In today’s world, where corporate responsibility, culture wars, and social progress are more or less bound to become intertwined strands of any major national discussion, Minnesota-based Target Corporation’s recent decision to move to the back or completely withdraw selected Gay Pride/LGBTQ+ merchandise from its stores marks a new low in Fortune 500 cowardice. Specifically, what has earned Target my rancor is the company’s puzzling response to conservative pressure over its decision to prominently display LGBTQ+-related clothing and merchandise …
Securing America’s Killing Fields
It’s gotten to the point that reports about mass shootings are almost a weekly occurrence on the nightly newscasts. Seemingly, no public or even semi-public venue is off-limits nowadays when it comes to this uniquely American form of mass violence. In fact, according to a recent Axios-Ipsos poll, gun violence is now Americans’ top public health concern, bigger than the opioid epidemic and cancer. And it’s easy to see why. Over the past couple of years, episodes of mass shootings resulting in four or more victims murdered by firearms, not …
The 11 Most Frequent Forms of Retail Employee Fraud in 2023
Let’s be honest – when it comes to retail fraud, the online world grabs all the attention – and probably justifiably so. In 2022, losses stemming from internet shopping scams and duplicity approached $400 million, according to statistics from the Better Business Bureau. The web’s anonymity coupled with the transmission of sensitive personal information and credit card data – albeit usually encrypted – and aided by a complex logistics and delivery system has all proven to be a boon for those born with a certain technological swagger and a …
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TikTok Retail Marketing at Risk
Digital marketers in the retail industry have been thrown into a state of flux in recent days with news emerging that regulators in Congress and the Biden Administration are edging closer to a ban or forced sale of the popular social media platform TikTok. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said last weekend that lawmakers "will be moving forward" with legislation to address the heightened national security concerns surrounding the app after the social media giant’s CEO faced hours grilling before a congressional panel last week. The move …
ChatGPT: More Friend than Foe for Retail Marketers
It’s not an easy time to be a marketer or PR professional, particularly in the retail sector. Despite years of denial in which communicators wantonly dismissed the reality that increasingly sophisticated AI seemed to be slowly yet determinedly encroaching on their core skill sets – namely copywriting, wordsmithing and poeticizing the virtues of their brands and the products they sell – OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT last November provided the most convincing glimpse yet as to how these new, revolutionary generative natural language technologies …
Slow Checkout Is a Competitive Advantage
Express lines. Self-checkout. Online virtual orders. Contactless checkout. But slow-moving, chit-chat checkout lines? Yes, bucking the trend of shorter, faster, and more efficient shopping – the descriptive terms that have been the hallmarks of the modern consumer retail experience over the past decade or more – is a burgeoning phenomenon that is becoming known as Slow Retail. It’s a movement that has actually been something of a runaway success in Europe. Or shall we say, a walkaway success? Perhaps leisurely strollaway success is more …
The Future of Celebrity Influencers
Big name celebrities have long been the drug of choice for big brands looking to lock in their relevance with young, pop-culture-obsessed consumers. Whether its Snoop Dogg’s deal with Constellation Brands, the owner of Corona Extra’s U.S. distribution rights that has the LA-based rapper waxing poetic about the famous Mexican beer; Ryan Reynold’s tie-up with Mint Mobile that eventually made him the owner of the challenger cellphone brand; or, of course, the grand-daddy of all modern-era celebrity equity deals between 50 Cent and Vitamin Water – …
Retail Could Have Been a Game Changer at CGI
Some use the moniker ‘Davos-on-Hudson’ to describe the Clinton Global Initiative – better known colloquially as ‘CGI’ by global movers and shakers. But no matter what name it goes by, historically, the annual gathering during UN Week in September has arguably been one of the hottest invites to come by on planet earth. Where else besides Davos can you rub elbows with U2’s Bono, heads of state, and the CEO of Unilever – all within the confines of a few thousand square feet in Midtown Manhattan? CGI Field Report This year I was fortunate to …