Kristy Mattson

Nothing Great Kohl's is struggling, with sales down 5% to LY I asked Google Gemini about Kohl's turnaround program Optimized store layout Changes to coupon program Dedicated spaces for key categories Enhanced visual merchandising Private label Expand SEPHORA relationship Impulse queues at the front checkout (My personal favorite) What's the word I’m looking for? Superficial Everyone thinks their merchandising is enhanced. Everyone has dedicated category spaces. Nowadays, everyone has a shop-in-shop There is a direct relationship between innovation and greatness. If there is nothing innovative in the plan, there is nothing great about the plan What would a great plan look like? Food Poisoning Theory I asked my wife about Kohl's's, her first words Their quality has really gone down, like Macy's This is the perception. The truth is irrelevant. Kohl's must change the perception Food Poisoning 101 Eliminate Food Poisoning at literally all costs Kohl's must analyze every customer touchpoint, starting with its employees Here's the list of what Kohl's Strategy is doing for their associates You must have a Strategy centered around your associates Not tech, not AI. Strategy The Law of Engagement The further an idea originates from those impacted, the less those impacted will embrace the idea The Three Tenets Make employees’ jobs easier Make employees better at their jobs Improve customer service Employees will embrace ideas at a distance that satisfy one of The Three Tenets Kohl's Strategy does not mention its employees, but they carry the weight of Kohl's failures When sales are down 5%, spirits are down 25% How do you lift this weight? Process Poisoning Processes that fail to satisfy The Three Tenets become subject to The Three Laws of Process The First Law The Process is suspect The Second Law The more you embrace the process, the more you control the process The Third Law If you do not respect the process, you will not improve the process The Laws of Process offer a much more defined Strategy If it doesn't satisfy The Three Tenets, you don't do it Additionally, if it never satisfied The Three Tenets, you stop doing it, immediately Want to lift the weight off your employees’ shoulders and bring the light back to their eyes, tell them You are right. All this stuff we have you doing is a waste of time. You can stop Struggling Corporate Strategy 101 Exert more control Chase every metric The more documentation, the better This Strategy distracts from what's truly important Coaching Development Customer Service Kohl's is focusing on getting customers to come in today. This is way too late Business grows on who comes back tomorrow, not on what you sell today Everything Kohl's does needs a central focus What's your return policy? Come back as often as you like Unified Leadership Theory The Strategy of Engagement

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Instacart just dropped strong Q2 results, stock is up. A few things that stand out to me:  📈 Ad revenue up 12% YoY. A Good signal for Q3.  🤝 40+ new retailers and they’re scaling off-platform with new/expanded partnerships (Pinterest and The Trade Desk). They're getting more retailers on board with same-as-in-store pricing  ✅ AI everywhere! Lots of investment, from advertiser tools to better personalization for shoppers. https://lnkd.in/gXiQerYt

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Walmart’s Q2 results are drawing mixed headlines, but they show acceleration across the areas that matter most to advertisers. Signals from this quarter: - Ad revenue +31% in the U.S., +46% globally (including Vizio) Walmart’s acquisition of VIZIO is now flowing into results, linking CTV with closed-loop attribution. Brands can plan top-of-funnel video and lower-funnel search in one ecosystem, measured directly against sales. This quarter, the numbers show advertisers clearly leaning in. - Same-day delivery volumes up ~50% Store-fulfilled delivery is up nearly 50%, and one-third of digital orders arrive within three hours. That fulfillment velocity creates new high-intent ad moments (shoppers checking their app for pickup readiness, adjusting baskets, planning quick replenishment orders). Lots of opportunity to align retail media with these moments and influence purchase decisions in real-time. - Global e-commerce +25% YoY E-commerce outside the U.S. grew +22%, while international advertising rose +15% (led by Flipkart). Walmart’s retail media flywheel is scaling internationally – and it's a chance for advertisers to test, learn, and replicate strategies across regions, with Walmart as a unifying partner. - Sam's Club e-commerce +26% Between Walmart, Sam’s Club, and Flipkart, Walmart has built a multi-faceted and international network that reaches diverse shopper segments. More places to activate retail media, more audiences to engage, and more opportunities to coordinate strategies across platforms. I think Q2 underscores the breadth of Walmart’s ecosystem and the pace at which it’s evolving. For advertisers, the challenge lies in tapping into that while staying agile to shopper and market dynamics.

