When did you last ask your customers what they thought of your business, and then actually made changes based on what they said?

Smartphone users are driving a significant portion of ecommerce growth, with around 55% of users reporting that they use their phones to shop online.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the retail industry by delivering innovative solutions to enhance customer experiences, optimise processes, and increase profitability.

Retail media has spent the last few years being explained through formats, channels, ad products, measurement frameworks and budget sources. That’s normal for an industry that is moving from ‘startup’ to ‘scaleup’.

Many loyalty programmes underperform. Customers sign up but don’t engage. Points accumulate slowly and feel insignificant. Rewards are either too small to matter or too difficult to redeem.

Scroll through product pages, emails, or paid ads and you’ll start to notice a pattern. Everything reads well, is structured, sounds competent, and yet, very little of it is memorable, useful, or persuasive.

Every ecommerce click, scroll, and purchase is tracked, analysed, and reported. On the surface, it feels like you have a complete picture of your customer. In South Africa, that picture is often incomplete.

Commerce has moved into conversation, which means the checkout is not where the transaction ends anymore. In many cases, it is not even where it begins.

New research from Wharton’s Jonah Berger explores how experience in a category shapes how confident consumers feel, which has important consequences for brands

Fast shipping doesn’t guarantee satisfaction, and scarcity doesn’t always improve margins. Refuting core retail beliefs.