Dan M.

"The transition from traditional web or app search to agent-led commerce represents the next great evolution in retail. We aren't just watching the shift, we are driving it,” said John Furner, President and CEO of Walmart U.S. and incoming President and CEO of Walmart Inc. “We want to help customers get what they need and want, when and where they want it. Partnering with Google to bring the Walmart experience directly into Gemini is another step toward creating seamless shopping experiences for customers and members that are more intuitive and personal than ever before." https://lnkd.in/gMdbsa-K

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AI isn’t a feature… it’s becoming the operating system for modern retail. At Lowe’s, we’re seeing high-intent customers who engage with our AI-powered MyLow experiences convert at 2× the rate of those who don’t. That’s not about novelty, it’s about relevance, confidence, and helping customers move from inspiration to execution faster. What excites me most is what’s ahead: AI that understands projects end-to-end, anticipates needs before customers ask, and empowers associates with real-time intelligence on the floor and online. This is how we scale expertise, not just transactions. We’re still early and the opportunity to redefine home improvement through AI has never been bigger. 🚀 #Lowes #AI #FutureOfRetail #DigitalTransformation #RetailTech #CustomerObsessed #Personalization #eCommerce #Innovation #Leadership

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Target has a new CEO. Can the magic return? TLDR: Target lost its spark. Customers are speaking loudly about what is broken. The path forward is not in corporate strategy decks, it is in the aisles of the stores. My feed today is full of people debating if Target can turn it around. The most powerful voices are not analysts, but customers. I have loved Target for years, but I shop there less often now. The experience has slipped. It can be rebuilt, and here is how: 1. Listen inside the stores Talk to customers and employees. The answers are already in the aisles. 2. Fix checkout frustrations Either be fast with self-checkout or be personal with staff. Do not do both halfway. 3. Stock the shelves Parents cannot afford wasted trips when every dollar counts. Empty shelves cost loyalty (BTS this year). 4. Make the store feel good again Clutter and messy racks kill discovery. A clean store builds brand love. 5. Extend the digital shelf Stock essentials in store, offer the rest online with an easy scan-to-order option. 6. Personalize rewards Use history to surprise customers with products they will love. 7. Seamless app experience One app. One account. One place for shopping, rewards, and credit. 8. Bring back discovery Target used to be the place you left with $50 of joy you did not plan to buy. Customers want that back. Shoppers today are strapped. They need value, ease, and joy from every trip. Deliver those basics, and the magic returns. Question: What do you think Target’s new CEO should fix first to win back customers?

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Walmart continues to show what retail adaptability looks like at scale. Their latest AI tools for associates don’t just make operations more efficient—they simplify, guide, and free up time for what matters most: the customer. By combining generative AI with AR and RFID, they’re showing how real-time intelligence can enhance decision-making from the shelf to the backroom. It’s a move that echoes the principles of The Agile Code—adaptability, experimentation, and team empowerment. 💡 What’s your “escape fire”? How are you redeploying time saved through technology? #TheAgileCode #RetailInnovation #AIinRetail #Walmart #AgilityInAction https://lnkd.in/eGQwTKsd

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Albertsons’ Four Big Bets Put AI at the Core of Growth Key Points • CEO Susan Morris outlined four transformation priorities: Digital Customer Experience, Merchandising Intelligence, Empowering and Managing Labor, and Optimizing the End-to-End Supply Chain. • “Ask AI” search is delivering a 10% increase in basket size among users. • New agentic AI shopping assistant launched in December across banner websites (Albertsons AI, Safeway AI, Vons AI, Jewel-Osco AI and more) to cut shopping time to as little as four minutes. • Workforce upskilling accelerates in 2026 through a Microsoft partnership that includes Copilot immersion, prompt coaching, unlimited certifications and GitHub Copilot training. • Q3 context: identical sales up 2.4% and digital sales up 21%, with leadership emphasizing retail media scale via Albertsons Media Collective. What It Means ✅ Enterprise scale, not pilots: Embedding AI across customer, merchandising, labor and supply chain functions positions Albertsons to compound benefits rather than chase isolated tools. ✅ Clear CX payback: Measurable lifts like a 10% basket increase signal tangible revenue impact from search, recommendations and assistant-driven journeys. ✅ Margin and execution levers: Merchandising intelligence and AI-driven scheduling can improve price, promo and labor productivity while sustaining on-shelf availability. ✅ Retail media as a profit pool: Deep loyalty data and omnichannel reach strengthen partner ROI and create monetization beyond core grocery. ✅ Capability moat: The 2026 skilling program helps frontline and corporate teams adopt AI workflows at scale, reducing change friction across 2,243 stores. Progressive Grocer | https://lnkd.in/gsHS9_KQ #retail #AI

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Advances in artificial intelligence are redefining how merchandising decisions are made—shifting the discipline from intuition and hindsight to predictive, real-time intelligence. https://lnkd.in/gwkb5rq5

