The holidays bring higher foot traffic, longer hours, and more pressure on already strained frontline teams. But despite being the public face of retail brands, frontline employees are often the last to hear about critical updates, receive recognition, or get even basic communications from leadership.  This disconnect isn’t just an annoyance, but a strategic vulnerability for retail brands. I just went into a store and had the owner apologize for the slow service and add, “As I’m sure you know, we just can’t get help.” With turnover still stubbornly high and seasonal hiring well underway, companies need to reevaluate how they engage, motivate, and retain their frontline teams. Employee turnover in retail settings remains a costly and disruptive challenge. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the retail sector saw a 60.9% turnover rate in 2024, among the highest of any industry. This turnover has two major impacts. First, it requires constant onboarding and training of new staff, which reduces operational efficiency. Second, it erodes morale among long-term employees, making retention of this talent even more challenging. Even the owner of that store I mentioned looked ready to quit and go home!

The coronavirus has been a life-changing event. We've never experienced anything like this before. Baby Boomers were young when polio was nearly eradicated with the Salk vaccine in 1955. At that time, very little was known about polio, which paralyzed and often killed young children. Science has greatly advanced since then. Even so, until we have a proven vaccine, the spread of COVID-19 will continue and the so called “new normal” will evolve and become even more of a reality with every day that passes. COVID-19 has brought about changes in ways we never imagined. Changes in the way we shop, how we work from home, homeschool our children, entertain ourselves, and so much more. What we wouldn't have imagined prior to the coronavirus is becoming the new normal today. Some of the changes we've made will revert back to the old way of doing things once the virus passes. Many of the changes will remain at least for an extended period of time. Many consumer catalog and online businesses have seen a significant increase in response to the way people shop during the coronavirus — i.e., “The COVID factor.” The increase varies by product category.

The White House on Wednesday released its AI Action Plan, a set of proposals developed by the Trump administration to meet the United States' goal for dominance in artificial intelligence (AI). Here is what we know so far.  The 90 federal actions focus on three areas: increasing private-sector innovation, expanding AI-related infrastructure and exporting American AI. The goal is set on "winning the AI race" against global competitors like China. “The United States must also drive adoption of American AI systems, computing hardware, and standards throughout the world,” according to the document. “America currently is the global leader on data center construction, computing hardware performance, and models.”