On today's podcast episode, we discuss how Walmart plans to use AI to enhance the customer shopping experience, Instacart pushing smart carts into in-store retail media, why consumers are dissatisfied with their in-store shopping experience, how best to reduce clothing returns, the rise—and potential fall—of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our vice president of content Suzy Davidkhanian and analysts Blake Droesch and Carina Perkins.

Amazon Fresh could get a refresh to conquer the grocery market, Finesse uses AI to reduce fashion waste, and Claire’s leans on content to engage Gen Zalphas. Meanwhile, Macy’s downsizes, e.l.f. Beauty aims to go viral, and Walmart makes strides in media. Here are six retailers that are most likely to makeover, reinvent, go viral, and more, as predicted by our analysts in a recent “Reimagining Retail” podcast episode.

The retail giant stands by its practices, but an investigation found it failed to prevent over $1 billion in losses for its financial services customers.

GenAI is on the agenda for most retailers in 2024: Walmart, Target, Canadian Tire, and others are turning to the tech to boost customer and employee satisfaction.

Our primary research on US online beauty buyers shares insights into how consumers discover and purchase new beauty brands and products across channels.

Dollar stores and off-price retailers set to once again dominate store openings in 2024: Economic uncertainty continues to fuel expansion opportunities for budget retailers.

For some, shopping online is functional, enabling consumers to get what they want quickly, without straying from their budget or list. By creating a more engaging ecommerce experience, retailers can make shopping online fun, enticing consumers to browse and buy like they might in-store—and perhaps, increasing their basket.

Grocery is set to become the largest US ecommerce category by 2026.

Our analysts have already made their big predictions for the year ahead, but the newsletter team has a few more to add to the list. As Amazon hits the gas on grocery, it may use its Amazon Fresh stores for fulfillment. Plus, we think beauty will get personal, Amazon could give digitally native brands a helping hand, and a healing economy could spell trouble for discount stores.

We look at the trends that will sustain that growth into 2024

Our primary research on US online beauty buyers shares insights into the evolution of consumer habits and preferences in one of retail’s most resilient categories.

From retailers drawing shoppers in-store by leaning on creator content to the emergence of livestream ecommerce influencers and the potential consolidation of retail media networks, our analyst-led predictions offer a glimpse into the future of shopping and advertising. We explore each, weighing the arguments for and against their likelihood in shaping the year ahead.

The Latin American economy is on the upswing, with digital innovation in the driver’s seat. Our trends report explores how retail media, commerce, and generative AI will be redefined in 2024 and what businesses need to know to get ahead.

In January, the Retail Daily newsletter editors made four retail predictions for 2023. Some we got right (like the proliferation of Amazon Prime Day-type events) while some we missed the mark on a bit (it was not the year of AR).

Consumer spending patterns shifted in 2023: Retailers like Walmart, TJ Maxx, and E.l.f Beauty benefited from consumers growing cost consciousness.

Large retailers are in a prime position for the final holiday push: Amazon, Target, and Walmart are poised to leverage their infrastructures to capture an outsize share of spend and retail media dollars.

As retail media evolves, ad placements off-site and in-store will help grocery advertisers reach shoppers in new and more engaging ways, but consumers may not be in a spending mood as credit card balances grow and savings accounts shrink. If Amazon can get grocery right, it may be able to fight off losing share to Walmart. But if the Kroger-Albertsons merger goes through, it could change everything.

Walmart+ increased the money it spent on advertising by 87% between January and September 2023 as compared with the same time period in 2022, per MediaRadar.

Amazon bets that Prime members will pay extra for free grocery delivery: The retailer is testing a grocery subscription add-on for $9.99 per month in its latest attempt to boost the appeal of its grocery business.

Recently, both Walmart and Target have warned that consumers’ cautious spending habits may lead to a sluggish holiday season this year. Were they right to be worried? Here’s how the holiday shopping season is going so far.