Retail Strategies & Supplier Insights

2026 looks like a year of modest top-line growth, more challenging profit math, and more “systems-driven” retail. Translation: retailers will still want growth, but they’ll increasingly demand it through automation, tighter compliance, and pay-to-play visibility.

By early December, most suppliers are looking at the same thing: big, beautiful holiday sales numbers… and a deduction report that feels like a crime scene. Retailers are forecasting more than $1 trillion in U.S. holiday sales this year, with November and December accounting for around 19% of annual retail sales. That’s the good news.

By early December, most suppliers are looking at the same thing: big, beautiful holiday sales numbers… and a deduction report that feels like a crime scene. Retailers are forecasting more than $1 trillion in U.S. holiday sales this year, with November and December accounting for around 19% of annual retail sales. That’s the good news.

Nearly 203 million consumers shopped during the five-day Thanksgiving–Cyber Monday weekend—a record. More orders, more shipments, more exceptions. And that means more chargebacks. If November and December are when sales spike, January is when the chargebacks show up in your inbox. The trick is not just to pay them and move on, but to treat them like a free consulting report from your retailers.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects 2025 holiday retail sales in November and December to cross the $1 trillion mark for the first time, up about 3.7%–4.2% over last year. And 2024 already set a record, with core holiday sales hitting roughly $994.1 billion, up 4% year over year. That’s great for headlines. But here’s the question that matters for you as a supplier: Did holiday retail sales actually lift your margin?

Year-end close can feel like a necessary evil. Accruals. Reclasses. Deductions. Spreadsheets everywhere. But here’s the opportunity: the same work you are doing to close the books can help you open the story you tell buyers in 2026.

Cyber Monday has become the Super Bowl of online retail. In 2024, U.S. shoppers spent $13.3 billion online on Cyber Monday, up 7.3% year over year—the biggest single online shopping day ever recorded. During the peak hours of 8:00–10:00 p.m. Eastern, consumers were spending about $15.8 million per minute.

From the outside, Black Friday is all about doorbusters. From your side of the table, it’s about something way less glamorous: data integrity.

If retail felt slow this year, you’re not imagining things. Big banners plan category resets months ahead; most categories are refreshed at least annually.

Product photography isn’t decoration. It’s conversion, returns, and compliance—rolled into pixels.

Private label (store brands) isn’t “coming.” It’s here—growing, confident, and better funded than ever. In 2024, U.S. store brands set record shares and surpassed $270B in sales; 2025 projections push even higher.

SNAP is moving. Not just the dollar amounts—but timing, eligibility, and how shoppers use those dollars. If you sell food and beverages, you’ll feel it. Some of it will be a breeze at your back. Some of it? A headwind.

Let’s be blunt: private label isn’t a “recession play” anymore. It’s a structural shift in how baskets are built.

Entering the Walmart marketplace is like setting sail on a vast ocean filled with opportunity and challenge. For consumer packaged goods brands and suppliers, Walmart represents a treasure trove of potential sales and growth.

Navigating the retail world can feel like trying to find your way through a dense forest without a map. You know there’s a path to success, but the twists and turns can be overwhelming.

“Retail deductions” are amounts a retailer withholds from your invoice—usually for shortages, compliance issues, pricing discrepancies, freight/OTIF misses, or after-the-fact (post-audit) claims.

If Congress misses the October 1 funding deadline, parts of the U.S. government will shut down. Essential services will keep running, but...

Retail deductions aren’t a one-time clean-up—they’re a tax on sloppy hand-offs. A strong food broker earns their keep long before the first PO by preventing the errors that become chargebacks: mis-keyed price files, barcode hiccups, promo mismatches, late/short deliveries, and compliance misses.

Shoppers buy the image first, then the product. Low-quality product photos don’t just hurt conversion—they can trigger returns, bad reviews, or even compliance flags.

What is Product Photography? (Simple Definition) Product photography is the disciplined process of planning, lighting, styling, and capturing images of a product, allowing customers to evaluate it online or in print.