Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.

Retail Brew

A Retailer's guide to mastering customer data

Agentic commerce is changing shopping from browsing to delegation, reshaping how brands earn visibility and trust with AI agents. Learn what to prioritize now as AI-driven discovery moves toward in-conversation purchasing and performance tracking.

From Prompt to Purchase: Transactions and Tracking in the AI Era 

As shoppers become more selective and value-conscious, retailers must constantly adapt to shifting behaviors and rising expectations. Explore the trends shaping where and how consumers shop today, and what they mean for retail strategy in 2026.

2026’s Shopping List: What’s Trending in Retail

The Future of Retail Marketing: Content, Data and the Power of Community

Tricia Crimmins

Vidhi Choudhary

Andrew Adam Newman

Alex Vuocolo

Erin Cabrey

Jeena Sharma

A pink shopping cart with digital analytics like a pie chart and bar chart inside of it

She’s global director of retail strategy at CI&T. 

Coworking with Melissa Minkow

Tamara Coleman started grinding peanuts in her food processor. Now she’s expanding into grocery stores. 

How Buddy Budder plans to ‘become the Jif’ of dog peanut butter 

Many consumers are worried there will be a pullback in discounts this year, and yet promotions have never been more important for getting shoppers in the door. 

Shoppers fear a discount gap this holiday season. Here’s how retailers are responding

The generation craves in-person retail experiences much like Gen Z, but their experience growing up in virtual worlds have created unique expectations for in-store shopping.

Gen Alpha loves brick-and-mortar retail. Here’s what they want when they shop. 

As AI platforms wade into e-commerce, Amazon is betting consumers will choose in-house shopping agents over “horizontal agents” like ChatGPT. 

Amazon CEO says shoppers will choose retailers over third-party AI platforms

Amazon’s CEO said AI presents “an extraordinarily unusual opportunity to forever change the size of AWS and Amazon.com.”

Amazon ups the ante with $200 billion investment in AI

In home improvement specifically, AI agents will be able to handle time-consuming tasks, freeing up staff for more meaningful customer interactions.

Lowe’s tests AI voice agents to handle customer calls across all stores

How L’Oréal and the Estée Lauder Companies are getting ahead of “extended producer responsibility” laws that target plastic packaging.

Cosmetics companies are preparing for the end of their products’ lives

A recap of key pivots retailers like Build-A-Bear and brands like Oura and Burlap & Barrel have made to survive these days.

How retailers are pivoting their way through chaos

Google said UCP’s potential will lay the foundation for a future where all commercial experiences can be seamless and agentic.

Google makes Etsy and Wayfair items shoppable within agentic AI search

To learn if their “diamond” was real, attendees were beckoned to the trade-show booth. 

At NRF, this exhibitor’s lure was a free 2-carat diamond…but where is it now?

In the wake of federal funding cuts, retailers investing in social causes may not be just filling funding gaps but boosting loyalty. 

MAC and Kenneth Cole are proving mission-led spending can be good for people and business

Cosmetics companies are preparing for the end of their products’ lives

The Latest Retail Industry News

Google makes Etsy and Wayfair items shoppable within agentic AI search

Coworking with Melissa Minkow

Amazon ups the ante with $200 billion investment in AI

At NRF, this exhibitor’s lure was a free 2-carat diamond…but where is it now?

Amazon CEO says shoppers will choose retailers over third-party AI platforms

Editor’s Picks

How Buddy Budder plans to ‘become the Jif’ of dog peanut butter

Gen Alpha loves brick-and-mortar retail. Here’s what they want when they shop.

MAC and Kenneth Cole are proving mission-led spending can be good for people and business

Lowe’s tests AI voice agents to handle customer calls across all stores

Events

2026’s Shopping List: What’s Trending in Retail

From Prompt to Purchase: Transactions and Tracking in the AI Era

The Future of Retail Marketing: Content, Data and the Power of Community

Resources

Shoppers fear a discount gap this holiday season. Here’s how retailers are responding

How retailers are pivoting their way through chaos

A Retailer's guide to mastering customer data

A Retailer's guide to mastering customer data

Topics

Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know

Cosmetics companies are preparing for the end of their products’ lives

The Latest Retail Industry News

Google makes Etsy and Wayfair items shoppable within agentic AI search

Coworking with Melissa Minkow

Amazon ups the ante with $200 billion investment in AI

At NRF, this exhibitor’s lure was a free 2-carat diamond…but where is it now?

Amazon CEO says shoppers will choose retailers over third-party AI platforms

Editor’s Picks

How Buddy Budder plans to ‘become the Jif’ of dog peanut butter

Gen Alpha loves brick-and-mortar retail. Here’s what they want when they shop.

MAC and Kenneth Cole are proving mission-led spending can be good for people and business

Lowe’s tests AI voice agents to handle customer calls across all stores

Events

2026’s Shopping List: What’s Trending in Retail

From Prompt to Purchase: Transactions and Tracking in the AI Era

The Future of Retail Marketing: Content, Data and the Power of Community

Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know

Resources

Shoppers fear a discount gap this holiday season. Here’s how retailers are responding

How retailers are pivoting their way through chaos

A Retailer's guide to mastering customer data

A Retailer's guide to mastering customer data

Topics