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Retail newsletters track the retail trends that help store owners stay current on ways to grow their business and profit margins. But with so many newsletters out there, it’s hard to determine which ones are worth your time.
This curated list has top retail publications and newsletters organized by focus area. Choose the specific sources aligned with your business goals, and bookmark them to stay current.
What is a retail newsletter?
A retail newsletter is a recurring email or online publication about the retail industry. It may publish daily news updates or on a less frequent cadence (weekly, monthly, or quarterly) as a roundup. It gives store owners retail headlines and context in one recurring format published for regular reading.
How to choose the right retail news sources
Filter your publication choices by evaluating five factors:
- Time available. Check the publication schedule to see how often articles arrive, and if you’ll have time to read them.
- Business stage. Look at the headlines to see if the text covers early-stage business setup or enterprise corporation management.
- Vertical focus. Scan the site menu or past issues to verify the content covers your product category.
- Format preference. Choose between different distribution mediums, such as text articles or audio podcasts.
- Subscription cost. Check the registration page to see if the content is available as a free public site or a paid subscription model.
For example, if you have 10 minutes to spare each morning, run a new clothing brand, prefer audio formats, and have a $0 media budget, look for an outlet that fits those needs.
Eliminate any publication that charges a monthly fee or focuses on enterprise corporate logistics. Select a free, daily audio podcast about apparel ecommerce to match your schedule and product category.
Best retail news websites to follow
Retail publications track corporate finance, supply chain changes, and consumer trends across online and physical stores. Review these major retail news websites:
- Retail Dive
- Business Insider Retail
- Forbes Retail
- Modern Retail
- Retail TouchPoints
- National Retail Federation
- Practical Ecommerce
- RetailWire
- McKinsey & Company Retail Insights
- CNBC Retail News
- Shopify blog
Retail Dive
Covers: Daily retail industry updates
Format: Short news articles, newsletters, podcast
Retail Dive publishes business journalism and reports on industry trends. It formats its website for mobile devices and sends a daily email newsletter.
It covers industry topics like:
- Retail technology
- Payment systems
- Omnichannel commerce
- Store operations
- Brick-and-mortar retail
- Ecommerce marketing
It also hosts a podcast called The Backroom, where editors analyze what’s happening in the market.
Business Insider Retail
Covers: Consumer trends and major retail business stories
Format: News reporting and analysis
Business Insider’s Retail section reports on direct-to-consumer trends, supply chain changes, and ecommerce shifts. It embeds video content within its articles. They don’t charge for all content, but full access costs $12.95 every four weeks after a 14-day trial period.
Forbes Retail
Covers: Retail leadership, strategy, and broader business trends
Format: Contributor articles and opinion-led analysis
Forbes Retail covers retail finance, stock market sell-offs, supply chain logistics, inflation, startup acquisitions, and retail real estate. Forbes uses a metered paywall. Visitors can read a small number of articles per month for free before seeing subscription options for unlimited digital access.
Modern Retail
Covers: DTC brands, ecommerce, retail media, and digital strategy
Format: News analysis, newsletters, and podcasts
Digiday Media launched Modern Retail in 2019. It publishes brand case studies on corporate profit margins, online grocery sales, and physical store expansions.
It sorts its articles into three categories:
- Marketing
- Operations
- Technology
The Modern Retail Index also tracks and ranks how large companies run their online stores and delivery setups. It scores brands on online shopping systems, shipping speeds, and corporate earnings.
Modern Retail+ gives subscribers access to exclusive content, unlimited articles, research, and other member benefits. Non-members can read a limited number of stories for free.
Retail TouchPoints
Covers: Customer experience, store technology, and retail operations
Format: Articles, reports, webinars, and case studies
Retail TouchPoints publishes retail reports and research on topics like store operations, customer experience, and in-store technology.
Its articles and subscription are free, though some downloadable reports require a form submission with contact information. Throughout the year, Retail TouchPoints also releases benchmark surveys on topics like store design and omnichannel fulfillment.
