Format innovation continues to be high on the agenda for regional retailers in the US as they aim to differentiate versus their larger, national competitors. On the path to the store of the future Over the last month, three new formats have launched in the US, with a focus on creating stores with destination status. With a goal of creating exciting and experiential formats, these stores ali...

Circle K has retrofitted a store with Standard AI’s autonomous checkout technology in Tempe, Arizona, U.S. The launch follows a successful pilot last year. Our view One of the major benefits of Standard AI’s platform is that it is designed to work without using facial recognition. This will widen the scope of customer adoption, especially those that have data privacy concerns. Biometric a...

As it gears up for the critical holiday trading period, we look at the actions Target is taking to ensure it can meet shopper demand. Cost and capacity issues US retailers are facing several supply chain challenges, related to cost and capacity issues. Congestion at ports in Asia and on the US west coast, driven by lockdowns and labour availability, along with the shortage and rapid increas...