Eighty-one percent of companies are reliant on third-party cookies while 85 percent of consumers want brands to use only first-party data, according to a new report. What advice would you give marketers about shifting from reliance on third-party data to first-party data for ad targeting?

According to a new report, the three most prevalent personalization tactics are predictive personalization, email send-time optimization and buyer journey-based personalization. What do you think are the most effective, most overrated and most underrated personalization techniques and related data-mining approaches?

Domino’s Pizza last week said its research shows, to avoid delivery costs, more customers prepare meals during inflationary times rather than order pizza. Will high inflation, including grocery, contribute more to increasing or decreasing the appeal of home cooking?

A new global survey finds 67 percent of U.S. consumers think ads based on location data are “creepy” with only 31 percent comfortable sharing their location in real-time. Will location-based marketing eventually overcome the consumer perception that it is a creepy technology?

Australian supermarket Woolworths has succeeded in using analytics to inform and redesign a number of processes core to its business in a short amount of time, as outlined in a session at the NRF 2023 Big Show. Do you agree with the claim that most retailers’ core processes need to be fundamentally reimagined using data?

When many retailers nationwide were forced to operate as e-commerce-only companies in March of 2020 due to pandemic-related lockdowns, Shawn Wilkinson, e-commerce program manager for personalization at Dick’s Sporting Goods, saw an opportunity target the right “athlete”. Do you agree with Mr. Wilkinson that bite-sized content tests are a good way to pursue customization and personalization?

Meta was dealt a significant blow last week when being found guilty by European Union regulators of effectively forcing users to accept personalized ads. Required changes for the parent of Facebook and Instagram may significantly limit access to data to sell such ads in the region. Will calls for opt-in only requirements for online ad tracking get louder in the years ahead?

A new university study finds some retailers may be slower to reduce prices to stimulate sales due to “price frictions,” for example, reluctance to move away from prices that end in 99 cents.  Are the pricing frictions cited in the article a major impediment to price optimization?

Stitch Fix CEO Elizabeth Spaulding’s exit last week and plans by the company to lay off 20 percent of its workforce mark another troubling sign for the subscription box category. Are Stitch Fix’s challenges mainly due to its own business model and the apparel space or more so a reflection of broader challenges facing subscription services?

Amazon.com is offering to pay some of its customers for access to their data in efforts to improve ad targeting, offering $2 dollars per month to a select group of users who choose to participate in an invite-only ad verification program. Do you think that Amazon’s customers will be willing to let the platform track their ad data for $2 a month?

Some market watchers see the biggest benefit from the proposed merger of Kroger and Albertsons being the extended geographic reach and consumer data access that could help Kroger capitalize on the burgeoning retail media opportunity. What would the proposed merger of Kroger and Albertsons mean for the retail media space?

Founded by Romney Evans, True Fit’s co-founder, a new shopping platform, Shoptrue, launched in beta last week with a goal of blending “human inspiration” and data science to build a “one stop personal shop, curated for you and by you.” What do you think of Shoptrue’s personalized recommendation platform that combines AI-driven algorithms with shopper and tastemaker input?

“The Customer-Base Audit,” co-authored by Wharton marketing professor Peter Fader, argues that firms cannot make fully informed decisions without first understanding their customers’ buying behavior and the actual health of their customer base. Do you believe a customer-base audit as proposed in the article is a good first step on the journey to customer centricity?

The restaurant industry is debating the merits of dynamic pricing as the expansion of digital menus over the pandemic has made instant price changes easier. The big unknown is how patrons will react. Do you see more potential benefits or drawbacks to dynamic pricing at restaurants and other foodservice establishments?

A new survey finds many targeted ads and personalized emails make consumers feel “creepy,” but more so with Boomers than younger generations. What should marketers take away from evidence that younger generations may be more open to personal data-driven online marketing schemes?

A new survey of more than 200 information technology and marketing decision-makers from the U.S. and Canada finds agreement that the IT team will become more intimately involved in day-to-day marketing, although each department appears to have different notions about how IT can help. What role should IT play in day-to-day marketing?

