In February, two of the biggest players in the cookware space — Groupe SEB and Meyer — filed a lawsuit against Caraway, accusing the company of false and misleading advertising claims. Rather than shy away from the lawsuit, Caraway has spent 2026 publicly talking about it and using it as marketing fodder.
In a sign of the agentic times, Amazon announced Tuesday at its annual UnBoxed conference that it has renamed its unified platform Amazon Ads Agent. The company also announced Full-Funnel Campaigns, which combines sponsored ads, display, video and streaming TV within a single campaign.
Companies like Kroger, Giant Eagle and DoorDash outlined their philosophies on agentic AI tools at this year's Groceryshop conference. Much of the discussion centered around how to train shoppers to naturally integrate agentic shopping into their busy routines.
Hoka’s newest campaign marks its latest attempt to corner the loyalty of running enthusiasts across New York City in the run-up to the city’s marathon in just over a month.
Knix's latest product launch, a line of underwear called Invisible Cotton, was more technically challenging to develop than its seamless nature suggests. Here's what it took over 18 months and 31 prototypes to finally bring the product to life.
Unilever Wellbeing is betting on the continued convergence of beauty and wellness as GLP-1 drugs and AI-driven health data impact what consumers are looking for.
Duer, a performance jeans brand based in Canada, is leaning into print amid an analog resurgence. The company is publishing a quarterly magazine called Interval, with the first issue dropping in October.
This week's episode of the Modern Retail Podcast digs into how AI product recommendations are reshaping retail shelves. Increasingly, brands are strategizing around how to get their products surfaced in ChatGPT and Gemini results.
Costco's business is increasingly living beyond the doors of its core warehouses, as digital sales and partnerships with platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats are helping it attract newer, younger customers.
Best Buy is increasingly putting its electronics roots at the heart of its retail media pitch. On Wednesday, Best Buy held its annual showcase event highlighting what’s coming up in its retail media business — including a new part of its advertising business that the company is branding as Best Buy CTV.
Instacart CEO Chris Rogers says lower online markups, loyalty perks and cheaper delivery options are crucial to driving more online grocery growth in the coming years.
On Saturday, Sephora kicked off its TikTok Shop launch with a livestreamed shopping session hosted by Mikayla Nogueira, the mega influencer and co-founder of POV Beauty, offering shoppers access to an exclusive new holiday value set. It hints at what Sephora's strategy may look like on the platform going forward.
This year, dog food brand Spot & Tango is funneling $3.5 million into top-of-funnel marketing, an effort that spans from out-of-home ads to connected TV to events. It's a notable shift from last year, when the brand spent effectively $0 on top-of-funnel marketing.
This year, Dave’s Killer Bread is bringing pumpkin spice bagels — which it originally discontinued seven years ago — nationwide as part of a year-round seasonal shelf strategy. Here's why the company is embracing more LTO products.
The price of gas overall is up about 50% in the U.S. since the start of the conflict between the U.S., Iran and Israel on Feb. 28. But last week, some states started to see alarming price increases on top of that. It could put a damper on holiday preparations for both consumers and retailers.
Walking around a Target store today, shoppers are going to find far more K-beauty brands than they would have a year ago as the retailer seeks the latest trends and as Korean brands seek to expand into U.S. mass retail.
Creators and brands are starting holiday campaigns months early to build awareness and test sales strategies. In turn, the campaign calendars have shifted to feature Christmas content as early as August.
While other DTC footwear brands like Allbirds struggled, Rothy’s surpassed $200 million in sales by growing carefully, testing retail and wholesale, and managing to avoid DTC's costly expansion traps. Rothy’s CEO and president, Dayna Quanbeck, joined the Modern Retail Podcast to talk about the brand's expansion strategy.
In the past decade, creators in the fashion and beauty space have shifted from influencers to strategic partners. That was a big topic of discussion at Glossy Pop NYC earlier this month.
Shipt, the delivery app owned by Target that powers the retailer's same-day delivery service, announced an AI assistant last week on the same day as one of its biggest competitors.
Walmart's first-party data platform for merchants and suppliers, Scintilla, is getting a big upgrade next year, the company announced at Walmart Data Ventures’ Inspire conference this week.
After years as a predominantly direct-to-consumer brand, Unilever-owned The Laundress is entering Target stores with a fresh take on laundry care. Here's why The Laundress is finally launching into brick-and-mortar for the first time.
Year to date, 94% of revenue on TikTok Shop from luxury resale in the U.S. is coming from lives, the platform revealed during a presentation to members of the media during Fashion Week. Here's what else TikTok Shop had to say about its burgeoning luxury resale business.
