Retail's Year of Living Efficiently

In our final episode of our sixth season we briefly share our mid-year highlights before dipping into the week in retail news, which includes the prospect of a UPS strike wreaking havoc on the world of e-commerce. Then it's on to our main topic which centers on how economic headwinds seem to be turning 2023 into a year of efficiency. In that context we remind retailers that cost cutting and store closings don't address underlying issues of customer relevance ("bailing doesn't fix the hole") and that we need to careful not to confuse efficiency with effectiveness.