The Modern Retail Podcast

On this week's episode, special projects editor Melissa Daniels takes a deep dive into how brands are shaking up their returns playbook. As many as 72% of brands are charging for returns these days, according to the National Retail Federation, but that's a major customer pain point. In turn, it's an area of business that brands are constantly evaluating to make sure their return policies make logistical and financial sense while still providing a good customer experience.

Daniels speaks with Samantha Gold, founder of sleepwear brand Motette, and Arin Schultz, chief growth officer at mattress brand Naturepedic, about the changes they're making to their return policies to make them more customer-friendly without taking a hit on the costs associated with processing returns. They get into:

The invisible costs of free returns, like shipping rates and warehouse restocking fees

Why Motette is planning to roll out free returns following a customer poll

The ways Naturepedic got its return rate to less than half of the industry average

This week, co-hosts Gabriela Barkho and Melissa Daniels are joined by senior reporter Julia Waldow to dive into takeaways from the National Retail Federation's 2026 conference; it's the retail industry's biggest conference, and typically sets the tone for the year.

The mood at NRF was cautiously optimistic, with brands and retailers showing off their best use cases of agentic commerce and AI tools to help with checkout and discovery. Waldow explains how the week also saw announcements from the likes of Google, and Microsoft about the tools they're deploying for retailers to try. But at the same time, executives said there is still some friction, with many attendees themselves saying they don't trust AI to do their shopping for them. Barkho discuss how beyond technology, brands talked about how to court today's shoppers by focusing on value, and the ways they're looking to stay relevant.

Other key themes discussed on the show include:

How AI in retail has shifted from hypothetical use cases to case studies of practical applications

 The far-fetched robotics and technologies seen on the Expo Floor

 Brands becoming less vocal about tariffs and immigration-related challenges as they focus on growth in a complex landscape

Kicking off the new year, the Modern Retail Podcast is delving into all things wellness.

This week, senior reporter Gabi Barkho is joined by Rachel Hirsch, founder and managing partner of Wellness Growth Ventures, which has backed brands like BelliWelli and Cure Hydration. Together, they predict what’s on trend and what’s on its way out, when it comes to health and wellness. The categories discussed include food and beverage, beauty, and fitness. 

The emerging themes in 2026 include:

The definition of wellness resolution is constantly evolving, especially as consumers try more trends and focus on personalized routines. 

Simplified routines and hero products have taken the throne from multi-step routines.

Strength training, GLP-1s and high-protein intake continue to dominate diet and fitness trends.

On this week’s Modern Retail Podcast, the editorial team dives into what’s to come in 2026. Senior reporters Gabriela Barkho and Melissa Daniels are joined by executive editor Anna Hensel for a roundtable discussion on the biggest retail predictions in the coming year.

Hensel, for example, is contemplating how AI will continue to shape e-commerce and the way people shop in 2026. Meanwhile, Daniels predicts that the creator economy will only get bigger as brands continue to invest in this marketing channel. With that, the team debates whether social media and other e-commerce channels will continue to bombard users with influencer content. Lastly, the team moves onto M&A prospects in 2026, including the biggest brands primed for potential acquisition as consolidation heats up.

On this week's Modern Retail Podcast, hosts Gabriela Barkho and Melissa Daniels are joined by reporter Mitchell Parton to discuss the themes and trends that dominated retail in 2025. The year certainly didn't play out the way that many in the retail industry were initially expecting, as tariffs upended many companies' carefully laid plans for the year.

Still, there were pockets of hope. Even though there weren't as many IPOs this year as some in the industry hoped there would be, there were still some promising acquisitions, like Church & Dwight buying hand sanitizer brand Touchland, and Harry's parent company Mammoth Brands snapping up diaper brand Coterie. Plus, consumers were still willing to turn out and spend -- even for hot trends and products that seemingly came out of nowhere, like Labubus. The episode gets into:

A look back at how the Modern Retail Podcast team did with its 2025 predictions at the start of the year, involving M&A, TikTok Shop and tariffs.

 Why private labels dominated this year.

 Why 2025 was an eventful year for big-box retail, as companies like Costco, Walmart and Target had to navigate big changes.

 How the biggest buzzword of the year, AI, shaped retail in 2025.