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National Retail Federation survival tips - for the upcoming 3 day tradeshow blitz. Though, these also likely work for most trade shows ... 1. No one cares what your shoes look like. So wear comfortable shoes that will easily and happily get you miles and miles of coverage. This is not the time to test out your new heels / pumps. Yes, I've had to go looking for band-aids and towels for bloody feet (not mine). The Javits Center is 3.3 million square feet. That is 137 Sprouts Farmers Market stores. 2. Get a battery for your phone, and turn your phone into "Low Power Mode". I prefer the Anker Innovations LTD batteries, including their PowerCore 10K. Large buildings act as Faraday cages, and your phone will spend all day telling the nearest cell tower "I'm here" - while draining your battery to zero. You'll need that phone at the end of the show day, when you are trying to get to dinner and cocktails. 3. Do not use the first coat check you find. Find your favorite vendor, flash a smile, and ask to store your coat in their booth. I tend to gravitate towards Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions or Accuvia Software Group or Washburn Computer Group or Brink’s Inc , but you may enjoy the company of someone else! Alternatively, go downstairs, where the lines are shorter. 4. The seating for lunch is atrocious. It will not ever get better, nor cheaper. Yes, you would think an entire conference full of retail tech could figure out the lines and payments better. They haven't. Don't complain. Just grab your coat and head downstairs and outside to the food trucks. They will only be there during a short window, so walk briskly. Once you've picked your food, huddle up with some brand new friends and talk shop - or no shop. 5. Any opportunity that you have to stand on raised / padded carpet, do so. Your body is unlikely prepared to be walking / standing on concrete for days straight. When you get back to your hotel, put your feet in an ice bath, to reduce the swelling, or likelihood of swelling, for 10 minutes. ... Stealing a page from David Weinand and his #NRF Survival Tips.

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Hy‑Vee Takes Retail Media to the Next Level with Rippl Consortium Partnership 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗣𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 • Hy‑Vee’s in‑house retail media network, RedMedia, has joined the Rippl Retail Media Network, powered by Bridg. • Membership adds over 285 Hy-Vee, Inc. stores into the Rippl network, expanding reach across more than 140 million shoppers. • Rippl partnership enables access to first‑party shopper data enrichment, off‑site advertising capabilities, and deeper brand engagement opportunities. • RedMedia has previously expanded its advertising toolkit by partnering with Instacart’s Carrot Ads and deploying Grocery TV in‑store screens across Hy‑Vee locations. • Hy‑Vee, with 570+ locations in nine Midwestern states and over $13 billion in annual revenue, continues its evolution as a retail media innovator. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝘁 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 ✅ Broader advertiser reach: Partnership introduces RedMedia to national-scale audiences via Rippl’s combined network. ✅ Enhanced targeting precision: Brands now benefit from enriched shopper data and closed‑loop measurement tied to in‑store sales. ✅ Unified omni‑channel media ecosystem: Capabilities span from online personalization (via Carrot Ads) to in‑store digital signage (via Grocery TV). ✅ Strong positioning for regional grocers: Hy‑Vee’s move aligns with broader industry trends toward aggregation and scale in retail media. Progressive Grocer | https://lnkd.in/gTytfH58 #retail #supermarkets #retailmedia #marketing #CPG #digitaladvertising #dataanalytics #grocery

