SmartGifty Editorial Team - SmartGifty

The Pop-Up Playbook: Management Strategies for Experiential Retail Success

Expert series / By SmartGifty Editorial Team

In this issue, retail strategist, four-time author, and pop-up expert Ghalia Boustani takes us beyond the hype of temporary retail to reveal the operational engine behind successful brand activations. In The Pop-Up Playbook: Management Strategies for Experiential Retail Success, she argues that pop-ups have evolved from simple short-term marketing stunts into a critical, multi-billion-dollar strategic channel. …

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Spring cleaning your tech stack: Preparing for the phygital summer

General / By SmartGifty Editorial Team

As the weather warms up in May, consumer behavior shifts toward the outdoors and increased physical movement. This is the ideal moment for retailers to perform a “spring cleaning” of their technological infrastructure. The goal is to ensure that your digital gifting and loyalty programs are perfectly synchronized with your physical storefronts. This is the …

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Your Frontline Team Is Your Brand: Why Retailers Are Losing Customers Before the Sale Even Starts

Expert series / By SmartGifty Editorial Team

In this issue, Linda Johansen-James, CEO of International Retail Group, explores a critical blind spot in modern commerce: why brands are losing customers before a transaction even begins. Drawing on a career spent coaching over 54,000 employees, the retail industry veteran argues that a front line team isn’t just a step in the buyer’s journey—they …

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From Gold to Currency: Why Data Sharing is the Future of Physical Retail

Expert series / By SmartGifty Editorial Team

In this issue, Reinhard Winiwarter, Publisher of ACROSS Magazine and a veteran of European retail real estate, explores how customer insights have evolved into the industry’s most valuable asset. Drawing from his extensive career in center management and retail development, he examines thewidening data quality gap between retailers and property managers. Winiwarter argues that overcoming these …

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The Mother’s Day blueprint and the rise of the multi-tiered gifting season

General / By SmartGifty Editorial Team

May in many coutrnies is traditionally anchored by Mother’s Day, which remains one of the highest spending periods in the global retail calendar. However, for a sophisticated brand, May represents something much larger: the beginning of a multi tiered gifting season that stretches into early summer. Beyond the immediate rush for flowers and jewelry, there …

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The gifting lifecycle: Capturing the momentum of May for year round growth

General / By SmartGifty Editorial Team

May is is may countries often characterized in the retail world by a singular, intense focus on Mother’s Day. While this is undoubtedly a massive revenue driver, viewing May solely through the lens of one holiday is a missed opportunity for long term strategic growth. In reality, May is the launchpad for a complex gifting …

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Clicks, Bricks, and Heavy Lifts: Decoding the Divergent Retail Playbooks of Gymshark and Squat Wolf

Expert series / By SmartGifty Editorial Team

In this issue, Alex Andarakis, the Founder and Managing Director of Andarakis Advisory Services, explores the diverging retail strategies of Gymshark and Squat Wolf as they navigate the high-stakes transition from digitally native disruptors to physical retail powerhouses. While both brands achieved rapid scale through the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) model—leveraging influencer ecosystems and social media dominance—their shift into brick-and-mortar storefronts …

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The Croissant Economy: Why the Most Valuable Part of a Building Isn’t the Penthouse

General / By SmartGifty Editorial Team

In the modern real estate landscape, the most critical asset isn’t the square footage of the penthouse or the marble in the lobby. It’s the smell of sourdough and the line of people waiting for a flat white on the ground floor. We have entered the era of the Croissant Economy, where hospitality has shifted from …

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In the Age of AI, Human-Centered Mixed-Use Is the Only Real Estate That Matters

Expert series / By SmartGifty Editorial Team

In an era where algorithms predict our needs before we feel them, the physical spaces we inhabit are undergoing a radical transformation. As we navigate the complexities of the 2026 property market, a singular truth has emerged: a building’s “intelligence” is only as valuable as the human connection it fosters. In this insightful article, Gabriele Bertini—a veteran …

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