Dirty Martini Volume 15

Dated: April 23, 2025

Welcome to The Dirty Martini Digest! This newsletter is built for our technology friends to keep you informed of the latest industry data and enable you to do your job more effectively.

HOLY CR*P! While there is disruption with any new administration, we are witnessing an unprecedented shift in the world order. In 90 days, the lens by which we all view our businesses, our customers, and our strategies has been completely changed. Regardless of what side of the political aisle you stand, uncertainty and fear has become part of our daily lives and we must do our best to adjust accordingly. While consumer sentiment is at a 40+ year low, we have yet to feel the real impacts of the last 90 days at the retail level as pre-tariff panic buying has falsely inflated the sales numbers.

We at Incisiv believe technology can help in addressing volatile market activity but we also understand market volatility hampers investment. It’s more important than ever to market yourselves as a partner, ready to help when and where your customers need you.

Enjoy this issue of the Dirty Martini Digest.

The Dirty Details - Unified Commerce Benchmark in Specialty Retail

Last month, we detailed the The State of Unified Commerce in Specialty Retail we conducted at the end of 2024. That was part one of a multi-component study we conducted in partnership with Manhattan Associates. Part two is the Unified Commerce Benchmark - one of our most comprehensive studies we’ve ever conducted. The study spans 220 US retailers across 7 specialty segments and comprises the following methodology:

8+ shopping trips, including 5+ digital journeys and 3+ physical store visits.
Conducted real transactions and interactions including purchases, returns, and customer service.
Assessed 300+ capabilities across 4 buying journey areas.

The good news is that 35% of the retailers assessed qualified as having Advanced Unified Commerce capabilities. This was the #1 category. The not so good news is that only 5% of the retailers assessed were ranked Leaders. Commerce maturity isn’t just a ‘nice to have’; it has a direct correlation with revenue growth. In fact, for a $1B retailer, maturing from a Basic level of maturity to the Leader level equates to $55M in incremental revenue.

Key details of the study include:

Yesterday’s ‘differentiators’ are today’s ‘table stakes’ capabilities. 35% of capabilities that were defined as differentiators in our 2023 study are now table stakes.
Fulfillment was the area of the buying journey that had the biggest jump in maturity (+16%) from the 2023 study. However, it still remains the least mature area at 46%.
The 2023-2025 transition reveals a crucial truth: sustained excellence requires strong foundations. Of 15 retailers who were Leaders in 2023, 12 maintained Leading or Advanced status in 2025 and continued to outperform their segments.
Of 2023's Leaders, those maintaining Leading or Advanced status continued to outperform their segments by 2X.

Dive deeper into our cross-industry research and content

As with any transformative technology, the march towards leveraging AI will have its ups and downs. We partnered with Microsoft and NVIDIA to produce a paper titled Accelerating Retail AI from Pilots to Scale. In it, we detail the 3 pillars to scalable AI Success:

Trust as a Foundation: AI adoption depends on trust. Transparent governance, ethical AI practices, and stakeholder confidence ensure smooth deployment. Trust turns AI into a strategic asset, unlocking higher engagement and adoption.
IP Ownership: Controlling proprietary data and AI models creates differentiation. Ownership enables rapid innovation cycles and ensures competitive advantage, positioning retailers as leaders in the AI-driven economy.
Accelerated Compute: The backbone of real-time intelligence, accelerated compute enables retailers to process vast datasets instantly. Advanced infrastructure powered by GPU systems delivers the agility needed for decisive action at retail speed.

Check out the report to see a deep dive into each of the three pillars above.

Once the key components of implementing AI in Retail are understood, determining the most impactful use cases is the logical next step. In a follow up paper with Microsoft and Nvidia, we produced High Impact AI Use-Cases in Retail. We detail the most impactful use cases in the following three areas:

Customer Experience & Commerce: From catalog enrichment to semantic search, these solutions enhance shopper engagement and personalization across channels.
Store & Employee Operations: AI transforms operational efficiency, empowering employees and optimizing store environments.
Supply Chain & Fulfillment: Intelligent AI applications streamline warehousing, logistics, and demand forecasting for unmatched agility.

Straight from the Shaker

Get practical insights and best practices straight from our industry experts as we shake up and serve up our knowledge to help you improve your go-to-market strategies. We share tips each month to help you stay ahead of the game.

While we usually utilize this section to provide guidance on how to more effectively market and sell, we’d like to seek your opinion on the remainder of 2025. With such massive disruption occurring over the last 90 days, the obvious question is ‘how do you anticipate the policies of the current administration will affect your business’?

We’ve put together a short four question survey that we’d like you to participate in. Your responses will be completely anonymous (there are no questions regarding identity). In next month’s issue, we’ll provide you with an analysis of the results.

Take the Survey

On the House

Sip on our team's latest research, speaking sessions, and industry news with a quick scan of our recently published and upcoming work and key takeaways.

