STORES

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As chief digital officer at Kroger, Yael Cosset is tasked with “turning Kroger into a digital enterprise.” So…what does that actually mean?

It’s no secret Kroger’s business, especially its C-suite, has been in a state of flux over the past year, and that’s true for its digital business, too. Last year, Kroger formed an e-commerce business unit, encompassing all teams relating to the online customer experience. Cosset—its SVP and chief information officer at the time—was tapped to lead it, shifting to the chief digital officer role. Last month, Nate Faust, co-founder of Jet.com and a former Walmart exec, became its first-ever chief e-commerce officer, now leading that unit.

Now, as Cosset told Retail Brew, his role oversees everything related to technology, data, AI, and digitization. (The company also hired a chief data and AI officer, Milen Mahadevan, who reports to Cosset, in March).

Ten years ago, the goal for a chief digital officer would’ve centered around building out capabilities for consumers to shop for groceries online, Cosset said. Today, a lot of that transformation—and the role’s biggest challenge—revolves around AI.

“How do we move from a function-centric operating model to truly a brain and a nervous system that is surrounding that customer experience?” he said.

Keep reading here.—EC

      

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A nationwide survey of Roku and non-Roku streamers conducted jointly by Roku, Dentsu’s New Stream Media, and Luth Research also found that:

• 47% of Roku holiday shoppers say they’re more likely to purchase when they get a discount directly on-screen.
• About half of Roku streamers shopped Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals last year.
• Holiday movies (+64%), family + kids content (+47%), and live sports (+38%) are the top-watched categories this season.

See how Roku helps your brand show up in October and win the room by December.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR & TRENDS

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QR codes may have become a pretty common sight on product packaging, but whether shoppers are actually scanning them...is another story.

It seems some consumers are at least willing to. A 2025 GS1 US survey found that 66% of consumers would scan a QR code on food packaging for information such as freshness, ingredients, and shelf life.

Still, what shoppers are willing to scan and what actually gets them to pull out their phones are two different things.

Scanova’s 2026 QR Code Benchmarks report, which looked at ~46.9 million scans across 8,514 live QR codes from 28 consumer goods brands, found that the typical active QR code on consumer packaging earns just 21 scans.

Moreover, just 5.06% of codes accounted for 94.5% of all scans, while the highest performing code got more than 2.7 million scans.

So, what actually gets shoppers to open their camera apps?

Keep reading here.—JS

      

RETAIL

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It’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and it’s business as usual for major retailers. However, banks, government offices, and the US Postal Service are closing in observance of the federal holiday.

Here’s what’s happening in retail this week:

In conferences: Software firm Contentsquare is hosting its CX Circle event on Tuesday, bringing together 1,500 e-commerce and digital leaders to share ideas and talk about new trends. On the agenda: Feliz Papich, SVP of digital technology, experience, and insights at Crocs, will talk about how the company uses data to drive meaningful improvements. Sol Rashidi, formerly of Amazon, will explore how to move beyond experimentation to full-scale AI implementation, and Vince Koh, global head of digital commerce at Amazon Web Services, will make the case for why AI shopping assistants are becoming a necessity.

The next day, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) is hosting its annual conference for chief legal officers, general counsel, and law firm partners. The event will address legal and regulatory challenges facing the industry, offering “practical insights on litigation trends, compliance, privacy, employment, and emerging risks.”

In data releases: The Census Bureau is scheduled to release its September retail sales numbers on Thursday, the last measure before the extended holiday season.

Keep reading here.—AV

      

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Today’s top retail reads.

Uni-grow: Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing is poised to top H&M’s revenue for the first time after a year that saw 16.6% revenue growth over last year. (Financial Times)

Department re-store: How Bergdorf Goodman plans to bounce back after surviving two bankruptcies over the last six years. (the New York Times)

Crunch time: PepsiCo said it will impose price increases for Doritos, Ruffles, SunChips, and some sodas to combat rising fuel prices and other costs. (AP News)

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