The retail industry moves at the speed of light. From chatter about the dismal future of malls to concerning dips in consumer spending, retail changes seemingly every day.
It’s no surprise if, as a retailer, you’re feeling some media burnout. But don’t give up completely—keeping up with news helps you identify new retail trends to grow your business and your profit margins.
We researched, read, and subscribed to dozens of retail publications and retail newsletters in order to compile this list. Bookmark the best retail publications and feel confident that you’re covering your bases.
11 best retail news websites to follow
1. Retail Dive
Retail Dive shares retail news and journalistic analysis of trends impacting the present and future of retail.
Designed to be consumed on the go, Retail Dive has a mobile-optimized website and a daily email newsletter. The emphasis is on well-researched business journalism, and the publication covers topics like:
- Retail tech
- Payment technology
- Omnichannel retail
- Store operations
- Brick-and-mortar retail
- Ecommerce marketing
To get a look behind the curtain at the newsroom, the podcast TheBackroom features Retail Dive editors and retail experts discussing everything trending in retail.
2. Business Insider Retail
Business Insider is synonymous with up-to-date business and financial insights. Its retail section is a go-to center for the latest information on direct-to-consumer trends, supply chain issues, and ecommerce shifts. It includes video content throughout some of its articles, giving you another option for consuming insights.
While some content is free to read, most of the site is behind a paywall. Monthly subscriptions start at $11.99 following a trial.
3. Forbes Retail
Forbes’ Retail section covers trending retail stories with a spotlight on finance. There’s plenty of coverage on topics like stock market selloffs, supply chain issues, the impact of inflation, startup acquisitions, and retail real estate. Its editor’s picks section helps take a quick glance at essential daily reads.
Like Insider, most of the content is behind a paywall. You can read up to four pieces for free each month before signing up for a monthly subscription of $12.99.
4. Modern Retail
Created in 2019 by Digiday Media, Modern Retail covers the evolving retail landscape. This publication provides specific retail brand stories like inflation cutting into Walmart’s profit margins, how an online grocer uses shoppable receipts to increase retail sales, and a retailer’s shift to suburban brick-and-mortar expansion.
Its featured collections organize stories into three categories:
- Marketing
- Operations
- Technology
Additionally, Modern Retail Index follows a research framework that analyzes and ranks major retailers across ecommerce, ease of fulfillment, and financial momentum decisions–helpful for data-driven insights into the current state of retail.
For full access to Modern Retail’s content, you'll need a subscription priced at $129 every three months.
5. Retail TouchPoints
Retail TouchPoints (RTP) produces content aimed at helping retailers optimize customer experience across all channels. RTP publishes special reports each month exploring the latest retail industry trends, like mobile-first marketing, buy online, pickup in-store (BOPIS), personalized retail experiences, and omnichannel alignment.
Several times a year, it releases benchmark surveys and data-backed reports on store design and social responsibility.
6. National Retail Federation
The National Retail Federation (NRF) is the largest global retail trade association, so it’s a top place for leading retail insights. Check its Retail Insights and Trends section for podcasts, videos, and original data.
The NRF retail event calendar also features some of the world’s top retail conferences and summits. At the same time, the Resources section includes stories on top retailers, information about retail laws, and original NRF research. The Retail’s Impact section is helpful for US retailers looking to understand more about retail’s influence in any of the 50 states.
7. Practical Ecommerce
Launched as a monthly printed magazine in 2005, Practical Ecommerce is now an online retail publication aimed at helping merchants improve their online businesses. It publishes a helpful twice-monthly rundown of new services like checkout tools, freight logistics, and online currencies. The site is also a solid source for recent retail acquisitions.
8. RetailWire
RetailWire is a free publication that shares insights on retail industry trends. It also offers “Discussions”—a category that invites readers to share their opinions on breaking retail news. It’s a great place to weigh whether it’s worth doubling down on a new tactic; you can get insight from other retailers making the same decisions.
9. McKinsey & Company Retail Insights
If you’re looking for global retail news, insights, and trends, McKinsey & Company’s Retail Insights section is a great place to start. You can find articles and original research about consumer behavior, fashion, technology, and much more. You can also sign up to get notified via email each time new articles have been published.
10. CNBC Retail News
CNBC is one of the largest news publications in the U.S. Its retail segment, appropriately named CNBC Retail News, shares trending news stories from brands of all sizes. Recent stories focus on partnerships and collaborations, management changes at some of the biggest brands, and earning reports from publicly traded retailers.
11. Shopify Retail News & Trends
Shopify is at the front line of all things brick-and-mortar and omnichannel retail. Every story, how-to article, roundup post, and trend analysis published on the Shopify Retail blog is inspired by real merchants we chat with regularly.
Fashion retail news sites
Business of Fashion
The Business of Fashion combines razor-sharp fashion retail analysis, business advice, career-building tools, and insightful future fashion predictions. Original case studies and reports analyze industry challenges like fashion’s supply chain issues and the future of fashion resale.
Memberships start at $22.250 per month, but you can get a 30-day trial for $1 before committing to a monthly subscription.
