Navigating retail from now to next with Carol Spieckerman.

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Welcome to Spieckerman Retail, where retailers, marketers, solution providers, agencies, and others who rely on retail come for B2B retail strategy and uncommon insights across a dizzying array of categories, channels, business models, and touchpoints.

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Leading publications trust Carol Spieckerman for beyond-the-obvious retail insights.

Carolโ€™s Latest Retail Insights

Carolโ€™s Media Hot Takes

Insights
RETHINK Retail Recognizes Carol Spieckerman as 2025 Top Retail Expert
RETHINK RETAIL
RETHINK Retail Recognizes Carol Spieckerman as 2025 Top Retail Expert
RETHINK RETAIL

Carol Spieckerman named as 2025 Top Retail Expert by RETHINK Retail

RETHINK RETAIL
Special Report: Navigating Tariff Tremors
Special Report: Navigating Tariff Tremors

Carol Spieckerman contributes insights to RethinkRetailโ€™s Retail Cloud Alliance report on the current and future impact of tariffs and winning strategies for navigating uncertainty.

Consistency Counts at Costco (More Than Ever)
MODERN RETAIL
Consistency Counts at Costco (More Than Ever)
MODERN RETAIL

Carol Spieckerman speaks with Modern Retail on why Costcoโ€™s tariff riff and double down on DEI aligns with its core culture.

MODERN RETAIL
Walmartโ€™s Out-Teching Tech Companies (And Itโ€™s Paying Off)
DEMOCRAT GAZETTE
Walmartโ€™s Out-Teching Tech Companies (And Itโ€™s Paying Off)
DEMOCRAT GAZETTE

Carol Spieckerman weighs in on Walmartโ€™s Q4 confidence as Doug McMillon passes the baton to John Furner.

DEMOCRAT GAZETTE
Targetโ€™s Fiddelke Not Wasting Time
MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE
Targetโ€™s Fiddelke Not Wasting Time
MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE

Carol Spieckerman speaks with the Minnesota Star Tribune about Targetโ€™s CEO-in-waiting not waiting to turn the ship around as the holiday shopping season hits full steam.

MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE
Better Safe Than Sorry (Again) for Kohlโ€™s
DAILY MAIL
Better Safe Than Sorry (Again) for Kohlโ€™s
DAILY MAIL

Carol Spieckerman speaks with the Daily Mail on why Kohlโ€™s inside pick for CEO makes nothing but sense as distractions could derail progress.

DAILY MAIL
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Carolโ€™s Video Weigh-Ins

Video Blog
๐€๐ˆ ๐ข๐ง ๐‘๐ž๐ญ๐š๐ข๐ฅ: ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐–๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ญ, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐๐ž๐ฑ๐ญ
๐€๐ˆ ๐ข๐ง ๐‘๐ž๐ญ๐š๐ข๐ฅ: ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐–๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ญ, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐๐ž๐ฑ๐ญ

In this RetailDive webinar, Carol Spieckerman and Supermicroโ€™s Marc Del Vecchio unpack fresh survey data from retail leaders on the state of AI adoption in retail.

2025 Will Be a โ€Just Call a Womanโ€ Moment: Carol Spieckerman on International Womenโ€™s Day
2025 Will Be a โ€Just Call a Womanโ€ Moment: Carol Spieckerman on International Womenโ€™s Day

As International Womenโ€™s Day takes the spotlight, Carol Spieckerman celebrates the unsung women who built the fortunes of some of the biggest retailers and brands in the world.

CGTN Interview With Carol Spieckerman: Egging On Egg-Flation?
CGTN Interview With Carol Spieckerman: Egging On Egg-Flation?
Carol Spieckerman on Ecom Pulse Podcast
Carol Spieckerman on Ecom Pulse Podcast

Carol Spieckerman shares her retail journey, client processes, and latest retail trajectories in an interview with Eitan Koter for the Ecom Pulse podcast.

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Deeper Retail Insights

Retail is exciting, fast-moving, and filled with opportunity, yet information overload is a constant challenge. Join retail strategist and top influencer Carol Spieckerman as she navigates past the noise to get to the heart of what really matters.

Spieckerman Speaks Retail Podcast

In every episode of Spieckerman Speaks Retail, Carol harnesses her latest Retail Trajectories and interviews with industry experts to distill tools, tactics, and takeaways for wherever you play in retail. If youโ€™re ready to cut to the chase, or just want to be inspired by where retail is going next, listen in!

Retail Gets Deep Blog

Retail Gets Deep delves into the heart of the topics that are moving the needle in retail. In every post, Carol takes a magnifying glass to compelling topics pulled from her podcast episodes, media contributions, and those of industry leaders, expanding on key points and ideas that deserve a closer look.

Podcast Episodes

Podcast
Redefining Value in Retail: Carol Spieckerman Joins Retail Cloud Alliance Retail Therapy Podcast

Value isnโ€™t just about low prices anymore. As shoppers become more intentional and economic pressures rise, retailers are shifting strategies from promotions to emotional connection.
Carol Spieckerman joins fellow Cloud Alliance experts to explore how retailers are aligning with evolving shopper priorities and what โ€œvalueโ€ really means today.

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Sink or Swim Season Is Here! (With Zero Margin for Error)

In the latest heat map episode, Carol takes on Targetโ€™s cascading crisis, Walmartโ€™s master strokes, Macyโ€™s surprising turnaround, Lululemon hitting a sour note, and more hot takes. In the run-up to the holidays, some retailers are casting a clear vision. Others are stubbornly denying they even have a problem or struggling to define their place in a world where staying special requires constant vigilance.

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Retail Heat Map: Targetโ€™s Travails, Temu and Shein Spiral, Liverpool Liberates Nordstrom, and the Prime Day Delay

From Target's operational disasters and identity crisis to Netflix's ambitious physical retail gambit to Temu and Sheinโ€™s spiral to Mexico's cross-border rescue mission and Walmartโ€™s latest grocery grab, Carolโ€™s latest Heat Map episode connects the dots and reads the tea leaves on retailโ€™s hottest stories.

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Retail Gets Deep Blog

Deep Insights
Buy, Build, or Bridge? The Liverpool-Nordstrom Deal Reveals Mexico's Bold Retail Trajectory

Carol digs deep into the possibilities that might be unlocked in the wake of El Puerto de Liverpoolโ€™s $1.23 billion investment in Nordstrom and how Mexico is emerging as a strategic global retail force.

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๐“๐ก๐ž ๐–๐ข๐๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐†๐š๐ฉ: ๐–๐ก๐ฒ ๐–๐š๐ฅ๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ญ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐“๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ž๐ญ ๐€๐ซ๐ž๐ง'๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐’๐š๐ฆ๐ž ๐‹๐ž๐š๐ ๐ฎ๐ž (๐š๐ง๐ ๐‹๐ข๐ค๐ž๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐–๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ž)

Last year, Carol Spieckerman boldly declared that comparing Walmart and Target no longer makes sense...then proceeded to do it anyway. A year later? That gap has only widened. Carol gives her take on the widening Walmart-Target gap before Target's March 4th earnings announcement. Here's what to watch forโ€ฆ

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Large and In-Charge: Why Flagships Aren't Flagging in the Digital Age

A recent Retail Wire article asked the burning question: Are flagship stores necessary for retail brands? In my Retail Wire response, I pointed out that flagships aren't a must-have for every brand, but they are absolutely a nice-to-have for many.

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