Retail Disrupted

Supermarket loyalty schemes are having a revival but is customer loyalty dead? In this epsiode, Natalie explores how the need to offer customers immediate value and the opportunity for personalised promotions has seen grocers rewrite the rules of these schemes. Natalie also gives her views on the May retail figures from the BDO - why didn't a Coronation and sunshine stimulate spending? Footfall wa...

In this week's episode, Natalie shares the highlights from her recent interview with Simon Arora, former CEO of B&M, and delves into Bill Gates' prediction that AI will lead to the demise of Amazon. "You will never go to a search site again, you will never go to a productivity site, you'll never go to  Amazon again," Gates said at an event in San Francisco earlier this week. How will the developme...

Amazon's pay-by-palm technology is being tested in select Panera locations in the US. JP Morgan will also begin piloting biometrics-based payments with US retailers this year. According to Google Intelligence, global biometric payments are expected to reach $5.8 trillion and three billion users by 2026. Are shoppers ready for this next level of convenience? How will Amazon benefit? And how can lin...

Boris Planer, Head of Consumer and Market Insight at the trend forecasters WGSN, joins Natalie Berg to discuss the state of German retail and in particular why department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is closing nearly half of its stores. Natalie also breaks down Inditex's annual results, exploring topics such as: Self-checkouts in non-food retail. Inditex's plans to eliminate hard tags on...

Miya Knights, author, consultant and publisher of RetailTechnology.co.uk, joins Natalie Berg to break down the biggest news stories reshaping retail. They discuss: Recent changes to loyalty schemes at major UK retailers Boots and M&S. Are points-based schemes becoming a thing of the past as consumers demand real-time value and rewards? Or are these changes a sign that loyalty schemes are too costl...

We often think of Amazon as one of those invincible brands. A bulletproof business. A business that has transformed the retail sector thanks to a relentless dissatisfaction with the status quo. But like a lot of tech companies they thrived during the pandemic and now they're finding life difficult. Why? 1) General volatility. Like all retailers, Amazon is grappling with unprecedented cost inflatio...

One of the most hotly anticipated store openings – or should we say REopenings – is happening this week. US-based beauty retailer Sephora re-entered the UK market last fall when it spent a whopping £132 million to acquire online beauty retailer feelunique. After an 18-year hiatus, Sephora is back in Blighty, and this week it opens its first store in Westfield in White City, West London. In this ep...

The retail sector is no stranger to disruption. Technology continues to disrupt all aspects of shopping - from on-demand groceries that turn up in 15 minutes to in-store experiences becoming more seamless, connected, and relevant.   Today, shoppers are hyper-informed, digitally-enabled and hungry for shopping experiences that reflect their 21st century needs.  Hosted by Retail Analyst and Author N...