A GroupM study estimates advertising accounts for five percent of Amazon.com’s revenues from commerce-related activity and rated that as a “reasonable target” for other retailers working to catch up. Is it realistic for retailers to set a goal of getting about five percent of sales from advertising?

It appears there’s been a significant tide turn for consumer packaged goods brands in the direct to consumer selling versus retailer distribution debate as marked by a consensus among presenters this week at Groceryshop in Las Vegas. Is it imperative for CPG brands to have DTC sites in addition to their presence in grocery stores?

Gartner predicts that by 2023, 60 percent of CMOs will slash the size of their marketing analytics department in half because of “failed promised improvements.” The “root” cause of the shortfall was found to be cognitive biases and an old-school culture. Do you agree that marketing analytics investments will or should be scaled back due to continued shortfalls?

Instacart will acquire Eversight, an AI-supported pricing and promotions platform for CPG brands and retailers. What impact will Eversight’s technology have on the pricing and promotional practices of retailers and brands on the Instacart platform?

Sephora ran afoul of California’s new data privacy laws, and the beauty retailer is paying the price for it — a settlement of $1.2 million to the state. What impact do you see the Sephora settlement having on how retailers use and sell data, both in California and throughout the U.S.?

A university study finds requesting feedback from online users can favorably influence their behavior, even when they disregard the requests. Do you find online customer feedback requests to be more positive than negative to the online shopping experience?

Many of the components needed to deliver location-based services have been around for years, but the complexity of implementing infrastructure and integrating systems has kept retailers from using this technology to optimize operations. Why have retailers been slow to implement location-based solutions?

Fewer than four in 10 marketing leaders are extremely or very confident in their data, analytics and insights systems, according to a new study. The report outlines the data capabilities that remain “out of reach” for marketers. What’s causing the lag between data gathering and generating actionable insights?

Linking influencer marketing to revenue is “the golden ticket,” Christina Westley, head of influencer marketing at PepsiCo Content Studio, says in Econsultancy’s “Influencer Marketing Best Practice Guide” study. What are the primary challenges to measuring influencer marketing?

Amazon has introduced a new Store Analytics offering that taps its cashier-free checkout technologies to provide insights into the in-store performance of vendors’ products and ad campaigns.  What do you think of the value of store analytics tied to Just Walk Out technology for brands as well as for Amazon or stores licensing the technology?

Walmart is teaming up with Roku to let users of the streaming platform purchase products they see on their screens. Do you agree that Walmart and Roku’s partnership will change the way American consumers interact and shop from TV and video content?

In a new ad that launched last week, Apple highlights its privacy features by imagining the sale of a consumer’s data in a real-world, high-stakes auction.  What do you think about the effectiveness of Apple’s “Privacy on iPhone” commercial and the value of Apple’s positioning around privacy?

At International Advertising Bureau’s NewFronts showcase for digital marketers, Condé Nast, AMC Networks, Roku, YouTube, NBCUniversal and Amazon’s Twitch platform were among those pitching the promise of shoppable ads. Do shoppable ads, whether delivered online or on smart TVs, now hold enough appeal to convert viewers into buyers?

Health conscious customers might soon be able to order a literal apple from Apple. The tech giant may be getting into grocery delivery, according to a new report. Do you think Apple could make a meaningful mark in the food delivery space because of its customer data and existing brand loyalty?

A recent article forecasts a world in which products can tell customers anything and everything about themselves using a digital ID, readable via QR code or NFC tag. Do you see digital IDs catching on for all products and, if so, what sort of information will customers expect from them?

Amazon just implemented its biometric palm reader at a Whole Foods location in a new market, making it look more like Amazon sees palm reading in Whole Foods’ future nationwide. Will palm-based identification become a necessary or significantly used part of Just Walk Out technology, or is it a bridge too far for most customers?