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Store Closures Aren’t A Retail Apocalypse. They’re A Leadership Audit Everyone keeps saying 2026 is the year retail “finally breaks.” That’s lazy thinking. Closures aren’t happening because consumers vanished. They’re happening because tolerance for mediocrity did. Macy’s planning to exit roughly 150 underperforming locations by end of 2026. Walgreens continuing to unwind hundreds of pharmacies tied to expiring leases. Carter’s trimming about 100 stores across 2025–2026. Kroger closing around 60 locations for marginal but necessary margin repair. This isn’t panic. It’s overdue hygiene. USA Today, Jan 2026. Forbes, Dec 2025. Most of those stores were already dead on the P&L. We just kept them alive with excuses. I’ve sat in rooms where everyone knew the store network was broken but no one wanted to own the decision. Traffic erosion masked by promos. Labor flexed past reason. Inventory turns that never recovered. Online didn’t kill these stores. Indecision did. NRF reported in Nov 2025 that over 70% of retail executives now rank store productivity and omnichannel contribution ahead of raw store count. DigitalCommerce360, Oct 2025, shows DTC penetration continuing to climb while physical square footage declines. Those curves aren’t crossing by accident. A store today earns its keep three ways or it doesn’t earn it at all: Profit contribution Customer acquisition Fulfillment leverage If it fails all three, it’s not strategy to keep it open. It’s avoidance. The mirror moment most leaders won’t admit 💵 If you wouldn’t greenlight that store today with fresh capital, you shouldn’t be defending it with legacy pride. Closures aren’t retreat. They’re a capital reallocation signal. Which stores in your fleet survive only because no one wants to say the quiet part out loud? If this hits close to home, you’re not alone. #Retail #Ecommerce #EcommerceNews #Leadership #Innovation #LeadershipMatters #RetailNews 📲 Follow me for more retail and e-commerce insights. More in the comments below.

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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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Store ops doesn’t need less chaos, it needs better orchestration. 👉 See how retailers can turn sales-floor complexity into revenue opportunity.

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Hy-Vee, Inc. First to Deploy Grocery TV’s Closed-Loop Retail Media Solution The partnership brings digital-style performance tracking to in-store campaigns across RedMedia.

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Just wrapped an incredible session with Google’s Retail Advisory Council, where CMOs from some of the world’s leading retailers - Target, Kohl’s, Sephora, Fanatics, and more - came together to discuss what’s next in retail. A few themes stood out loud and clear: - Quality > Quantity: Product feeds aren’t just plumbing—they’re brand. Images, descriptions, and video are now the front line of differentiation. - AI is the new workforce: We have a 24/7 team that never sleeps. The question isn’t if we’ll use AI agents across every function, but how fast we can build and scale them. - YouTube is the new prime time: Incremental TV reach still matters, but the next generation of brand building is happening on YouTube. - Personalization is non-negotiable: The industry is moving toward single-page, demand-led, fully personalized commerce experiences. My biggest takeaway? The future is here, it’s just not evenly distributed. Those who lean into AI, brand, and creative excellence today will set the pace for tomorrow. Curious: how are you bringing AI agents into your marketing org? And which part of your funnel do you think will be disrupted first?

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A shout-out to Bri Nixon and Willow & Blake for their recent webinar How Women Shop. Lots of great info and it really highlighted for me (especially as we head into Black Friday) that shopping decisions are complex and the path to purchase is not linear. Today’s shoppers revisit decisions repeatedly: wish-listing, brand comparison and the first-purchase discount all rewiring the buying journey into a loop of delay and deal-hunting. So it’s easy to assume the only way to win Black Friday is to be the best discounter, but price isn’t always the deciding factor. Yes, 74% of shoppers claim they’ll only buy fashion or beauty on sale (I’m guilty of being one of them), and 83% cite cost as their main driver when buying fashion. But what we say and what we do is not always the same. What really motivates us is perceived value and emotional connection. We will happily spend a little extra for exclusivity, access, and that feeling of being part of something bigger - or just to reach the next Mecca Beauty Loop level. Thanks, Bri, for the timely reminder: real value isn’t always about price - it’s about how people feel when they buy from you. Strong brands lead with emotion and connection over discounts, creating moments that are real, human, and valuable. Because when consumers truly feel something, they buy for more than just the deal.

