January 16 – 22, 2023
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| The NRF Big Show took place in New York last week, and as expected along with it came a LOT of surveys and reports. From what retailer’s top technology spending priorities are, to how delivery options impact cart abandonments, to how retail execs should be approaching pricing amidst a looming recession. The start of the year is always an overwhelming time, filled with the urge (and need) to look backward and identify success and failures, and the excitement of looking forward and deciding what to continue, start and stop. And while all the surveys and reports are interesting (helpful?) as you conduct these exercises, also keep in mind that there is no one size fits all, and these reports are benchmarks, not rules. If you need help making sense of what’s relevant to you and your business, give us a ring.
This week we also saw lots of funding announced for retail and restaurant tech tools, more speculation on the future of retail formats, and some partnerships making last-mile fulfillment in London sustainable. As always, we’re also over on Twitter or on LinkedIn too. Hope you’ll join us! |
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| Google Cloud for Retailers adds AI-based inventory, e-commerce tools [CIO] In a bid to help retailers transform their in-store, inventory-checking processes and enhance their e-commerce sites, Google said that it is enhancing Google Cloud for Retailers with a new shelf-checking, AI-based capability, and updating its Discovery AI and Recommendation AI services.
ThriveCart, which sells tools to build e-commerce carts, raises $35M [TechCrunch] ThriveCart, a toolkit small- and medium-sized businesses can use to build e-commerce carts and funnels. announced that it raised $35 million in a funding round. Kevin McKeand, who was recently named the company’s CEO, said the fresh cash will be put toward further developing ThriveCart’s platform and tripling the size of the company’s workforce. |
| What’s hot and what’s not? Five retail technology questions for Excellent Zephyr’s Ian Moore [RTIH] RTIH asks major players in the retail technology space for their thoughts on the sector, and throws in a random question to keep them on their toes. This time around, our five questions go to Ian Moore, Founder and Head of Services at Excellent Zephyr.
Retailers’ top technology spending priorities are… [Chain Store Age] A new survey reveals what technology solutions retailers plan to invest in, and why. According to a new survey of more than 200 U.S.-based retail IT decision makers, more than two-thirds (68%) of respondents plan to increase retail technology spending in the next several years, with close to 30% planning to increase spending by 10%. |
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| Micro & Last Mile Fulfillment |
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| Stuart partners with bodo, providing same-day delivery to ecommerce brands [Charged] Last mile delivery specialist Stuart, is partnering with bodo, a logistics platform for ecommerce brands, to provide sustainable, same day and instant deliveries across London.
This delivery issue leads to cart abandonment [Chain Store Age] Digital cart abandonment is a near-universal problem for retailers, with a delivery-related leading cause. According to the 2023 Bringg Barometer: State of Last Mile Delivery survey of 500 retail and e-commerce managers, 87% of survey respondents admit to issues with digital cart abandonment, with lack of clarity about delivery options prior to checkout as the top reason (44%). |
| DoorDash expands Starbucks partnership with plans to reach all US states by March [TechCrunch] Starbucks will become available for delivery via DoorDash across all 50 U.S. states by March. Starbucks and DoorDash first entered a partnership that would allow customers to order Starbucks items for delivery from their local stores using the DoorDash app.
Drones: The Key Piece of the Last-mile Delivery Puzzle? [WWD] Drones have been the outlier in retailers’ quest to solve last-mile delivery. Bogged down by Federal regulations and the hurdle of shifting consumer behavior, they’ve been slow to get off the ground. Not anymore. An ever-increasing number of retailers are adding drones to their portfolio of last-mile options, and shoppers are on board. |
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| Restaurants & Ghost Kitchens |
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Chili’s closes test delivery-focused store after 2 months [Nation’s Restaurant News]
Chili’s Grill & Bar has closed its delivery-only test unit just a couple of months after opening it. They had opened the delivery-and-carryout-focused 1,600-square-foot restaurant in November, paring down from the brand’s traditional 5,500-square-foot restaurant. |
| Notch Raises $10M to Help Restaurants Go Digital [PYMNTS] Notch has raised $10 million in its efforts to help the hospitality sector go digital. The company, which makes software for the food service industry, announced the funding — led by investment platform Portage . It comes as the restaurant industry is stepping up its efforts to drive digitization. |
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| Arte Museum looks to draw a million annual visitors to Santa Monica Place [Chain Store Age] Santa Monica Place is betting that an immersive media gallery will draw lots more traffic than its former movie theater did. Macerich, which owns and operates the half-million-sq.-ft. open-air mall in California, will put Arte Museum in the 48,000-sq.-ft.space vacated by ArcLight Cinemas and expects it to draw a million or more tourists a year.
The Future Of Shopping: Local, On-Demand And Layered [Forbes] Outlets, pop-ups, and local or neighborhood stores are increasingly becoming a popular way many retailers are choosing to modernize themselves. Retailers indicate they’re ready to make stores “more experiential” and they’re ready to give over more floor space to omnichannel activities like order pickup. As they also try to balance location strategy given that workers have not really returned in force to downtown areas and overall the right number of stores given future expected growth, 2023 should see a nearly unprecedented level of experimentation around store format. |
| Should your store be a showroom, a playground, an oasis? [Chain Store Age] Do your stores serve as hands-on centers that inform online purchase? Or clubhouses where passionate brand aficionados gather to explore new uses? In a new report titled “What’s in Store for Brick-and-Mortar,” an international innovation strategy consultancy called Frog holds that physical stores will enter a new era of popularity when their base purpose becomes providing branded experiences instead of merchandise transactions.
Retail execs are questioning how long they can raise prices, but here’s what most say is 2023’s biggest challenge [MarketWatch] Retailers have spent much of the past three chaotic years charging shoppers more to offset rising costs. But heading into 2023, more industry executives are wondering how much leeway they have to keep doing so, amid concerns that increasingly stretched customers will buy less stuff, according to a report from Deloitte. |
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| 10 Retail industry predictions for 2023 [NRF] What’s ahead for retail, from the metaverse and AI to Gen A’s spending power and an increased focus on sustainability and fighting fraud. Trying to get a handle on what will happen in retail in 2023 is especially capricious. |
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