In sunny Palm Springs last week, retail professionals donned their sundresses and polos for a week of roaming the exhibit floor, attending educational seminars, and hobnobbing in hotel lobbies.

While it’s difficult to pinpoint a single theme, the range of the discussions present an industry that is clearly in a state of transformation.

Don’t take it from us though. Here is Retail Brew’s roundup of interesting and insightful quotes from the conference, with a focus on those comments that point toward how retail leaders are thinking about the future.

Big ticket, big opportunity: In a session about brand engagement, Jeffrey Warren, VP of selling and customer experience at Macy’s, spoke to the importance of using customer feedback data to drive change. He said the department store has been focused specifically on smoothing out the transaction process for big-ticket items. Based on data, it recently determined there was “too much handoff happening” during the buying process, he said. Too many employees were involved in an individual transaction. So Macy’s implemented what it calls a “concierge process,” in which the same store associate handles each part of the customer journey. “You bought it with Jason. Jason is now going to be your one-stop shop along the way,” Warren said.

Keep reading here.—AV

It would be naive to expect self-criticism on a quarterly earnings call, where public companies’ execs get out their pom-poms for financial analysts and cast financial results—even losses—in the best possible light. But the March 4 quarterly presentation from Target, whose social media feeds have been under siege for the last five weeks by customers who say they’ve stopped shopping at Target after it dumped its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program, was a case study in how to keep smiling and whistling even while being shouted at by your customers.

In a sense, the backlash Target is facing was beyond the scope of the earnings call, which covered a quarter and year that ended February 3, just 10 days after its January 24 announcement that it was rolling back its DEI program.

Early in the call, however, CEO Brian Cornell did acknowledge a “sales decline in February” (without specifying how steep) and later in the call did not include backlash to its DEI reversal and the boycott in that decline, blaming instead “extreme cold,” “floods,” “fires across the country,” and the fact that consumer confidence “dipped” in February.

Keep reading here.—AAN

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Ashlee Doonan is director of marketing at Utah-based home furnishings company Malouf.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? As director of marketing at Malouf, I lead a team to develop and execute strategies that connect our premium bedding and furniture products with customers across various channels, like retail stores, online marketplaces, and e-commerce sites. I work closely with our sales and creative teams to craft campaigns that not only build brand recognition but also drive sales growth by aligning our messaging, visuals, and customer experience with what shoppers want.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? One thing people might not guess about my job from my LinkedIn profile is just how much cross-functional collaboration is involved on a daily basis. Beyond the high-level strategic work, I’m constantly coordinating with sales, creative, and product teams, translating big-picture goals into actionable plans across different channels…Also, people might not realize the level of detail and oversight required in managing omnichannel execution—from fine-tuning product listings to optimizing ads and ensuring brand consistency across all digital touchpoints.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? My favorite project was launching in-store displays for a new adjustable base program for the biggest retailer in Canada.

Keep reading here.—EC

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