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Amazon’s move to pilot a one-hour in-store pickup service shows just how far the definition of “fast” continues to evolve in retail. It’s a smart next step toward merging online and physical inventory for unified fulfillment — but it also highlights the structural advantage Walmart already holds. With over 4,700 stores positioned within 10 miles of 90% of the U.S. population, Walmart has effectively built the nation’s largest local distribution network, marrying speed, convenience, and everyday low prices. For Amazon, this will be a valuable experiment — but for Walmart, it’s already a proven model. The future of fulfillment won’t be about who can deliver faster once, but who can deliver consistently fast, affordably, and everywhere the customer happens to be. #OmnichannelRetail #LastMileDelivery #RetailInnovation

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Siloed planning still creates some of the largest gaps in retail, from stock-outs to lost sales. Our new guide explains why connecting merchandising, supply chain, and finance leads to better decisions and stronger results.  Check it out and learn how to bring planning teams closer together.

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Saks’ Bankruptcy Isn’t a Demand Problem. It’s a Discipline Problem. The situation at Saks isn’t really about consumers pulling back. It’s about leverage, optimism, and how far leadership can drift from operational reality over time. In my humble opinion, this pattern is painfully familiar. I’ve lived through it from the inside, watching some of the great LA fashion brands scale at extraordinary speed—fueled by instinct, ambition, and momentum—only to struggle when discipline didn’t keep pace. At Forever 21 founder intuition helped build a global business, but once scale outgrew systems, optimism started standing in for evidence, and the cracks appeared quickly. What consistently breaks in moments like this: Growth targets begin to replace real demand signals Capital structure masks margin erosion instead of correcting it Forecasts shift from probabilistic to aspirational Frugality at scale isn’t about shrinking ambition. If only we could stay close enough to the business to see risk while there’s still time to act. The healthiest operators I’ve worked with behave differently: They model downside as rigorously as upside They tie inventory commitments to cash, not confidence They revisit assumptions quarterly, not annually What often looks conservative in good times is, in reality, what preserves optionality when conditions turn. At Saks Fifth Avenue, the lesson isn’t about demand disappearing—it’s about discipline quietly eroding long before the headlines arrived.

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“Even as roughly 80% of retail still happens in physical stores, Amazon remains a small player in one of the country’s biggest and most essential retail categories: grocery, which is rapidly approaching a $1 trillion business.” “Currently, Amazon holds only about a 3% share in the grocery market, even after its $13.7 billion Whole Foods acquisition—1.6% for Amazon and 1.6% for Whole Foods, according to Numerator. By contrast, Walmart commands a 21% share, with 4,600 U.S. stores, including 3,500 superstores and 600 Sam’s Clubs. However, Amazon generated over $100 billion in grocery sales in 2024, so presumably that would be a larger share of the segment’s sales. Yet, regardless of how it’s measured, Amazon is still playing catch-up to the retail giant.” “While Amazon is playing catch-up in the grocery aisle, it holds a dominant 40% share of e-commerce sales among the nation’s top 2,000 online retailers, while Walmart trails at 11%, per Digital Commerce 360.” “Through the first three quarters of the current fiscal year, Amazon.com generated $299.3 billion in North America segment sales compared with Walmart U.S. at $353.8 billion.” “Getting brick-and-mortar retail right is becoming a critical necessity. With an estimated 75% of all American adults already Prime members, Amazon is hitting a ceiling online—a boundary that will be increasingly difficult to break through. It needs to find a successful physical retail concept to keep the pump primed, since consumers will always want to shop in stores.” - Pamela Danziger

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Walmart's associates and tech are working smarter every second. Our associates are leveraging technology more than ever before. We're creating a better customer and associate experience. And, we're removing friction. A grocery delivery arrives 17 minutes after checkout, timed to the minute. An associate finds the exact item a customer needs, without even leaving the aisle. You see a better shopping experience. What you don’t see is the innovation running in the background that my team is proud to be part of delivering: ✅ Algorithms that predict arrival windows before you even hit “order” ✅ Digital twins that catch a store freezer failure before it happens ✅ GenAI tools that guide better interactions ✅ RFID + AR systems that give associates superpowers on the sales floor Read more here: https://walmrt.us/44UEh2W

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Retailers don't lose margin because customers are price sensitive.   They lose it because they think customers are. Most pricing decisions are driven by one assumption: "If we raise prices, customers will leave." So teams underprice.   They soften increases.   They delay corrections.   They hide behind competitors. And margin quietly leaks. Here's what gets missed: Customers are often less sensitive to price levels than they are to price logic. Price sensitivity is loud.   Value sensitivity is deeper. Shoppers don't revolt because something costs €3.49 instead of €3.29. They react when: - the increase feels arbitrary - the price doesn't match the product role - the logic feels inconsistent - fairness feels broken That's psychological asymmetry. We overestimate backlash to price.   We underestimate backlash to misalignment. In many cases, higher prices actually strengthen trust. Premium categories.   Hero SKUs.   Problem-solving products.   Items with clear quality signals. A too-low price can signal: - compromised quality - unstable positioning - "something's off" Pricing from the customer backward reframes the risk. The real risk is not "changing the price." The real risk is misreading willingness to pay by context: - mission - channel - region - season - cohort When price reflects perceived value, resistance drops.   Confidence increases.   Margin improves. Systematic underpricing is not customer-centric. It's defensive. If your pricing strategy is built around fear of reaction, you're not managing price. You're managing anxiety. And that's expensive. 💀 The retailers that get the most out of pricing aren't the ones who avoid increases. They're the ones who understand value sensitivity better than their competitors.

