupts business from almost every angle, companies experiencing dramatic change and consolidation face redundancies and downsizings. In these times, it’s critical to take stock of the impact on human capital.

The 2017 tax act started out as political wishful thinking — a pipe dream for those hoping to effect change. But in a blink of eye it was here, and it came with sweeping changes for taxpayers across the nation.

With state legislative sessions swinging into action across the country this month, retailers and restaurant operators will need to manage not only the traditional issues affecting the P&L such as wage mandates, paid leave expansions, wage theft and restrictive scheduling proposals that have become all to familiar, they also will need to keep close watch of a host of emerging issues that may cause disruption as well.

Over the past week, the welter of holiday trading updates has hinted that retailers enjoyed a robust December. Today's strong retail sales numbers lend weight to that view.