Carter’s, a giant in the children’s apparel space, is unveiling its first major brand refresh since 2000, repositioning its marketing and messaging with Gen Z and millennial parents in mind. Carter's CMO Sarah Crockett walked Modern Retail through what led up to the rebrand.
Meta Lab plans to open six new locations this fall as it continues its push into wearables. The company took Modern Retail through its retail plans and addressed ongoing privacy concerns.
As companies take a stance on AI use, Boll & Branch is one of many brands integrating generative AI into their ad imagery and copy. On this week's episode of the Modern Retail Podcast, Boll & Branch Chief Creative Officer Kristen Deyco spoke about the brand's playbook and frameworks around the use of AI.
Retail media is becoming increasingly critical to one of the nation's largest grocery chains as Kroger reported its best retail media profit growth since 2021.
Reformation touted the strength of its loyal customer base during its first call as a publicly traded company, as executives sought to sell Wall Street analysts on the power of its direct-to-consumer flywheel.
Walgreens wants to make digital in-store ad placements a bigger part of its retail media business. The chain plans to add digital screens with advertising and educational content in 1,200 of its stores beginning in October, a partnership with in-store media firm Looma.
Seasonal demand may be predictable, but consumer behavior isn’t. By investing sooner and responding to evolving consumer signals, marketers can influence consideration, build momentum and capture demand before competition intensifies. Sponsored by Keen Decision Systems.
The leader of Dick’s Sporting Goods’ advertising division hopes to recruit CPG brands, quick-service restaurants and even automakers to run campaigns in its stores and other channels. His pitch to brands and agencies last week centered around the retailer’s presence in youth sports.
As the back-to-school season dies down, Aerie is continuing its hot streak. Meanwhile, American Eagle is still dealing with sales slumps as it works to reposition its denim business.
Online eyewear has reached a new phase of maturity, as consumers grow more confident purchasing prescription products digitally and as retailers invest in faster fulfillment, improved fit technology and more seamless omnichannel journeys. Sponsored by Optimax Eyewear Group.
Retail giants like Walmart, Kroger and Amazon have launched AI assistants allowing consumers to ask for recommendations or curated shopping lists. Now, Instacart has made it easier for other retailers such as regional grocers to follow in their footsteps.
Lands’ End is doing a concerted marketing push around college football this fall, as part of its quest to introduce the brand to more people. Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Sylvester, who joined the company a little over six months ago, spoke with Modern Retail about why she thinks college football game days are a moment that Lands' End can own.
Made In, Plainspeak and Springrose are among the brands turning to Instagram DMs to collect feedback, talk with shoppers and source ideas for new products at a time in which digital marketing costs continue to skyrocket.
Adding stock is the key to Hulken's holiday strategy in 2026 as it embraces a larger wholesale presence. Here's how the brand is preparing for its busiest Q4 yet.
After the launch of many different retail media networks over the past few years, all these new divisions of various consumer-facing companies are now fighting for ad dollars. That brought many of them to New York City last week. Modern Retail attended the majority of the presentations, gathering how each worked to differentiate itself from the crowd.
Now is the time when brands start to consider whether or not to make changes to their returns policies in time for the holidays. Loop is seeing brands institute temporary policies for the holidays to better accommodate, and monetize, shopper behavior.
Companies like AG1, Ritual and Blueland are investing in clinical research as a way to fuel brand growth. Executives at these companies share why they think it's an important differentiator.
Lululemon reported second-quarter earnings on Thursday that came in below expectations, with executives facing plenty of questions from Wall Street analysts about whether or not the activewear brand had correctly diagnosed the challenges it faces.
State fairs have been a staple of the U.S. since the 1800s. Now, they've become a prime spot for pop-ups for brands like E.l.f. and Levi's, as they look to show up at events where their competitors haven't yet touched.
Hangover-prevention products can now be found in places like big-box stores and fine-dining restaurants as more businesses look to cater to young drinkers who also care about wellness.
One year into its existence, Ace Hardware’s retail media network, RedVest Media, just announced a slate of new features for advertisers as part of an upfront event last week.
A four-block line. A two-and-a-half hour wait time. And hundreds of sweaters. Quince took Modern Retail behind the scenes of its first sample sale as it ponders a larger physical presence.
Fjällräven is opening more stores in North America, including a new retail concept with its sister brands, as it looks to solidify its place in outerwear.
