ShopTalk Europe 2023
Shoptalk Europe 2023 brought the technologies and channels driving the future of retail into a clear perspective. This year’s annual event from May 9-11 in Barcelona allowed Retail Refined’s Melissa Gonzalez to sit down with key stakeholders making a difference in the market. COS (Collection of Style) is a European fashion brand doing innovative things…
Latest
Retail
Upskilling and Upscaling for the Future at IKEA
As AI advances with technologies such as GPT-4, companies are beginning to come to terms with the fact that “soft skill” education is crucial in creating a future industry for the retail world. GPT-4 functions as a natural language processing tool driven by tech that can use its language model for hard skills such as…
Retail
Reimagining Retail with IKEA Digital Transformation & New Store Formats
In the swiftly evolving retail industry, the conversation around digital transformation and retail technologies is more urgent than ever. Amid this tech-driven revolution, IKEA is pioneering a remarkable journey. The stakes are high, as IKEA aims to shift from being primarily a physical retailer to incorporating a substantial omni-channel presence. As of 2016 only…
Retail
Retail Refined with Henry Stupp
The retail industry is a dynamic landscape that demands constant adaptation to shifting consumer habits, market fluctuations, and technological advancements. With retail spending projected to reach a staggering $31.3 trillion by 2025, it is crucial for brand management companies to stay ahead of the curve. One such company making waves in the industry is Authentic…
Retail Refined
Deep Dive into Innovations in Luxury Retail
As the landscape of luxury retail is rapidly evolving, a fresh perspective and innovations in luxury retail comes to the forefront from Lauren Barrie, the Group Head of Luxury Retail at Frasers Group. In a world still recovering from the effects of the pandemic, this topic is more timely than ever as we explore how…
Retail
Finding the Perfect Balance of Inspiration and Ease
In this episode of Retail Refined, host Melissa Gonzalez, sits down with Richard Lems, the Director of Format and Design at Rituals Cosmetics, to discuss the concept of balancing inspiration and ease in retail. They delve into the unique experience offered by the House of Rituals in Amsterdam, exploring its vision and the ways it…
Latest
What Does Winning Look Like in the Age of AI-Driven Marketing?
As AI-powered tools—from agentic browsers to enterprise copilots—rapidly reshape how consumers search, learn, and buy, leaders are being forced to rethink not just their tech stack, but their teams, processes, and expectations. With 92% of companies planning to increase AI investments while only 1% consider their deployments mature, a clear disconnect emerges between AI excitement…
Why the Best Leaders Don’t Climb Straight Ladders: How Karen Alter Built Success Through Detours
As companies push to decarbonize, modernize infrastructure, and bring new technologies to market, the leaders who stand out aren’t always the ones who followed a straight career path. Increasingly, it’s the people with the zigzags—the folks who’ve worked across different industries, adapted to new environments, and learned to make decisions under pressure—who bring the clarity…
Allowing Inspiration to Grow from Intuition: How Inner Guidance Drives Real Career Growth
In a workplace culture increasingly shaped by rapid change, rising expectations, and new definitions of leadership, professionals are redefining success beyond titles and output. Empathy, intuition, and inner alignment — once seen as intangible “nice-to-haves” — are now emerging as competitive advantages. As recent workforce studies show that human-centered leaders drive higher engagement and…
SEO in the Age of AI: What CMOs and CEOs Need to Know About AEO and GEO
In an era when AI-driven search experiences are reshaping how customers discover brands, marketing leaders are navigating a confusing landscape of new acronyms, shifting behaviors, and bold industry predictions. Despite widespread claims that “SEO is dead,” the data tells a different story: organic search traffic has continued to grow even as platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini,…