Over the last few years, Lovesac has begun taking over the furniture industry. Lovesac went from selling bean bags to nearing $500M in sales this year.

How did they do it?

Shawn Nelson, Lovesac’s founder and CEO, started just producing the sacs for friends, but within a few years, he and his business partner Dave Underwood were taking orders from a major retailer.

A single order of 12,000 units for the retailer — Limited Too — forced Lovesac to create its factory and take its business to the next level.

Fast forward to last year, Lovesac grew its net sales by over 55% in 2021 to $498.2 million, while its comparable sales grew by 46.9% year-over-year.

Regardless of where consumer habits bring people to shop, whether that be online or in-store, consumers are demanding consistently great retail experiences.

A recent survey by Ris news asked retailers what they think can be done to keep up with the ever-changing consumer habits. Some of the major takeaways included improving inventory visibility, empowering workers with technology, and becoming a master of the return process.

Today, about 30% of all products ordered online are returned, compared with only 8.9% bought in brick-and-mortar stores. According to a Peerless Research Group study, only 32% of retailers have any formal process for managing returns. By managing returns efficiently, you can reduce transportation and labor costs, enabling higher recovery of returned and excess inventory.

Click HERE to learn more about how to keep up with the ever-changing trends.

Just as the global supply chain flashes signs of returning to normal, a new strike now threatens to disrupt the transport of a vast range of goods, from agricultural crops to lumber to coal.

On Wednesday, 4,900 railroad Union members rejected a tentative contract that the union had negotiated with the railroads.  As soon as Friday, tens of thousands of railroad workers could begin striking across the country. 

Rail moves roughly two-fifths of long-distance American freight and one-third of exports.  What’s more, rail is a main aspect of the global supply chain that depends on the coordinated movements of cargo ships, trains, and trucks.

Click HERE to learn more about the pending railroad strike.

This year has been a rollercoaster for retailers alike. At the halfway point of the year, top retail execs gave their thoughts about inflation, inventory, and more.

Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart, stated that they were able to make good progress to reduce inventory levels where they focused and took markdowns. The aggressive approach they took to move through apparel in particular put financial pressure on Walmart, but it helped relieve pressure on the stores and through our supply chain.

Brian Cornell, CEO of Target, stated that reducing excess inventory has been the focus leading into the holiday season. While Target considered holding on to excess inventory and attempted to deal with it slowly over multiple quarters or even years, they decided it would have cluttered our sales force and hampered our ability to present new, fresh and fashionable items.

Click HERE to learn more about what top retail execs had to say about the current state of retail.

Retailers who successfully leverage computer vision with diagnostic, proactive, and predictive analytics are gaining the much-needed competitive edge.

Computer vision provides video and audio for additional context, complementing other types of data.  No matter if you are at your store for 9 hours a day, or an hour a week, it is impossible to see everything the way artificial intelligence can comprehend every second of the day.

The combination of foot traffic data and AI allows you to not only see exactly how long a customer was in a store, but you can see exactly where customers are spending their time.

Click HERE to learn more about the benefits of computer vision in retail.

When customers have endless options of stores to shop from, personalization and branded content have become essential to building brand loyalty.

Branded content can be defined as any published media that a brand has had a hand in producing. Both small and large businesses are looking for innovative ways to engage with audiences — and the best way to do that is through stories, not ads.

Although ads can be effective, data shows that an estimated 25% of internet users use ad-blockers on their devices. A recent report found that 70% of consumers want to learn about products through content and responded positively to brands that provided them with thoughtful subject matter expertise.

Click HERE to read The Complete Guide to Branded Content.

Malls in the United States are slowly reaching full capacity after years of lackluster foot traffic.

Simon Property Group reported an occupancy rate at its U.S. malls and outlet centers of 93.9% as of June 30, up from 91.8% a year earlier. Although US malls saw 1,954 store closings this year, retailers in the U.S. have announced 4,432 new store openings.

Last year, the retail industry finished the year with a net addition of 68 stores. Even with all of the closures, this year has seen a net of 2,478 openings.

Click HERE to learn more about the current state of US malls.