National Retail Federation
Covers: Industry data, policy updates, retail advocacy, and events
Format: Research, reports, event coverage, and articles
The National Retail Federation (NRF) is a global retail trade association. Its research and insights section covers retail data, consumer behavior, industry trends, and original research. NRF also publishes the Retail Gets Real podcast and videos on retail issues.
The online calendar lists industry conferences, and its resources section tracks retail legislation and research. The Retail Impact map tracks economic statistics across all 50 US states.
It distributes nine email publications:
- NRF SmartBrief. Daily retail industry news.
- What’s Next Edition. Retail technology and consumer trend updates.
- Global Edition. Retail news from around the world.
- Retail on Main Street. Weekly news for retail entrepreneurs and independent business owners.
- Retail Recap. A weekly roundup of major stories from NRF’s SmartBrief newsletters.
- AI on Retail. Updates on artificial intelligence in the retail industry.
- Reverse Logistics & Circularity. News on reverse logistics, returns, and circularity.
- Global Port Tracker. Member-only port data and import volume updates.
- Retail Trade Issues. Member-only updates on trade matters affecting retailers.
Practical Ecommerce
Covers: Ecommerce tools, retail acquisitions, and services
Format: Online articles and a weekly rundown of new ecommerce services
Launched as a monthly printed magazine in 2005, Practical Ecommerce is now an online retail publication aimed at helping store owners improve their online businesses. It publishes a helpful weekly rundown of new services like checkout tools, freight logistics, and online currencies. The site is also a solid source for recent retail acquisitions.
RetailWire
Covers: Retail debates, expert opinions, and emerging industry issues
Format: Discussion posts and industry panel responses
RetailWire publishes free news and trend reports. Its Discussions section hosts commentary where its BrainTrust panel and readers analyze retail issues. Store owners use this section to compare perspectives on new tactics, technology, and industry changes.
McKinsey & Company Retail Insights
Covers: Retail strategy, research, consumer behavior, and market trends
Format: Reports, research articles, and interviews
McKinsey & Company provides original research, articles, and reports. They track long-term strategic trends, shifts in consumer behavior, and technology adoption rates. Store owners can use these datasets to build multiyear retail planning models.
McKinsey doesn’t charge for updates, and readers sign up for targeted newsletters and email alerts directly on the site.
CNBC Retail News
Covers: Public retail companies, earnings, leadership changes, and market news
Format: Breaking news and business reporting
CNBC is a major business and financial news outlet. Its retail coverage focuses on market-moving updates from large retailers and public companies, including earnings, leadership, sales trends, and strategy.
Shopify blog
Covers: Ecommerce, retail growth, store operations, and industry trends
Format: Guides, trend articles, and educational content
The Shopify blog publishes how-to articles, roundup posts, and trend analysis for store owners running brick-and-mortar and omnichannel businesses. It also shares stories from real businesses using the platform.
Shopify publishes product update roundups and commerce data from major shopping periods like Black Friday Cyber Monday.
Fashion retail news sites
Fashion brands can find vertical coverage in these retail publications:
Business of Fashion
The Business of Fashion is a publication for people working in fashion, beauty, and luxury.
Its paid membership is called BoF Professional. Members get access to extra reporting and industry resources. These include reports, case studies, newsletters, master classes, and events.
New members can access a 14-day risk-free trial for $1. After the trial, the subscription renews based on the billing plan selected at checkout.
Vogue Business
Vogue Business shares fashion industry expertise with the most experienced professionals in the field. Its membership has three tiers. Standard membership costs $98 per quarter. Professional membership costs $299 per year. Executive membership costs $1,985 per year.
Executive membership includes monthly reports. It also includes the Vogue Business Index and member events.
WWD
Women’s Wear Daily, also known as WWD, is closer to a daily industry newspaper. It publishes fashion news across business, designers, runway, beauty, and retail.
Subscriptions cost $19.99 per month or $199 per year. Subscribers get access to WWD.com, the WWD mobile app, and the Digital Daily briefing.
WWD also offers an archive subscription with access to content dating back to 1994.
Retail Diary
Retail Diary is a Substack newsletter by Sarah Shapiro.
The newsletter covers retail, merchandising, and fashion trends. It also includes commentary on brand strategy and consumer behavior.