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Simple fact: Retail Media that isn't fully integrated into your total retailer strategy will never be as successful as it could be. Set clear goals, continually monitor & optimize, and tie it to the bigger picture. Anyone can get you a good ROAS. Using Retail Media to drive your total business takes more partnership and integration. Hit me up with questions on this - I love to get nerdy on this stuff! 🤓

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Walmart continues to provide lessons for how to operate in this economy, having just reported +4.6% comps. in the US, a 24% gain in ecommerce sales and a slight EPS beat for Q4. Of course value is the headline message, but Walmart has coupled that with an improved in-store experience, smart use of technology and elevated product offerings to get the customers who can afford to do so to trade up. Chili's used a similar playbook in the restaurant category (great headline value, focus on premium margaritas and add-ons to build check, investment in remodels and store training/personnel) to stunning results. Finding ways to give the customer attractive entry points along with opportunities to build check supported with fundamentally great ops is a tough trick to pull off but has enormous payoff if done well. Of course, you also need to stay true to who you are and not overcomplicate operations or confuse the customer, so that requires a very clear understanding of who your customer is. You also need to maintain the keys to your core customer proposition through any adjustments to mix or operational approach. Changes always should be grounded in your concept essence and not an off-target revenue reach. Despite the very solid sales results and earnings beat, Walmart is trading down this morning based on "disappointing" guidance. Another smart move by Walmart. John Furner is following a legend in Doug McMillon and a run of performance that will be very hard to replicate. He doesn't need the added pressure of aggressive guidance while he gets his sea legs under him. My money is on a comfortable beat of the guidance that helps establish his credibility. A short term stock decline is a small price to pay for that long-term benefit -- and is a price only paid if you're a seller. https://lnkd.in/gbiCXDAS https://lnkd.in/gbiCXDAS

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HELPING BRANDS UNLOCK PROFIT AND REDUCE EXCESS STOCK THROUGH SMARTER COMMERCIAL DECISIONS. Most brands don’t need another expensive consultant at arms-length. They need a heavy hitter who can jump into the engine room and drive. That’s why I’ve started The Exec Bench. We provide fractional expertise for brands that need senior leadership without the full-time overhead. Whether you’re scaling, restructuring, or in a total reset, we embed directly into your teams as: - Business Manager - Head of Product - Head of Merchandise - Head of Buying With 20+ years of experience leading Australia’s largest retailers through growth and turnarounds, I know how to reduce inventory stress and protect your margins. If that gap sounds familiar, let’s talk. 📧 vanessa@theexecbench.com.au #TheExecBench #FashionRetail #FractionalLeadership #RetailStrategy

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A quick observation from the grocery aisle and the media plan. Brands are winning impressions inside retailer ecosystems, but losing direct relationships with shoppers. I keep hearing some version of "Just move more budget into RMNs and you're covered." The targeting is strong and the retailer data is useful. All true. But when more and more dollars flow into RMNs and brands stop building their own direct shopper relationships, they are renting access to buyers instead of actually knowing them. In grocery, the decision is often made long before someone walks the aisle or opens a retailer app. If brands are invisible in those in-between moments, they should not be surprised when they are not top of mind and "incrementality" looks a lot like shifting share on the shelf. Here is why I think CPG brands need to keep investing in direct-to-shopper programs alongside RMNs: 1. First-party data: For years, CPG sat behind the retailer. Privacy changes and signal loss flipped that. Brands with permission to talk to shoppers directly, and see behavior over time, are in a stronger position in line reviews, negotiations and planning. 2. Promotions: Digital coupons, rebates and cashback are not legacy tactics. They still drive trial and repeat, and they can be run as brand-owned programs that follow the shopper from retailer to retailer. A simple "buy, scan, get rewarded" flow keeps you in the cart and in the conversation between trips. 3. Receipt-based offers: Asking (and rewarding) shoppers to upload a receipt does more than validate a purchase. It shows what else is in the basket, which occasions you actually play in and how often that shopper returns. 4. CRM and loyalty: If you have multiple brands, one shared platform can keep the whole portfolio present between trips, enable cross-promotion and give you a direct channel to launch and test. 5. Gamification: Digital scratch cards, spin-to-win, treasure hunts and punch cards, when done well, pull people back into your ecosystem, increase repeat visits and lift redemption. Retail media absolutely deserves a seat at the table. It is a powerful way for brands to win at the digital shelf and inside retailer ecosystems. The risk is when brands underinvest in their own programs and rely too heavily on RMNs. Over time, that can shift more of the relationship and insight power to retailers, leaving brands with less direct understanding of their shoppers and fewer levers to drive long-term brand growth on their own terms. One question I keep coming back to is this: If every retail media network turned off tomorrow, how strong would your direct connection to your shoppers actually be? If this resonates and you want to dig in, DM me. I am happy to share how the team webSaver is working with brands to design promotion programs and strategies that keep consumers engaged and coming back.