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I’m thrilled to be hosting an executive roundtable discussion on Why Retailers Are Losing Loyalty and How AI Leaders Are Winning It Back. We’re moving beyond simple personalization to explore how leaders are redefining retail operations through the lens of AI. If you’re a senior leader navigating this shift, I’d love to have you at the table for a candid discussion on bridging the execution gap. Join me in Dallas with The Millennium Alliance and SymphonyAI

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Walmart just said the quiet part out loud about AI and jobs. The company plans to grow, yet expects headcount to stay flat for the next three years as AI changes the work. CEO Doug McMillon put it plainly: “It’s very clear that AI is going to change literally every job.” This is not an outlier. Leaders at Ford, JPMorgan, and Amazon have already warned about cuts in certain roles as automation scales. If you run a business or department, treat this like a planning memo: • Map tasks that software can absorb this year • Redesign roles around judgment, customer contact, and accountability • Invest in training and redeployment before you hire replacements • Update org and budget plans to reflect a new mix of work Winners will ship AI into workflows and move people to higher value work. What is your plan for Q4? https://lnkd.in/ejMrC268

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Retail media is splintering across apps, social platforms, and AI-driven commerce, but the real battle is still in the aisles. In Progressive Grocer, Brian DeCoveny of Barrows Connected Store explains why in-store media is measurable, immersive, and shopper centric, and why the aisle is the future. https://lnkd.in/e_ipwV3E

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Retail doesn’t have an innovation shortage — it has an innovation overload problem. In my Fireside Chat with Jerry Su, VP of Retail at RangeMe, we talked about how retailers, buyers, and merchants can move from reactive inbox management to smarter, faster discovery. Key themes: retail readiness matters better data drives better decisions AI can help surface the right products faster the goal is the right product, right shelf, right time How is your team managing innovation overload today? #Retail #Merchants #Buyers #RangeMe #RetailInnovation #Workload

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Speaking today at eTail™ Boston (Aug 11–14, Sheraton Boston): AI Keynote Fireside Chat: Foundations for Agentic AI in Retail. Agentic AI isn’t hype. It’s production systems that reason and act across merchandising, supply chain, and CX. I’ll cover what works, what fails, and how to ship governed, real-world agents. Session details: https://lnkd.in/eQUaazWg #agenticai #ai #retail #eTail #boston

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🚀 Big news just dropped: Walmart and OpenAI are joining forces — and it’s about to redefine how we shop, work, and learn. Yesterday, we announced a bold new partnership that brings the power of ChatGPT + AI into the heart of retail. Together, we’re enabling customers to browse, chat, and buy — all in one seamless experience. But this isn’t just about convenience for shoppers. It’s about empowering people. We’re also rolling out AI training and certification for Walmart associates via Walmart Academy — giving our teams a real the tools and opportunities for continued learning. Here’s how I see it: 💡 From reactive to proactive — We’re moving shopping into natural, AI-powered conversation. 📚 Upskilling at scale — Investment in people is at the core. This is about creating opportunity for our associates to grow, learn, and lead with AI. 🌍 The start of something bigger — What we launch now will shape expectations for how retail, tech, and human potential come together. I couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead! Daniel Danker Suresh Kumar #AI #RetailInnovation #FutureOfWork

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💬 Retail’s Next Chapter: Leadership That Listens When I saw that John Furner will step in as Walmart's next CEO, I didn’t just think about the impressive scale - 2.1 million associates, $600 billion in revenue, operations that touch almost every community. What struck me most was the kind of leadership this moment represents, and why it matters now more than ever. During my time leading product teams across Walmart, one of the most striking truths was this: innovation lives in business operations, not in the boardroom. It starts with merchants and store managers solving real problems for real people, and often in ways that data alone could never predict. Furner’s journey from store associate to Global CEO reflects the kind of leadership we need more of in retail: grounded, curious, and close to the customer. As AI and automation reshape how people shop and work, the front-line leaders will drive the most meaningful transformation. AI still struggles to learn from lived experience; it can’t yet capture the human context, emotion, and judgment that come together to create memorable customer experiences and real-time learning. As algorithms become tablestakes, is empathy is the differentiator? #Leadership #RetailInnovation #ProductManagement #DigitalTransformation #AI #EmpathyInTech #Walmart

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