From Microsoft’s in-house AI leap to GenAI to impactful updates on chatbot safety and Essenger news of GPT‑5’s imminent arrival, recent developments reveal a shift toward safer, more autonomous, and enterprise-ready AI systems.
This week’s coverage spotlights sustainability’s evolution, Walmart’s resilience in the face of tariffs, and how omnichannel innovation is reshaping grocery, fashion, and home retail.
From CRM to vendor management, retail software has become the backbone of omnichannel operations, helping retailers manage inventory, personalize marketing, and optimize supplier performance.
This week, agentic commerce—where autonomous AI agents shop on consumers’ behalf, leaped into the mainstream, with major publications and legacy platforms embracing the concept and signaling a fundamental shift in ecommerce.
From real-time stock visibility to social commerce and AI personalization, grocery retailers are embracing omnichannel innovations that enhance convenience, boost conversions, and reshape shopping habits in 2025.
EY highlights five key strategies - insights, inventory, distribution, logistics, and real estate - that retailers must integrate to build resilient and customer-centric omnichannel operations.
Y Combinator’s 2025 retail cohort features startups like Two Tap, Aleph, and SureBright, pioneering innovations in seamless checkout, marketplace scaling, and AI-powered warranties that are redefining modern commerce.
IKEA and Best Buy are testing a first-of-its-kind U.S. partnership, bringing IKEA’s home planning services and furniture into 10 Best Buy stores across Florida and Texas, blending design and technology to streamline home improvement projects.
Combining deep industry experience with AI-driven creativity, AdFury.ai streamlines retail media advertising, saving time, ensuring brand consistency, and boosting performance for brands on platforms like Walmart Connect.
Walmart posted 4.6% U.S. sales growth last quarter, outpacing rivals even as tariffs and operating costs pressured margins.
By saving time, cutting costs, and offering sensory engagement, BOPIS has become a preferred shopping method, and retailers are evolving it further with curbside pickup, smart lockers, and AI-driven efficiency.
Leading retailers are advancing beyond greenwashing, leveraging circular models, traceability, and operational efficiencies to meet modern consumer and investor demands while driving business resilience.
Retail brands are safeguarding their core values by embedding cultural context, soft skills, and adaptability into digital transformation training programs.
Grant Thornton outlines how retailers can unlock AI’s true potential by aligning intent, timing, and transparency across the omnichannel journey.
Walmart is remodeling over 650 stores in 2025 with digital touchpoints, activated experiential zones, and upgraded pharmacies—part of its “Store of the Future” agenda.
On Labor Day, Walmart delivers deep savings across home, tech, and school gear, cementing its omnichannel strategy as summer winds down.