Today on Total Retail

At Shoptalk in Las Vegas last month, Total Retail Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan spoke with Paul Toms, chief marketing officer at Wayfair, one of the world's largest destinations for the home. They delve into Wayfair's multifaceted growth strategy, including the opening of physical retail stores in Chicago and Atlanta (with more locations to come), as well…

For years, retailers have understood something simple but powerful: consumers rarely begin their purchase journey on retailer websites. They start with research. Increasingly, that research happens on Reddit. According to the platform, 71 percent of people who discover a brand go on to research it there, while 74 percent say Reddit helps them make faster…

As customer acquisition costs climb and digital channels become increasingly saturated, many direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands are hitting a growth ceiling. They're asking themselves, "What comes next?" Yet many still treat TV as something to “graduate” to — an expensive and exclusive awareness channel that’s been reserved for the biggest brands with even bigger budgets. Performance…

In today’s retail market, the hottest item isn’t always the original product. Increasingly, it’s the dupe. Across social media, influencers regularly spotlight lower-cost alternatives to luxury and premium products, and consumers eagerly pursue these “dupes,” turning imitation into a viral shopping strategy. But for retailers, the dupe economy raises an important question: When does an…

The Commerce Department's latest U.S. retail sales report — delayed because of last year's government shutdown — shows that Americans spent more than expected in February following three consecutive months of decline. The report comes at a time of extreme consumer wariness: gas prices have reached a national average of $4 a gallon as the…

Joe Keenan interviews experts from OLLY and Contentsquare on the rise of AI-driven search.

Shoptalk 2026 had little choice when creating the theme for this year’s show: “Retail in the Age of AI.” But what artificial intelligence actually means to the thousands of retailers and brands that will be attending the show varies significantly. Some brands and retailers care about intelligence, some about automation, while others want to improve…

While dealmakers aren't stepping back from consumer mergers and acquisitions (M&A), they are getting more selective. New data from KPMG shows deal value jumped 52 percent in 2025, even as deal volume fell 7 percent. Early 2026 looks similar. New global consumer deals in the first two months of the year fell 6 percent year-over-year…

The search bar isn’t dead, but it’s no longer running the show. For years, retail marketing teams optimized content for search engines that crawled text and hunted for keywords. Now, generative artificial intelligence tools, including ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, answer shoppers' questions directly, drawing from a much wider pool of user-generated signals. They determine which…

In December 2025, same-store sales for independent retailers grew 4.5 percent year-over-year, while total U.S. retail sales grew 2.4 percent over the same period. While the broader retail market cooled, neighborhood retail accelerated. When growth separates like that, it’s worth asking why and what it means for brands allocating media dollars in 2026. The Quiet…