A new report says Amazon intends to become a significant force in same-day deliveries. How close it is to achieving that goal may surprise a few. Will same-day deliveries in major U.S. markets help Amazon recruit and retain Prime members?

Overstock.com had a challenging 2022, but it could have been worse. The online furniture and home goods retailer reported a 30 percent year-over-year revenue decrease and a net loss of $35 million. How do you see Overstock.com positioned against its rivals in the furniture and home goods space for 2023?

Target plans to invest $100 million by the end of 2026 to open six new sortation centers as it seeks to increase the number of next-day orders it fulfills while simultaneously lowering its costs. How do you expect Target’s sortation centers to affect its in-store and last-mile operations?

Retail has already witnessed some major forms of automation implemented at scale, and a major player in the segment recently laid out a tight timeline along which people should expect more. Do you believe that 65 percent of all retail work can be automated within the next few years and, if so, what would that mean for people working in the industry?

Walmart is closing its two pickup- and deliver-only concept stores in the Chicago suburb of Lincolnwood and in Bentonville, AR.  What do Walmart’s store closings and new store openings from startups like Addie’s say about the viability of pickup-only grocery stores?

Gap has formed a partnership with Ware2Go, a UPS-owned digital platform that matches merchants with on-demand available warehouse space and fulfillment services. Do you see more benefits than risks for smaller brands and retailers in outsourcing logistics and fulfillment to Gap and other retailers?

Ahold-Delhaize USA, the company behind Food Lion, Fresh Direct, Giant, The Giant Company, Hannaford and Stop & Shop, is among those that has structured its business to make sure that the humans behind the technological tools it uses are in a position to do the most good. What is the proper role of information technology in the strategic planning process for retail organizations today?

Amazon Prime members who have gotten their groceries delivered for free with a minimum purchase of $35 will now have to spend at least $150 if they want to avoid paying a fee starting on February 28. How do you expect Prime members will react to Amazon’s new requirements for free grocery delivery?

Ron Margulis with Randy Edeker, executive chairman, and CEO Jeremy Gosch of Hy-Vee, at the recent FMI Midwinter conference in Orlando. Rather than ask about operations, competition or financials, he focused on tech and the customer experience. What are the biggest challenges and opportunities facing Hy-Vee and other regional supermarket chains?

Sam’s Club plans to open a new warehouse club next year in Florida. It will be the first new club the chain has opened since 2017. Is Sam’s Club on the right track with its plans to open new clubs and fulfillment and distribution centers?

It’s good to be Tractor Supply. The retailer is on a multiyear winning streak, posting record sales and profits and grabbing market share from a long list of competitors. How long can Tractor Supply keep its winning streak going?

A new survey finds retailers increasingly fixated on cost efficiencies around last-mile deliveries amid rising inflation and fuel costs. Where do you see the biggest opportunities to drive down costs in last-mile delivery?

The U.S. may or may not experience a recession in the coming year, but in either case retailers should be strategizing and hiring with the era that follows the economic dip in mind, according to Dr. Ira Kalish, chief global economist at Deloitte. Do you agree with Dr. Kalish’s advice that retailers should prepare for a post-downturn recovery in their hiring, spending and strategizing?

American consumers continued to spend as prices rose steadily higher from 2021 to June 2022. Will they keep up the shopping pace as prices go in the opposite direction? How might a further easing of inflation affect consumer spending?

Amazon.com is looking for growth beyond its own platform. The company yesterday said it was making its “Buy with Prime” program, which offers the same easy checkout, free shipping and returns on its platform, available to third-party sellers for use on their own sites. What impact do you expect Buy with Prime to have in the U.S?

After a successful three-store pilot program, Walmart drone delivery has launched in a handful of markets, with plans to expand soon to six states. How confident are you that drone delivery will be sustainable and soon scale nationwide?

Too many retailers had the bad habit of over-buying long before the pandemic created the supply chain chaos we are still living through. “Just in time” systems failed to prevent the overbuying problem. How will retailers digest this season’s sales, margin and inventory outcomes to arrive at better demand forecasts for Fall/Holiday 2023?

