09 2026 February
How the Joy Factor and “Kidults” Are Saving the Toy Industry
The toy industry had a “bounce back year” according to Circana industry reports, with global sales climbing 7%. This follows three straight years of decline and...
Read Now06 2026 February
Amazon Was Always Going to Shut Down All Their Go & Fresh Stores
Amazon announced last Tuesday that they are closing the majority of their physical grocery and retail stores and will be laying off 16,000 people. In past...
Read Now10 2025 December
The AI Data War in Retail Is Just Getting Started. Lessons from Black Friday …
The last two weeks were the biggest sales week for many online retailers as the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals all took over. I...
Read Now04 2025 December
The 2025 Non-Obvious Holiday Gift Guide
Today we continue with my annual Non-Obvious Holiday Gift Guide, featuring a few products that caught my eye throughout the past year. 7. Delayed Gratification...
Read Now01 2025 December
The 2025 Non-Obvious Holiday Gift Guide
This week, you’ll see my annual Non-Obvious Holiday Gift Guide with a few products that caught my eye throughout the past year. As I share...
Read Now29 2025 August
How “Dumbification” May Be the Next Hot Technology Trend
What happens when all the good TVs that you can buy in the market are automatically programed as “smart” TVs, ready to connect to the...
Read Now30 2025 July
The Future Will Include AI For Dynamic Pricing … Here’s What Could Happen Next
Here are two stories from this week that don’t seem to be related to one another. The first is about Delta testing AI for dynamic...
Read Now21 2025 July
The Booming Business of Being a Witch—Selling Spells on Etsy
There was a time when not being a witch was a good survival strategy. Apparently those times have changed. According to a new piece from...
Read Now16 2025 June
How To See Through a Manipulated Headline (A Retailwire Case Study)
One thing I often talk about in this newsletter is honing our media literacy. This week I found a perfect case study to illustrate how...
Read Now22 2025 May
When the Government Refuses to Protect Consumers, Tools Like This Can Fill the Gap
For over thirty years, the EPA’s Energy Star testing and certification program has helped consumers see how energy-efficient an appliance or electronic device is before...
Read Now08 2025 May
What One Man’s T-Shirt Test Says About Sustainability
For the past two years, startup founder Torleif Markussen Lunde created a quiet test of the sustainability of three comparable white t-shirts. The most expensive was...
Read Now26 2025 March
The Quest to Prevent Scalpers and the Rise of the Freebie Bots
There is a word for people who buy a child’s game when it first comes out and then immediately try to sell it online for...
Read Now05 2025 March
The Subtle Master Plan Behind De Beers New DiamondProof In-Store Verification Device
A little over six months ago, De Beers Group announced the DiamondProof “diamond verification instrument” at a jewelry trade show in Las Vegas. The idea was that...
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