News & Blog

It’s been another busy month in the world of retail as many blue-chip brands reported earnings and many retailers made their way to ShopTalk in Vegas. We saw headlines about stores shutting physical locations including JCPenney, Victoria’s Secret, Payless, and Gymboree to name a few. But not all was doom and gloom. Gap announced it would spin off Old Navy into a separate company and that it would acquire children’s retailer Janie and Jack. And Allbirds announced it was expanding to China, opening its first physical stores in the country.

Twenty-nineteen started off with a bang in the retail world as brands dug out from the holiday craze to refocus on the year’s new goals and initiatives. The NRF Big Show dominated the headlines as did reports of a successful holiday season, with Mastercard SpendingPulse reporting U.S. retail sales up 5.1 percent, the strongest performance in six years. Here’s a look at some of the stories that caught our eye in January.

There’s no question that retail had a big year. We’ve seen exciting new brands come to market, while blue chip legacy retailers closed their doors. There’s been new innovation in the way we shop, search and pay, and technology has pushed the envelope in terms of new experiences, customization and overall customer service. Here’s a look back at the biggest winners in retail in 2018 that will likely continue to prove successful in the year ahead.

As the year comes to an end, retailers will take a look back and reflect on wins, losses, and surprises. Then, they’ll turn to the new year: How can they use those learnings to inform a strategy that focuses on where the marketplace is going? Here are our predictions for what will be huge in retail for 2019.

As the retail world kicks into high gear with the official start of holiday shopping, November brought with it some big stories. Cyber Monday hit a record $7.9 billion in sales and of note, 33.5 percent of Black Friday sales and 27.7 percent of Cyber Monday Sales were made using smartphones. Digitally-native brands continue to make headlines with more and more predicted to turn to brick-and-mortar shops in 2019. And we enjoyed reading an article in Axios about the future of malls and how Columbus, OH has become the ‘SIlicon Valley of retail.” These stories and more are below.