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Kroger Centralizes Retail Media Under 84.51° to Boost Advertiser Value Kroger is consolidating its retail media and data science units to unlock more value for advertisers. The company announced that Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM) will now operate entirely under its 84.51° data science division, bringing media and analytics together under one roof. What’s changing 🔸KPM, previously a standalone entity, is now fully integrated into 84.51° 🔸The move is meant to improve how advertisers access targeting, measurement, and campaign insights 🔸This consolidation aims to strengthen closed-loop performance visibility, a key selling point in retail media 🔸Kroger plans to increase investment in AI-driven audience segmentation and predictive analytics Why this matters for brands 🔹Retail media is getting more sophisticated Brands will benefit from deeper insights, more accurate targeting, and cleaner attribution when advertising on Kroger platforms 🔹Data and ad strategy are no longer separate This integration sets a standard for other retailers to follow as media networks mature and advertiser expectations rise 🔹More pressure on smaller marketplaces As giants like Kroger improve their retail media stack, emerging platforms will need to match targeting precision and measurement capabilities to stay competitive The takeaway: Retail media is moving from test and learn to scaled performance. Kroger’s play to fuse media and data into a single operation signals where the market is heading. For brands, this means better tools, clearer results, and a growing expectation to allocate more budget into retailer ecosystems that offer measurable return. ⬇️ Tap the link to read more about this update! https://lnkd.in/dQsA5s5Q

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Coming soon to Walmart, greeters who explain #AgenticCommerce. All joking aside, this is BIG news in retail -- and an early entrant for story of the year. I've been talking for months about this holiday being the first #TippingPoint in AI-enhanced shopping, but I thought it was going to be early adopters using AI to shop for gifts. Walmart has jumped straight to everyone using AI to shop for everything, which I think will happen by 2027. And while it's still early -- today's release didn't even include when "later this fall" this would be available -- it's a sign of how quickly AI is evolving on the consumer front. Perhaps more important (but buried deep in the release) is how Walmart is leveraging AI across its business - "from enhancing product catalogs to cutting fashion production timelines by up to 18 weeks and improving customer care resolution times by up to 40%" - "promoting AI literacy among associates, adopting ChatGPT Enterprise for teams, and is among the first to embrace OpenAI Certifications. The company’s “people-led, tech-powered” approach ensures AI supports human creativity and connection rather than replacing it." https://lnkd.in/epDD5yRj And PR quotes are such #wordsalad. Walmart is arguably the most transformational retailer in the world, but I struggle to see Doug McMillon saying "For many years now, eCommerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses. That is about to change... We are running towards that more enjoyable and convenient future with Sparky and through partnerships including this important step with OpenAI.” (And this was a good chance for me to play with #sora -- apparently depicting Sam Altman as a Walmart greeter went against their copyright guidelines, so it had to be a "tech bro" inside a "big box mass merchandise store" who's handing out the brochures on agentic commerce) WMT Press Release -- https://lnkd.in/eWDb2vC3

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