As stores continue to evolve, retailers still find themselves facing many of the same challenges they have faced in the past. According to our 2025 Connected Retail Experience Study: Mobility is Driving Associate Productivity, produced in conjunction with Verizon and Cisco, associate hiring and retention is still the #1 challenge.

On Demand Webinar: Decoding Q1 2025: The Real Impact of Digital, Tariffs, and Omnichannel in Grocery: Tune into this fascinating discussion with three of the industry’s most dynamic minds - Gary Hawkins, Doug Baker and Gaurav Pant. Tariffs are shaking up supply chains, digital sales are holding steady, and AI-driven omnichannel strategies are redefining grocery retail. Ready to make sense of it all?
With Tariffs completely throwing Supply Chains into chaos, it’s not surprising that executives are scrambling to bolster their supplier networks. However, they need technology to get there and they have some maturing to do:

Second Round - Incisiv Event Round-up

Incisiv is hitting the road very soon for a busy first half of travel. Below is where we’ll be - We’d love to meet up and hear about how you’re helping the industry.

Incisiv and The Lead Summit are partnering on May 28 - 29 in New York City! The Lead Summit brings together globally recognized scaled brands, high-growth challenger brands, forward-looking retailers, and the next-gen tech!

The Lead Summit features 3,000+ attendees and over 180 speakers from brands and retailers such as New Balance, Marc Jacobs, Vans, MAC Cosmetics, Fossil Group, Columbia, DSW, and many more, who will discuss how to use A.I. to your advantage, keep up with your customers,the economic climate, optimize your tech stack, utilize marketing channels for incremental growth, and so much more (see the full agenda HERE).The agenda is complimented by unforgettable social experiences.

It's all happening in two dynamic days in vibrant NYC where you’ll make beneficial connections, learn & apply what’s working for other brands, and develop business-changing tech partnerships. For Non-Brand, Non-Retail friends, you can use this link for 25% off: LINK

Following The Lead, Incisiv is excited to participate in Shoptalk Europe, one of the premier events shaping the future of retail, taking place June 2 - 4, in Barcelona. As an official media partner, we’ll be sharing timely insights and coverage before, during, and after the conference to help the industry stay ahead of the curve. As part of our presence at the conference, we’re hosting our signature Speakeasy Executive Dinner, bringing together senior retail executives for an evening of connection, conversation, and curated insights.

Additionally, we’re proud to contribute to the mainstage through a panel discussion with Chaloub Group, Holland & Barrett International and MediaMarktSaturn, where Incisiv Co-Founder & Chief Insights Officer, Gaurav Pant, will share our latest research and perspectives on Delivering Customer Joy Post-Purchase. We look forward to engaging with the global retail community and helping shape what’s next for commerce.

Other Events Incisiv will be attending:

May:

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We're here to help you navigate through your biggest challenges and win in this highly competitive market. Anytime you want to talk, book a meeting.

Newsletter Dated: Feb 14, 2023

Does Innovation Still Matter in Retail?

State of the Industry - Innovation in Retail - Key Takeaways.

Innovation Leaders Far Outperform Their Peers in Revenue Growth
Retailers who are leaders in innovation have a 3-year revenue CAGR of 6.2%, whereas non-leaders have a 3-year revenue CAGR of 0.7%.
Importance of Innovation Recognized but Not Always Practiced:
Despite the majority of retailers recognizing the critical importance of innovation for future growth, only 22% actively encouraged and rewarded risk-taking and experimentation within their organizations.
Innovation Priorities are Focused around Operations:
Retailers' operations-focused innovation priorities are centered around foundational capabilities such as inventory visibility, with 76% of retailers either scaling or exploring innovation initiatives in this area.
Leading Retailers Also Focus on Leveraging Innovation to Drive Customer Experience:
Leading retailers are focusing on utilizing the intelligence gained from inventory data to create better customer experiences. For instance, 65% are scaling or exploring initiatives to help them provide narrower and more accurate delivery estimates to shoppers.
Unifying Customer Experience Across Channels is Top Priority:
Unifying the customer experience across digital and physical channels is retailers' top customer experience-focused innovation priority. The brick and mortar store plays a crucial role in this aspect, as it offers customers the ability to physically interact with products and engage with the brand in person.
Adoption Maturity of Key Innovation Technologies Categorized:
The study includes categorization of key technologies such as artificial intelligence, process automation, robotics, and Internet of Things across an adoption maturity spectrum, helping retailers understand where they fall among peers in these areas. AI stands as the most mature in terms of active adoption or pilots
A Significant Opportunity for Retailers to Improve their Innovation Capabilities:
The study highlights a significant opportunity for retailers to improve their innovation capabilities and drive better business performance. By focusing on unifying the customer experience across channels and utilizing the intelligence gained from inventory data, retailers can enhance their innovation capabilities and stay ahead of the curve in a highly competitive industry.
Conclusion:
The study is an important reminder that retailers need to find new ways to solve the critical challenge of unification across digital and physical channels in order to drive growth. Retailers who invest in innovation will be better positioned to meet the changing needs of customers and remain competitive in the market. To know more about this study click here.

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