If you watched the most recent James Bond movie, you know how it ended and therefore understand some changes are on the horizon for upcoming features. Retail barcodes are on a similar glide path, with big changes ahead for 2027 that, interestingly, are focused on a familiar “Q” as well. What implications exist for retailers and vendors as they prepare for Q codes?

Lowe’s last week updated its plan to drive market share growth in the home improvement category. The chain’s “Total Home Strategy” seeks to achieve growth across five areas: professional contractors and construction professionals, online sales, installation services, localization and elevated product assortment. What are the keys to Lowe’s achieving the goals of its Total Home Strategy?

Macy’s recently announced that it has carved out roughly one million square feet across 35 stores to efficiently fulfill online orders in local markets at a reduced cost. How do you see Macy’s semi-automated store-level and large warehouse fulfillment centers working together?

With inventories elevated in many categories and the economy slowing amid inflationary pressures, larger retailers are using reclaimed leverage to cancel orders, fight price increases and seek out concessions from suppliers. Do you see indications that retailers regained leverage against their supplier base amid excess inventories and inflationary pressures?

A university study concludes targeting serial returners is the smarter path to reducing return costs because targeting regular shoppers with stricter return policies will likely backfire. Does it make more sense to crack down on serial returners than tighten restrictions on general consumers?

With its high-quality products, value proposition and knowledgeable and friendly staff, Trader Joe’s often finds itself at or near the top of various industry “best of” lists. However, the quirky chain may still face some challenges as it expands. What do you think Trader Joe’s needs to work on?

For online shoppers expecting online deliveries from Saks Off 5th, less will be up in the air  thanks to a new feature the retailer is implementing. Saks Off 5th is implementing a Guaranteed Delivery Date for thousands of items. Do you think a solution like Guaranteed Delivery Date at Saks Off 5th is a necessity for retailers doing e-commerce?

Retailers are shortening their returns windows and even charging return fees to mitigate rising costs. Are free return policies becoming too costly?

Freight demand is dropping, as reported by some of the biggest long haul freight companies in the U.S. The trucking firms say they have seen demand for their services wane somewhat at a time when they normally are at their busiest. What do declines in cargo imports and freight demand say about the sales outlook for retail over the next six months to a year?

Kroger has opened a grocery pickup location for students at the University of Kentucky. The initiative melds retail’s experiments with grocery pickup points and serving colleges, both of which have faced challenges. Is establishing pickup points the best path to bringing e-grocery to college campuses?

The “Annual State of Shipping Study” from UPS Capital, UPS’s financing arm, finds porch piracy, fraud and climate-related issues to be the top emerging threats facing online delivery.  Which of the three threats facing online delivery will be the toughest to overcome?

Abercrombie & Fitch customers can now place orders online and pick their purchases up at  Walgreens. (Walgreens?) Is a suite of fulfillment options like those offered by Abercrombie & Fitch important for retailers operating either standalone or mall-based stores?

Nothing beats having an item in stock. New research shows that brick and mortar retailers that need to backorder items to meet customer demand are losing out in the longer run. How can retailers avoid and/or mitigate the negative effects associated with backorders?

Wonder, the latest venture from serial entrepreneur Marc Lore, supplies customers with chef-designed meals cooked from vans parked outside the their home. What do you think of the potential for the Wonder food truck service?

Amazon plans to hire Hawaiian Airlines to fly packages on 10 leased Airbus SE jets around the U.S. while taking a stake in the carrier. How much of an edge does Amazon gain from its airplane and air hub investments?

McDonald’s is beginning a small test of the sale for a limited time of select Krispy Kreme doughnuts at nine restaurants in Louisville and the surrounding area. Does the collaboration between Krispy Kreme and McDonald’s make sense for both companies?

With last year’s in-store Christmas shopping stifled, and supply chain disruptions preventing orders from hitting the shelves on time, retailers ended up sitting on a lot of seasonal inventory. They packed it away for a year and, now as a new Christmas season approaches, they are selling it again. Will shoppers buy 2021’s leftover Christmas inventory or react negatively to last year’s merchandise?

