A new type of restaurant is becoming popular, and you can't sit down in it. Called "ghost kitchens," these delivery only establishments are catching entrepreneurs' eyes and investors' capital.
During the Holiday season, Amazon abruptly announced that it wouldn't let merchants use FedEx to fulfill Prime orders. Now, the e-commerce giant has made an about face and let the parcel service back in. What's behind these moves is a complicated ecosystem of logistics competition and customer expectations.
After starting as a media company, Food52 is transforming into a commerce company -- and learning the ropes for dealing with customer service hurdles.
"We really realized that we had built a platform that could treat and serve far greater needs than just that one condition area," said Will Flaherty, VP of growth at Ro.
Customer service workers at direct-to-consumer startups are increasingly speaking out about being overworked and feeling undervalued. Here an employee who does customer service work at a startup candidly describes what her workday is like.
Alibaba is making a big push to U.S. retailers. While much of its pitch is focused on entering the large Chinese market, Alibaba is also making one thing crystal clear: It is not Amazon has no plans to become like it. At a recent panel with Allbirds, the e-commerce company talked about this. Christina Fontana, Alibaba's Tmall's head of fashion and luxury, said the company is "building technology platforms and services that allow brands to speak directly to their consumers." She highlighted the data the company shares with companies selling on the platform, as well as the various opportunities to promote products -- be it via live-streaming or during events like Singles Day. Her pitch was clear: China is "the largest retail market in the world," she said, and Alibaba is an obvious way to access that population. It currently exceeds 755 million active users.
A growing number of health and beauty brands are turning to cloud-based systems that can handle customer, financial and inventory data across all processes, from production to payment.
Once heralded as an integral part of the store of the future, RFID tags have never gotten widespread adoption as the cost of deployment and tech hurdles have remain stubbornly high.
Starbucks is investing in new technology to make ordering and pickup faster. But, the company maintains that it's not trying to eliminate the need for human help. At a recent retail event, the coffee giant's president and CEO, Kevin Johnson, explained why.
Robotics has been considered a disruptor for years now. But we haven't quite seen how the automated technology will transform the retail industry. While a number of well-funded robotics startups crash and burn, a few others operating in the background have shown a growing demand for retail robotics.
A darling of the direct-to-consumer world is finally going public. Casper filed its long-awaited S-1 on Friday, almost a year after rumors first broke that the mattress brand had hired underwriters.
The days of the linear purchasing path are over — and retailers must implement a seamless, omnichannel approach in order to keep up.
Pier 1 is planning on shutting down nearly half of its stores. It's a drastic measure for a floundering retail brand. How did it get here? Due to years of ignoring the competitive landscape and being unable to rebuild a modern brand.
At the Modern Retail Summit, we’ll bring together hundreds of senior retail marketers to discuss the challenges they’re facing and the solutions they’re seeking in the era of smarter retail.
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