Retailers have long been emphatic about how necessary data collection is. How that’s achieved, however, along with what data gets prioritized and how that affects the customer experience were frequently missing from public-facing presentations.  Are there cases in 2022 where a retailer shouldn’t have a “data-driven culture”?

With looming changes to cookies set to undermine online targeting, retailers and brands are reconsidering ways to reach consumers in stores. Will retail media’s strong growth online translate into expanded advertising opportunities for brands at the store level?

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s the reaction of customers to the decision by retailers to replace see-through cooler doors with digital alternatives.  Are the digital doors used by Walgreens a solution in search of a problem, as critics suggest, or is it a valuable tool for shoppers, stores and consumer brands?

According to a Gartner survey of supply chain leaders, 62 percent are investing in capabilities to capture customer satisfaction data instead of focusing on cost-cutting innovations. What are the obvious and less obvious challenges to leveraging customer data to create a more responsive supply chain?

Retailers have found plenty of use cases for computer vision. The process of capturing, storing and analyzing shoppers’ images can generate great insights and outputs and, impose relevant ethical challenges for retailers. What do you see as legitimate use cases for computer vision and facial recognition technologies at retail?

Instacart has added a number of digital ad products on its site to give brands more opportunities to reach consumers as they shop for the groceries. How should grocers that use Instacart for deliveries view its expanded ad network?

Amazon.com has become the biggest apparel seller in the U.S. without any stores. Now it plans to open its first clothing store this year under the Amazon Style banner. What’s your reaction to the Amazon Style store concept?

Recommendation algorithms help connect customers to products, increase visibility to promotions and make shopping more fun. They have also, in some cases, crossed serious ethical lines that have damaged the trust that consumers placed with retailers. What is the role of C-suite executives in the development of ethical recommendation algorithms in retail?

What’s the hottest gift on American wish lists this holiday? Fulfillment. And while companies won’t be able to resolve all the product shortages, retailers can tap their loyalty programs and their data insights to help members avoid out-of-stocks. Should and can out-of-stocks be positioned as a loyalty perk?

Artificial intelligence-powered dynamic and personalized pricing offers retailers a means to satisfy customers and protect profit margins at the same time, however, there are also ethical concerns raised by their use. What are the ethical considerations retailers should consider in deploying dynamic and personalized pricing?

At least five large companies will introduce “bias bounties” or hacker competitions to identify bias in artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, predicts the just-released “North American Predictions 2022” from Forrester. What are the pros and cons of using bounties to root out bias in artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms?

A new survey finds 83 percent of U.S. consumers between the ages of 18 to 49 willing to license their social and digital platform data for rewards and benefits of value to them. Yet the findings appear to run counter to other studies. What’s causing the privacy paradox and is it becoming less relevant or more so?

A new university study finds that, while the general belief is that online comparison shopping helps you find the lowest prices, it may not be so if you’re browsing from the wrong zip code.  Is being able to tailor a wide variety of algorithm-driven prices to consumers online beneficial for retailers?

Gap Inc. has acquired a tech start-up that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to improve the customer experience and drive sales through predictive analytics and demand sensing.  Where do you see tech investments by Gap and other retailers heading?

Dick’s Sporting Goods says it achieved significantly higher profitability in the second quarter in its e-commerce channel through fewer and more targeted promotions, better leverage of fixed costs and strong customer adoption of curbside and in-store pickup. What are the obvious and less obvious levers that drive e-commerce profitability for retailers?

While one might think flooded in-boxes overwhelm consumers, surveys continue to show email marketing can be highly effective for brands and retailers.  What are the differences between getting email retailer marketing right and getting it wrong?

McDonald’s has named longtime company veteran Manu Steijart to the newly created position of global chief customer officer.  What do see as the opportunities and challenges for McDonald’s as it reorganizes its various departments under a single chief customer officer?

More than 35 civil rights groups have joined forces on a campaign to end the use of facial recognition by retailers amid heightened concerns over privacy and racial justice. Should retailers make a commitment to refrain from the use of facial recognition or are the technology’s risks and benefits still unknown?