News Briefs

A leading footwear/apparel/accessories brand is leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance online search, discovery, personalization and merchandising.

Steve Madden Ltd. is deploying Fast Simon AI technology to 25 online stores operating on five continents and in multiple languages, representing all its brands including Steve Madden, Dolce Vita and Betsey Johnson.

Steve Madden will utilize Fast Simon AI capabilities to support activities such as creating smart collections, visual merchandising, and machine learning-based vector search which can utilize unstructured data such as images and text in delivering results. 

"We are constantly exploring the most innovative technology to ensure a seamless path to purchase for our customers. We are excited to expand our partnership with Fast Simon’s AI," said Colleen Waters, VP of e-commerce at Steve Madden. "Fast Simon’s no-code interface gives our businesses the power and agility to respond to trends in the moment."

The retailer will also utilize Fast Simon technology to drive personalized product recommendations and visual discovery, including for cross-sell and upsell promotions. In addition, the Fast Simon Smart Rendering solution will enable Steve Madden to provide faster site search and page loads, as well as improved SEO performance. 

[READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Steve Madden ensures sustainability compliance]

"Steve Madden is home to some of the most well-known global retail brands on the market today," said Zohar Gilad, founder and CEO of Fast Simon. "With our AI shopping optimization solutions, Steve Madden brands can deliver better e-commerce experiences, boosting customer satisfaction and business results."

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet has expanded its footprint in the Lone Star State. 

The retailer of closeout merchandise and excess inventory has opened 10 stores in Texas. The new locations were all former 99 Cents Only Stores. 

In May, Ollie’s concluded the purchase of 11 former 99 Cents Only Stores locations through the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The deal came nearly two months after the extreme discounter went out of business, closing all of its nearly 371 stores located in California, Texas, Arizona and Nevada.

"We are incredibly excited to open ten more stores in the great state of Texas where the folks have been so good to us," said John Swygert, CEO of Ollie's Bargain Outlet. "With the closing of 99 Cents Only Stores throughout the state, we're thrilled to provide shoppers in the Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and McAllen areas with a treasure hunt experience where they can find a huge selection of brand name bargains at prices that won't break the bank!"

Ollie’s offers discounts on brand name products in a variety of departments, including housewares, food, books and stationery, bed and bath, floor coverings, toys, health and beauty aids and more. The company currently operate 542 stores in 31 states.

DoorDash has been utilizing a flexible ERP platform to expand its business.

Founded in 2013 as an on-demand delivery service for restaurants, DoorDash offers deliveries in more than 25 countries in a continually expanding selection of retail verticals. Since 2015, the company has been running on the Oracle NetSuite ERP platform.

“With NetSuite’s scalable and flexible platform, we have grown from a startup to a publicly traded company, integrated numerous acquisitions, delivered new services and subscriptions, and expanded our offerings to tens-of-millions of customers around the world,” said Gordon Lee, chief accounting officer, DoorDash. "NetSuite has been a valuable partner as we’ve evolved our business for each stage of growth."

Utilizing NetSuite, DoorDash says it has able to automate business processes, improve the speed and accuracy of reporting, and efficiently scale its operations as it has expanded its services, to include grocery, convenience and retail delivery, added new subscription business models, and executed an IPO in 2020. 

In addition, DoorDash has utilized NetSuite’s learning and support services have provided hands-on technical support to help solve growth-related business challenges. 

"We’re incredibly proud of supporting DoorDash’s journey to become the number one food delivery operator in the United States," said Evan Goldberg, founder and executive VP, Oracle NetSuite. "We look forward to continuing our partnership with the DoorDash team as they unlock even more success, and we’ll work to ensure their core business processes evolve with changing customer demands so they can grow efficiently."

Chicken Salad Chick is continuing to grow its store count, this time by entering a new state.