Compared with the trade publications in this list, Retail Diary has a more personal format, reflecting Shapiro’s perspective on retail and fashion.
Food and grocery retail news publications
For the latest updates in food and grocery, consider these retail publications:
Supermarket News
Supermarket News is a free grocery news publication for food retail professionals. It publishes breaking news stories about laws and regulations that might impact grocery retailers, alongside detailed breakdowns of how leading grocery stores are marketing their products.
Grocery Dive
Published by Industry Dive, the same company that owns Retail Dive, this publication features the latest data and research on the grocery industry. Grocery Dive also covers management changes at leading brands, profiles retailers’ technology investments, and conducts deep dives into grocery retail trends.
Food Dive
Food Dive is similar to Grocery Dive but covers the broader retail food and beverage industry. It covers breaking news stories about food retailers, consumer-packaged goods (CPGs), ingredient trends, regulations and brand collaborations.
CNBC Food Retail
CNBC has a designated category that publishes breaking news stories surrounding the food retail industry. It shares interviews with CEOs from brands such as Whole Foods and Sprouts Farmers Market, with commentary from prominent retail journalists discussing the impact of consumer behavior and emerging trends on the food retail industry.
Retail newsletters to subscribe to
Sign up to get these retail newsletters in your email inbox:
DTC
DTC is delivered every weekday morning with ecommerce tactics and market updates for direct-to-consumer (DTC) businesses. It covers retention strategies and creative trends, with a focus on the news of the day rather than broad commentary.
It also publishes podcasts, brand breakdowns, and reports. A free subscription reaches more than 155,000 readers.
Retail Brew
Retail Brew lands in inboxes Monday through Friday, covering the day’s retail news. The newsletter covers key retail talking points from DTC to the future of crypto in retail.
Part of the Morning Brew family of newsletters, it shares the same style of reporting and sharp analysis written in a witty tone. A subscription is free, and the newsletter is brief.
Future Commerce
Branded as retail and ecommerce insights for risk-takers, Future Commerce delivers newsletters, podcasts, and original research to subscribers’ inboxes three times per week.
Its content gives business owners and managers the tools they need to optimize their retail and DTC businesses. Look for in-depth op-eds analyzing subjects like the meeting of ecommerce metrics and branding.
Workweek
Nik Sharma, a.k.a. the DTC Guy, curates a weekly Sunday newsletter covering DTC trends, tips, tactics, learnings, and strategies. As the CEO of Sharma Brands, he’s known for building popular brands like Hint Water, Caraway, and Judy.
Each week Nik dives into a lesson or strategy from his week of work at Sharma Brands. He also features case studies from launching and scaling brands, as well as software and tools designed to help retailers.
Read more
- The Beginner’s Guide to Email Marketing for Retailers
- 53 Data-Backed Retail Statistics Shaping Retail and Beyond
- Live Selling: Trends, Benefits and Best Practices to Grow Your Retail Business
- The Retail Renaissance: A Crash Course on Retail’s Great Bifurcation
- The Rise of Recommerce: All About Buyback, Trade-In, and Upcycling in Retail
- Complete Retail Automation Strategy Guide for 2002
- Why People Buy: 5 Aspirational Marketing Tactics for Retail Brands
- These Retailers Could See a Surge in Sales Thanks to New Year’s Resolutions
- How Nordstrom Made Its Brand Synonymous With Customer Service (and How You Can Too)
Retail publications FAQ
What is the current retail industry outlook?
The retail industry outlook is cautiously positive. The National Retail Federation forecasts that US retail sales will grow 4.4% in 2026 to reach $5.6 trillion, driven by resilient consumer spending. Retailers still face pressure from inflation, trade policy uncertainty, and a softer labor market, so growth may vary by category.
What is the difference between retail trade publications and mainstream business news?
Retail trade publications focus on news for people who work in the retail industry. They cover topics such as store operations, ecommerce trends and category updates. Mainstream business news covers retail as part of the broader economy.
Are there free retail industry publications?
Yes. Many retail industry publications publish free articles or newsletters. Some also have paid subscriptions for reports, data or premium analysis.
