Dr. Janet Sherlock

This month, Modern Retail brought together a group of executives to talk about how AI is reshaping retail. Below are excerpts from the conversation about how these executives think AI is changing the shopper journey. Stay tuned for part two, which will include a deeper recap about how these executives are integrating AI into their businesses and evaluating which tools to use. In this piece by Anna Hensel, we speak to Paul Michaux of Prose, Kyle E. Simon of The Clear Cut, and Sarah Davis of FASHIONPHILE. https://lnkd.in/ehD3Bmaz

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Bain & Company - The 2026 Retail Executive Agenda Successfully leading a retail business is getting harder—you’re not imagining it. The S&P Retail Index grew only 12% over the past three years, while the broader S&P rose 21%. The top 100 retailers had an average CEO turnover rate of 22% during the same period, up from 17% over the previous three years, according to our analysis of BoardEx data. Cycles are compressing, there’s no longer safety in scale alone, and iconic brands are going bankrupt. #Bain #Retail #turnover #brand #Growth #Business #CEO https://lnkd.in/exDctWvY

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In Harvard Business Review, my colleagues Mikey Vu, Maureen Burns, and Aaron Cheris explore how AI-powered shopping agents are reshaping the retail landscape: https://bit.ly/3XaQ4Xo

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Wrapping up a busy and inspiring week after three fabulous days at NRF 2026, centered on “The Next Now.” The theme captured a powerful reality: retailers must excel in today’s environment while preparing for a near future that will look radically different. Across the show floor and in every conversation, a few themes dominated—AI, operational excellence, the return of human‑centered retail, and bold new models for customer experience. AI, in particular, was everywhere this year, shaping discussions about productivity, personalization, and the evolution of frontline work. I had the opportunity to spend meaningful time with teams from AWS, Monks, Salsify, Adobe, Microsoft, Centrica, and many more—as well as reconnect with so many industry friends, both old and new. What an exciting and inspiring moment for technology and for retail. The future really is arriving faster than ever.

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Here are some interesting stories from the world of retail for Wednesday, March 11: 🏬 Kohl's signaled improvement in its apparel category in the first quarter, but it warned of another year of declining sales overall. For Q4, total sales fell 3.9% and comparable sales were down by 2.8%. 👖 Fabletics is launching its first denim collection, signaling a shift in consumer preferences away from athleisure. The collection, priced between $79.95 and $174.95, will be available online and in select stores. 🤖 OpenAI has scaled back its plans to turn ChatGPT into a fully integrated shopping destination. The company will now abandon processing purchases inside the chatbot. 🧱 Lego has published its full-year 2025 results, with revenues rising 12% to DKr83.5bn ($12.9bn) and operating profit increasing 18% to DKr22bn, while consumer sales grew 16%. 🧴 Olaplex stock has plummeted nearly 95% since its 2021 IPO due to weakened demand, regulatory challenges, and a lawsuit alleging harmful ingredients. Olaplex is now focusing on product innovation. 🥩 Around 3,800 workers at JBS’s beef processing plant in Greeley, Colorado, plan to strike from March 16th, potentially disrupting production at one of the largest US beef facilities. 💰 Amazon has drawn about $126 billion of peak demand for its US bond sale, one of the largest ever for a corporate offering. The demand underscores how investor appetite for hyperscaler debt remains strong. 👔 Hugo Boss reported an annual operating profit of €391m, surpassing forecasts. It confirmed its 2026 outlook and plans to realign its brand and channels, focusing on high-growth categories. 🍧 Costco Canada has introduced a new dessert to its food court menu, the Caramel Brownie Sundae, expanding its lineup of sweet treats that already includes ice cream cones and various sundaes. 🍫 Shares in Swiss chocolatier Lindt & Sprüngli fell yesterday, after the company lowered its 2026 organic sales growth guidance to 4%–6%, down from its previous medium-term target of 6%–8%. 📱 Apple produced about 25% of its global iPhones in India in 2025, assembling around 55m devices, up 53% from 36m in 2024, as it accelerates efforts to reduce reliance on China and avoid US tariffs. 📦 Amazon’s e-commerce business summoned a large group of engineers to a meeting for a deep dive into a spate of outages, including incidents linked to AI coding tools. 🇬🇧 British consumer spending grew slowly in February as households grew more pessimistic about the outlook for the economy with the Middle East conflict raising concerns about a fresh ‌rise in inflation. 🚫 Perplexity AI must for now stop using its Comet web browser agent to make purchases on behalf of shoppers from Amazon's online marketplace, a court has ruled. 🛋️ The Brand House Collective COO, James Schisler, is resigning to pursue other opportunities. Schisler joined the company nine months ago. #retail #retailnews #economy #DailyRetailNews

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Clarkston Consulting recently partnered with a #footwear company on a MP&A platform vendor selection. The client needed to leverage modern merchandising systems to support their merchandise teams across multiple functions (e.g., planning, allocations), enabling teams to evolve from excel-driven processes to integrated systems, allowing for more advanced capabilities and less reliance on manual processes. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ggg8rEkD #FootwearRetailer #Retail #VendorSelection

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AI is driving new demands on IT—from GPU-heavy cloud servers to smarter edge devices. This Bain report breaks it down and shows why this exponential growth may have businesses reassessing their strategic visions:

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