The fast-casual chicken salad chain is set to open its first stores in Kansas through a three-store franchise deal that will bring the restaurants to the southwestern suburbs of Kansas City, serving Prairie Village, Olathe, Overland Park and Lenexa.

Sisters Jo Anne Williams and Cindy Sulzman are behind the Kansas expansion. Williams will be leading business development and back-office operations, while Sulzman will head up retail operations, catering and merchandising.

"I first discovered Chicken Salad Chick in 2012 with my sister on one of our trips to Destin, Fla.” said Williams “We love the concept and ultimately decided to bring it to Kansas.”

The new Kansas agreement comes as Chicken Salad Chick recently reached an agreement to enter the Kansas City market on the other side of the border, as Kendra and Alan Greenwood recently signed on to develop locations in Lee's Summit and Blue Springs, Mo.

“We're thrilled to share Chicken Salad Chick's classic, made from scratch food and Southern hospitality with our friends, neighbors and communities in Johnson County," said Sulzman.

[READ MORE: Chicken Salad Chick to open first New Orleans locations]

Founded in Auburn, Ala. in 2008, Chicken Salad Chick operates more than 270 restaurants in 19 states.

One retailer dominates CPG spending in the United States. 

Across the total U.S., Walmart captures 21% of CPG spending, followed by Costco Wholesale Corp. (7.8%), according to Numerator’s Regional Retail Dashboard, which explores omnichannel purchase and promotional trends across the four U.S. census regions (Northeast, Midwest, South and West). Rounding out the top five are Kroger (7%), Amazon (5.6%) and Albertsons (4.2%). 

In other findings, Kroger is the top promoter of CPG products nationally, accounting for 13.2% of promotional voice. Albertsons accounts for 10.2%, followed by Allegiance (3.8%). 

Other regional insights from the Numerator report are below.

•For the entire U.S., 55% of CPG spend goes to food and mass retailers.

•While Walmart is the most popular retailer for CPG spending in three of the four regions, it falls to Costco (16.3% vs. 15.3% of CPG spending) in the Western U.S. 

•In the Western U.S., 19% of CPG spend goes to the club channel.

•Southerners over-index at dollar stores.

•Consumers in the Northwest spend 7% of their dollars at liquor stores, which is nearly twice that of all U.S. consumers.

•Regional grocers showcase distinct behaviors across regions – Publix is the #2 retailer in the South, and Ahold Delhaize is the #2 retailer in the Northeast.

Shein is hosting a seasonal livestream sale on Sunday, Sept. 22.

The Chinese-founded, Singapore-based global online fast-fashion giant will launch a 90-minute livestream, "Shein Live: Front Row," hosted by influencers Renee Ariel and Julissa Bermudez, at noon PT on Sunday, Sept. 22. The livestream will be streamed across the Shein Facebook, X, YouTube and Instagram accounts, as well as via the Shein app.

The livestream will feature six real-life Shein customers modeling on the runway for the first time across five collections: Winter Edge, Effortlessly Casual, Keep Cool, Cozy Chic, and Modern Elegance. 

Customers can share outfits they purchase during the event on social media by tagging @sheinofficial and @shein_us and using the hashtag #SHEINtrendy and #SHEINfw24.

Shein – a primer

Headquartered in Singapore, Shein offers Shein-branded, affordable apparel and accessories from a global network of vendors. The company, which filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the U.S. stock market with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) in late 2023, is reportedly also trying to join the National Retail Federation in an attempt to boost its chances of receiving SEC approval. 

However, Shein has been publicly accused of unfair labor practices and having connections to the communist Chinese government, and in the past year, Shein and fellow leading Chinese shopping app Temu have filed lawsuits against each other alleging unfair trade practices.

The Biden-Harris administration is targeting Shein and Temu with a new executive action that makes shipments worth less than $800 from China (representing the majority of Shein imports) no longer eligible for a special U.S. customs exemption.

[READ MORE: Survey: Live shopping, video commerce on the rise]