Facing "subscription fatigue" among customers, Indian meal delivery brand The Cumin Club is following in the footsteps of Blue Apron and Daily Harvest by offering one-time orders.

Tariffs

‘Quitting wasn’t an option’: How tariffs took an emotional and financial toll on founders in 2025

December 30, 2025

Many founders had to completely upend their business models in 2025 due to tariffs, resorting to production delays, raising prices and putting off hiring to save their businesses.

The winners and losers of tariffs

December 29, 2025

This year, tariffs kicked in at their highest rate since the Great Depression, completely upending the retail industry. In turn, Modern Retail rounded up the biggest winners and losers of all the changes in tariff policy this year.

Other news to know

Top Stories Jan 15

Butcher Box’s grass-fed beef lands in Target stores

January 15, 2026

ButcherBox is now selling in-store at Target after launching curated meat boxes on its marketplace last spring.

How The North Face, Vans and Timberland are trying to transform their businesses in 2026

January 14, 2026

Leaders from The North Face, Vans and Timberland discussed their growth playbooks for 2026 at the NRF conference on Tuesday. They involve everything from zeroing in on core categories to courting young shoppers.

Lowe’s is licensing its checkout software to other retailers

January 14, 2026

Lowe's has started selling the software behind its point-of-sale systems to other retailers as a new revenue stream.

Brands Briefing: How leaders at Fabletics, PayPal and more are thinking about the agentic AI opportunity

January 13, 2026

At NRF, leaders at companies like PayPal and Fabletics acknowledged there's still a ways to go before more people trust AI to complete a transaction.

Tariffs

‘Quitting wasn’t an option’: How tariffs took an emotional and financial toll on founders in 2025

December 30, 2025

Many founders had to completely upend their business models in 2025 due to tariffs, resorting to production delays, raising prices and putting off hiring to save their businesses.

The winners and losers of tariffs

December 29, 2025

This year, tariffs kicked in at their highest rate since the Great Depression, completely upending the retail industry. In turn, Modern Retail rounded up the biggest winners and losers of all the changes in tariff policy this year.

The year of Thriftmas: Why secondhand gifts could finally go mainstream this holiday season

December 16, 2025

Secondhand gifts are shedding their stigma this holiday season as shoppers, squeezed by tariffs and inflation, turn to thrift stores and resale platforms for thoughtful, lower-cost presents.

Podcasts

Technology

Walmart says ‘open partnerships’ are central to its AI strategy, while Amazon goes it alone

January 13, 2026

Walmart is partnering with Google and OpenAI to let shoppers buy through AI chatbots, taking a more collaborative approach to AI-powered shopping than Amazon, which is largely building its own tools.

How a major beverage distributor is infusing AI into its HR and IT processes

January 12, 2026

A major player behind the scenes of how retailers get wine, spirits and beer on the shelf has rolled out AI features across many of its internal processes in the name of efficiency.

How brands are securing their spot in AI recommendations

December 22, 2025

Artificial intelligence has rewritten the rules of brand discovery, and the era of fighting for page one rankings is over. AI assistants like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and voice platforms give shoppers a single, definitive answer for what to buy. If a brand is not part of that answer, it is invisible. When AI recommends […]

Marketing

How apparel brands aim to win the spotlight at the Winter Olympics

January 12, 2026

Fashionable designs and technical fabrics are front and center at the Winter Olympics, thanks to apparel and footwear partners like J.Crew, Nike and Ralph Lauren.

Beverage brands update Dry January marketing based on changing consumer habits

January 12, 2026

Beverage brands in the nonalcoholic space are consistently tweaking their messaging to reflect consumers’ drinking habits. With Dry January underway, this means using encouraging messaging that’s less shameful.

Starbucks is kicking off 2026 with more brand partnerships

January 09, 2026

With a splashy new partnership with Khloé Kardashian’s Khloud popcorn, Starbucks is marrying its strategy of offering more on-trend items with relevant pop culture partnerships.

Operations

How Playhouse MD is scaling after selling out twice and becoming a viral hit with parents

January 13, 2026

Playhouse MD, which sells nasal bulbs in the shape of fun creatures like narwhals, has surpassed seven figures in revenue since launching in June. Here’s what’s next for the company in 2026.

How brands like Vuori, Rothy’s and Away have adapted to the new DTC landscape

January 13, 2026

At NRF’s annual Big Show, executives from Away, Vuori and Rothy’s discussed the ways the DTC model has been upended since its golden era.

How brands turn post-holiday fatigue into new year momentum

December 05, 2025

Diana Williams, vp of product management, Intuit Mailchimp For retailers, the holidays can feel more like a survival season. These critical weeks can be extremely demanding, often generating the bulk of a business’s annual revenue. But when that surge leads to a disproportionate marketing focus on a single quarter, it can actually hinder momentum and […]