Walmart has been public about supporting American manufacturing wherever it makes business sense and that commitment was reinforced last week at a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new factory in Santa Ana, CA, that will cut and sew apparel exclusively for the retailer. Does “made in the USA” messaging hold more sway with American consumers today than it did 10 years ago?

Fast Retailing, mother company of Uniqlo, is bringing the fast fashion retailer’s faster, cheaper sibling brand to the U.S. with a new store in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood. Will negative sentiment surrounding fast fashion impact how the GU brand is received in the U.S.?

Heads up Amazon.com, Qurate, Walmart et al. TikTok is staffing up in preparation to building its own online fulfillment centers in the U.S. The nation’s and world’s most popular video sharing app has been looking to hire logistics professionals in Seattle. What will it take for TikTok to become a major e-commerce platform in the U.S.?

A global survey finds that only 38 percent of consumers feel retailers are doing a good job of using sustainable delivery practices. Over half, however, indicated they were quite/very interested in environmentally-friendly delivery methods. How open do you see consumers being to waiting, paying-up, picking up and taking other steps to support sustainable online delivery?

Walmart’s strategy for owning the last mile has come into clearer focus with news that the retailer has acquired the robotics automation specialist Alert Innovation. What will Walmart’s acquisition of Alert Innovation mean for its last mile fulfillment?

Macy’s competitors have been forced to pack-and-hold large amounts of excess inventory, but the department store giant claims that it was able to avoid that scenario in many cases by paying close attention to its co-branded credit card data. Are some retail forecasting systems missing data important to projecting future consumer activity?

Deliveroo Hop, which relies on “dark store” mini warehouses to fulfill orders, has launched a new concept in Central London where non-app users can enter the location, order from a digital kiosk in a reception area and pay via card. Do you consider the Deliveroo Hop concept to be an improvement on the dark store model?

Sephora has launched a subscription program that allows shoppers to get unlimited same-day delivery in as little as two hours for $49 a year. Do you see enough consumer appeal for Sephora’s Same-Day Unlimited offering?

Nike said sales climbed 10 percent on a currency-neutral basis in the first quarter ended August 30 on strong demand but warned that aggressive markdowns required to clear apparel inventories would drive down gross margins for its fiscal year. Did Nike make the right move in ramping up promotions to realign inventories instead of seeking to soften the margin hit?

Independent grocers and pharmacies may have found the ally they are looking for. Alvaro Bedoya, commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission said that the current imbalance that favors large businesses over small players can be solved by enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act. Should the Federal Trade Commission enforce the Robinson-Patman Act more vigorously?

Walmart is known for its  low prices and the retailer seems determined to also be synonymous with convenient holiday shopping with new programs that promise to take much of the hassle of buying and returning Christmas gifts this year. How much appeal will Walmart’s return options have for Christmas gift shoppers this year?

Forty-four percent of chief supply chain officers say they have a general sense of potential climate change risks based on previous events, but they have not methodically identified or quantified those risks, according to a Gartner survey. Do you think retailers are doing enough long-term strategizing when it comes to the risks posed by global warming on the supply chain?

Walmart, Target, Macy’s and Kohl’s are among retailers that have recently said they are canceling some orders to better balance inventory levels, a replay of a strategy used at the start of the pandemic. Should order cancellations be a rare, last-resort option or regularly used as a tool for rebalancing inventories?

Temu has officially launched its website in the U.S. The Chinese e-commerce marketplace features a wide variety of inexpensive products in many categories. What do you see as Temu’s major challenges as it enters the U.S. market?

Gap and American Eagle Outfitters have joined Amazon, Walmart and Target in peddling logistics services to third-party retailers. But there are concerns over their ability to recruit prospective customers due to data privacy qualms and competitive reasons. What do you think of the opportunities for Gap and American Eagle Outfitters as 3PL providers?

Walmart has agreed to acquire a minority stake in Sustainable Beef LLC, a rancher-owned company dedicated to producing top-quality Angus beef. Do you expect large grocers to make more direct investments in sourcing agricultural commodities?