Vogue Business
Vogue Business shares fashion industry expertise with the most experienced professionals in the field. Boasting exclusive interviews with executives at luxury brands like Gucci and Prada, it’s worth bookmarking Vogue Business if you want to stay updated with fashion ecommerce trends.
Access to Vogue Business’ premium content starts at $66 per quarter. Its advanced membership, which grants you access to the “Index” (a list of the top brands) and member-only reports, costs $1,655 annually.
Fashion Dive
Fashion Dive is a fashion retail publication owned by Industry Dive, the same brand that operates Supply Chain Dive, Marketing Dive, and Payments Dive.
Topics covered on Fashion Dive range from technology and sourcing to sustainability and consumer behavior. It also offers a daily newsletter designed for fashion leaders and apparel executives.
WWD
Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) is a retail magazine that covers emerging trends and breaking news in the fashion and beauty industry. It is known for its coverage of runway shows and fashion sustainability.
An annual subscription unlocks WWD’s content, including the WWD archive, which dates back to 1994. Plans start at $9.25 per month, with specialist plans for businesses, students, and professors.
Sarah’s Retail Diary
Retailer Sarah Shapiro shares a weekly fashion-themed retail diary with her subscribers. She discusses trending topics like the return of Abercrombie & Fitch, denim data and trends, and classic Mall Brands working on revivals. For those who want to dig deeper, there are links to her favorite retail resources and her articles of the week.
Food and grocery retail news publications
Supermarket News
Supermarket News is a free grocery news publication worth bookmarking if you operate a convenience store. It publishes breaking news stories about laws and regulations that might impact your grocery business, alongside detailed breakdowns of how leading grocery stores are marketing their products.
Grocery Dive
Brought to you by the same company that owns Fashion Dive and Retail Dive, this retail news publication shares the latest data and research reports about the grocery industry. Grocery Dive also covers management changes at leading brands, profiles retailer’s investments in technology, and “deep dives” that investigate grocery retail trends.
Food Dive
Food Dive is similar to Grocery Dive but focuses solely on retail food and beverage. It covers breaking news stories about food retailers, consumer-packaged goods (CPGs), ingredient trends, 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 Sprout Farmers, with commentary from leading retail journalists discussing consumer behavior's impact and emerging trends on the food retail industry.
Retail newsletters to subscribe to
1. Retail Radar
Retail Radar is Shopify’s monthly round-up of retail stories, tips, and how-to’s, specifically curated for brick-and-mortar retailers. A Retail School section features how-to guides and explainers designed to level up your retail knowledge.
The Fresh Inspiration section showcases retail trends and features tips from other retail store owners to help you take your store to new heights. Finally, a Tools of the Trade section shows you how to use Shopify’s powerful features in everyday scenarios.
As a bonus, there’s often a downloadable guide designed to help you complete daily tasks at your brick-and-mortar business, like opening and closing your store.
2. Retail Brew
Retail Brew lands in inboxes Monday through Friday, full of the day’s most essential retail news. The newsletter covers key retail talking points from CBD to D2C and the future of crypto in retail.
Part of the Morning Brew family of newsletters, it shares the same style of on-pulse reporting and sharp analysis written in a witty tone. A subscription is free, and the daily retail newsletter only takes five minutes to read.
3. 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.
Most of its content aims to give business owners and managers the tools you need to optimize your retail and DTC businesses. Look for in-depth op-eds analyzing subjects like the meeting of ecommerce metrics and branding.
4. Retail Dive
Retail Dive curates a whole group of retail newsletters, so when you sign up, determine whether you want weekly updates on retail marketing, tech, operations, or DTC. There’s also a Daily Dive newsletter that lands in inboxes daily, Monday through Friday, covering retail tech, ecommerce, marketing, and in-store operations.
5. NRF Smartbrief
Designed for anyone working in retail, NRF Smartbrief is a free daily retail newsletter covering the latest news and industry information. It covers the day’s top stories and retail trends and features an Industry Watch section that analyzes topics like changing shopper trends.
6. Workweek by Nik Sharma
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 successfully launching and scaling brands, as well as software and tools designed to help retailers.
Make time for these retail publications and newsletters
Bookmark these retail publications and retail newsletters for inspiration and insights as you grow your retail business. Time block at least one hour every morning to browse the latest articles and stories to help you learn more about managing and growing a successful retail business.
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 news FAQ
What is happening to the retail industry?
The retail industry has undergone immense changes over the last decade. Customers now demand omnichannel experiences from the retailers they’re shopping with, which is forcing brands into integrating brick-and-mortar retail with online and social media experiences.
What is the retail industry outlook for 2024?
The overall outlook for retail in 2024 is positive, despite inflation concerns and rising costs. Investments in artificial intelligence and omnichannel retail are making it easier for retailers to connect with customers at scale on the channels they prefer.
What is a retail newsletter?
A retail newsletter is a regular email series geared toward retail professionals. Examples include Shopify’s Retail Radar, Retail Dive, and Workweek by Nik Sharma.
What is Retail Dive?
Retail Dive is a news publication that shares emerging trends and original analysis on the retail industry. It also offers the “Daily Dive”—a free daily newsletter that covers technology, ecommerce, marketing, and holiday-related retail news.
