The annual list from the National Retail Federation ranks the industry’s biggest players by domestic retail sales. It also considers Power Players in a variety of categories, each with 2022 U.S. sales equal or greater than 10% of the sales of the category leader. 

Following years of unrelenting change, the country’s Top 100 retailers have delivered a surprise: greater consistency than expected. David Marcotte, senior vice president for Kantar (Kantar compiles the data), says other than just a few exceptions, “everybody grew, and at more or less the same rate.”

Here’s the top 5 retailers of 2023:

1. Walmart
2. Amazon
3. Costco Wholesale
4. The Kroger Co.
5. The Home Depot

Click HERE to see the entire list of retailers.

This year, it is projected that US retail sales will reach $7.334 trillion, indicating a 3.3% increase compared to the previous year. However, Zak Stambor, a growth analyst at Business Insider, predicts that there will be a new normal of slower growth in the future.

While the rate of inflation growth has been decreasing month by month, it is still relatively high compared to the previous year. According to CNBC, there was a 5% increase in inflation in March 2022.

Furthermore, OPEC+ recently announced a reduction in oil production, which could result in higher gas prices and potentially affect consumer spending.

Looking ahead, the expected annual growth rate for retail sales is anticipated to range from 3.3% to 3.5% until 2027. This represents a significant decline from the growth rates of 8.1% in the previous year and 17.9% in 2021.

Click HERE to learn more.

In 2002, the movie Minority Report was released and showed the world how terrifying the world could become if biometrics could tell advertisers exactly what you want.

20 years later, the premise of the movie is slowly becoming a reality. About two-thirds of marketing professionals said they expected to see greater use of biometric data to access, personalize or secure data and services by the end of this decade, according to a survey by WPP’s Essence.

Although biometrics are far from the level we saw on Minority Report, the more immediate marketing applications for biometrics are likely to focus on letting consumers protect their personal information.

As said by Mark Viden, senior vice president of brand at nonprofit hospital chain CommonSpirit Health, “Making the decision to tap such personal data fast-tracks an intimate relationship between a brand and consumers,”.

Click HERE to learn more about the future of biometrics in retail.

As the oldest members of Gen Z move into their mid-20s and the youngest enter their teen years, personal finance concerns are high on their list of worries.

A recent report found that 48% of Gen Z frequently shop at discount stores, with 20% prioritizing dollar stores.

Financial concerns also affect how Gen Z pays for things: 45% use debit cards, 21% prefer cash, and credit cards come in third at 17%. Buy now, pay later (BNPL) options are at the bottom of Gen Z’s preference list, at only 3%.

Despite Gen-Z being digital natives, physical stores are still a fan favorite. virtually all (97%) of the 1,000+ consumers surveyed in March 2023 shop in brick-and-mortar stores — and almost the same number, 95%, also shop online. 

Click HERE to learn more about the rise of gen-z shoppers.

Colors have a remarkable way of stirring emotions and perceptions, and it’s fascinating to explore the subjectivity behind our interpretations. What one person sees as blue, another may insist is purple. 

Research reveals that our personal preferences, experiences, upbringing, cultural backgrounds, and the context in which we encounter colors all contribute to our brain’s interpretation of them. It’s a mesmerizing blend of science and subjectivity.

Just like how the perfect soundtrack can transform a movie scene, colors have the power to anchor and shape our retail spaces. Their primal function allows our brains to swiftly make connections, helping us perceive shapes, gauge distances, and even sense temperature in our environment.

Imagine the possibilities when you take the time to deliberately choose the right colors for specific areas of your store. It’s like a hidden superpower that enables you to personalize the shopping experience for every visitor, subtly influencing their perception without them consciously realizing how.

Click HERE to learn more about the importance of color in retail.

As the retail industry as a whole, and more specifically the furniture industry, continues to change, Retail Dive sat down with various store owners to ask what they think could be learned from other industries.

John Conroy of Morrisofa Europe says, “The tech sector sells a full concept rather than a product – for example, buying an apple iPhone usually leads to buying Airpods, an iPad, apple Watch, and iPod to go with it. Why do we only try to sell a sofa, rather than a professionally designed roomset?” 

Another owner pointed out the importance of supplier-driven assets. Mike Whitman, the owner of Iconography, states “Decent photography is an expensive investment, and proper 3D models are even more costly. Small independents simply can’t afford to source this themselves, either in time or money. If suppliers want their products to be chosen over their competitors (either by the end-customer or by retailers), then they need to be providing that retailer support.” 

Each industry provides a unique take on what is going on in their world, and how the industries overlap and can learn from each other.

Click HERE to hear more about what can be learned from other industries.  

Customers no longer want a personalized shopping experience, they expect it.

Gone are the days when 3rd-party data was the go-to route for collecting info to tailor the shopping experience. With companies like Apple exposing the truth about mass data collection from 3rd parties, consumers are much more aware of what info they give away. And with stricter regulations, collecting data has become a real pain in the neck.

A recent survey found that a whopping 69% of consumers are worried about how their personal data is collected within mobile applications. Despite all the cookie and 3rd-party data controversies, 81% of companies still rely on third-party data.

Although collecting first-party data can seem daunting at first, but it’s worth the effort in the long run. First-party data is all the juicy details you collect from within your own customer ecosystem – think email convos, social media followers, app usage, website traffic, and more.

Soon enough, first-party data will be essential for personalizing shopping experiences without relying on buying data elsewhere. 

Click HERE to learn more about the growing need to collect first-party data.