Simon Property Group, one of the largest mall operators in the U.S., has more to sell advertisers on than its existing network of almost 4,000 digital screens. That includes location data from shoppers who use its Wi-Fi networks.
In the first quarter of 2026, YouTube came out on top for the fourth year in a row as the ad-supported streaming service that received the largest portion of Modern Retail survey respondents’ ad placements and ad budgets — but the streaming industry is poised to experience significant shifts in the coming 12 months.
Bubba, known for large insulated kegs, popped up at Lollapalooza to push its new look and brand identity. Here's what the brand learned about what it takes to pull off a successful activation.
As ticket prices for the U.S. Open tennis tournament soar, brands like Evian, Sephora and Lavazza are staging NYC pop-ups for fans who can't make it out to Queens.
This week's episode of the Modern Retail Podcast digs into the new life cycle of brand cancellations and why many brands are still unable to address social media backlash in a manner that satisfies consumers.
Move over, Hello Kitty and Labubu. Retail's latest "it" girl is Miffy. Here's why brands from Starbucks to Calpak are lining up to work with the cartoon bunny.
Target's refreshed beauty assortment aims to promote emerging brands, but includes very few from Black entrepreneurs. Of the 90 brands listed as part of the new beauty assortment, Modern Retail could only identify two with Black owners or founders. A spokesperson said the collection was focused on beauty brands from around the world, pointing to Korean, Japanese, Mexican and French brands.
Target's new beauty section in stores and online has attracted many new brands to the retailer for the first time. For some, this is their first entry into retail stores entirely.
As the retail media landscape evolves, marketers are rethinking where they invest, how they measure success and which retail media networks deserve a larger share of budget. Although they once viewed retail media primarily as a lower-funnel performance channel, marketers are expanding their ad businesses beyond sponsored product listings into off-site media, streaming and full-funnel marketing.
Dick's Sporting Goods says it remains bullish on its Foot Locker business, even as it lowered its yearly guidance for the segment, citing "challenging conditions" in the athletic footwear market.
The latest celebrity brands to shut down are Messi's Mas+ and Alex Cooper's Unwell, proving that major buzz fades quickly in the saturated celebrity-led CPG space.
On Sept. 24 in New York City, Digiday, Glossy and Modern Retail will host the second iteration of AI Marketing Strategies, bringing together brand leaders, agency executives, analysts and technology providers to explore what’s actually working as AI reshapes modern marketing.
One of the common themes of Modern Retail's recent Leaders Dinner was just how much retail today is a battle of inches. Margins are being eroded little by little by third-party fees, tariffs, increased operations costs and a thousand other small things.
The Hershey Company has started using new AI tools to maximize sales performance of s'mores ingredients in stores — including its own chocolates, as well as marshmallows and graham crackers.
By the end of this year, shoppers will finally be able to use Apple Pay and Google Pay in Walmart stores, ending years of frustration that the retailer didn't support what is now a nearly ubiquitous payment option.
Tariff refunds continue to bolster the balance sheets of big retailers while consumers remain constrained by higher fuel prices and other macroeconomic factors.
Target has entered a new era of trendy snacks, creating more space for products like protein bars and meat sticks as part of a massive refresh of its grocery business.
The online backlash over Neutrogena’s handling of partnership with former ambassador Hayden Panettiere raises questions over brand cancellations, boycotts and long-term brand loyalty.
AI is changing how retail commerce teams build, manage and scale integrations. But the next phase isn’t about generating more code — it’s about creating faster, more reliable workflows with the governance and controls needed to support retail operations. Sponsored by Celigo.
Recently, retailers have had a hard time finding space in which to put new stores. The problem is that there are not a lot of buildings going up to begin with. Retail construction completions fell to 5.7 million square feet in the second quarter, setting record lows for both quarterly and rolling four-quarter totals, according to CBRE.
In conversations with executives this summer, one consistent theme has been that everybody is trying to court a new demographic that’s in a slightly higher income bracket than their core customer. Or, they're grappling with how to get their highest spenders to spend more. Here's what's driving seemingly every brand to try to position themselves as a premium brand.
Several brand executives spoke at eTail Boston about the new DTC playbook — specifically, how they are reshaping wholesale strategies and using AI for search, content and operations to drive growth.
On this week's Modern Retail Podcast, the co-founder of baby care brand Tubby Todd explains how private equity fueled its shift from DTC to Target shelves.
Brands like UrbanStems, H&M and Chobani are refining partnerships to match audiences, drive cultural relevance and unlock new growth. Here's more on how execs from these brands say their approach to partnerships has changed over the years.
