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The Future of Retail For over a decade and a half, Advantage2Retail has been bringing forth thought-provoking articles on the current state of the Retail Industry. With so much change and disruption currently facing the industry, we decided to take an in-depth look at what the industry has faced across the last decade, what factorsRead more

Brick-and-Mortar Automation: The Death of the Retail Cashier? Foreword Over twenty years ago, Amazon was formed as an online bookstore, and today sells everything from A to Z, and generates over 5% of total retail sales. Less than two years ago, Amazon continued their push into the brick-and-mortar space with their fully-automated convenience store concept,Read more

How Smartphones and Social Media have forever changed the way Consumers Shop Overview: For the last decade, there has been more change and disruption in the Retail Industry, than across the last century. At the core of these changes, is a consumer base which is younger, technologically-enabled and socially-savvy. Mobile Disruption: Mobile devices first changedRead more

Robotics, AI and Retail: 3 Ways Robotics and Artificial Intelligence are Revolutionizing the Retail Industry Overview: If you watch any Sci-Fi movie or television series from the last several decades, there is a long-standing promise of Robotics and AI being employed for the betterment of mankind. While most of the concepts usually end in disaster,Read more

3 Ways to Make Your Brick and Mortar Store Stand Out Brick and mortar stores are facing more challenges than ever to compete in the digital age. The fast and convenient shopping experiences offered by online giants like Amazon has led many shoppers away from physical stores. With the rapid and ever-increasing popularity of e-commerce,Read more

Customer Retention: Proven Ways to Build Customer Loyalty in Retail It is a well-known fact that retaining your current customers often requires less investment of both time and money than finding new customers. However, many retailers currently struggle to build effective customer retention strategies in today’s overcrowded marketplace. There are several key benefits to customerRead more

Looking Forward: The State of Retail in 2018 The countdown to 2018 is upon us. Retail has evolved significantly over the past year, which means that we’ve also seen multiple store closings from legacy retailers including: Staples, Banana Republic, Kmart, Sears, Gap, JCPenney, Ann Taylor, Teavana and Gymboree, among others. While uninspired reporters are callingRead more

Overview: We are well into the holiday rush and a few things have already become apparent about consumer shopping patterns. First, is that Black Friday doesn’t have the pull it once did for brick and mortar retailers. CNN reports a decrease in Black Friday foot traffic of less than 1 percent, compared to a 16.9Read more

Sales-Boosting Retail Store Tips for the Holiday Season This year’s holiday season has arrived and early forecasts predict strong sales for retailers. With consumer spending expected to be on the rise, it’s important for retail stores to be adequately prepared to sell, sell, and sell some more. If your goal is to maximize your salesRead more

4 Ways Retail Consultants Provide Value In an industry as fiercely competitive as retail, effectively contending with your competitors is critical to the survival of your business. In this regard, the help of an outside expert can often be invaluable. For many small-to-medium size retailers, consulting can be a cost-effective way to uncover solutions thatRead more