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Target names its first chief AI officer in retail AI push. Target announced on Tuesday that it has appointed Chandhu Nair as its first chief artificial intelligence officer and senior vice president, a newly created role the retailer said is designed to coordinate its growing investment in generative AI across inventory management, customer experience, and internal decision-making. News summary. * Target appointed Chandhu Nair as its first chief AI officer and senior vice president, effective August 24, 2026. * Nair previously served as senior vice president of stores, data, AI, and innovation at Lowe's, and has held roles at Staples and Gap. * Target also named Purvi Shah as senior vice president of user experience. * The retailer has deployed generative AI tools including Target Trend Brain for trend forecasting and a conversational AI program for holiday gift recommendations. * The appointment follows similar AI investments by rivals Walmart, Gap, and Best Buy, and arrives as the retail industry races to integrate artificial intelligence into operations. The company also named Purvi Shah as senior vice president of user experience. Both appointments are effective August 24, according to a company statement. Nair's mandate. Nair joins Target from Lowe's, where he led the company's AI transformation office, data and analytics practice, and AI products and platforms teams. He also oversaw Lowe's Innovation Labs and was responsible for technology enabling marketing, media, personalization, and loyalty experiences, according to his professional biography. Before Lowe's, he held roles at Staples and Gap. In a statement, Nair said his focus would be a "more coordinated approach" to AI at Target, including improving inventory management and enabling faster business decisions. "The most meaningful AI stories won't be about what happens in a lab," he said. "They'll be about what happens on the front line, how we make shopping easier for a guest, give a team member a better tool, make a business decision with more confidence or bring a new idea to market faster." Target's existing AI tools. The appointment formalizes AI leadership at a company that has already begun deploying generative AI tools. Target Trend Brain, an internal system the retailer has discussed publicly, is designed to help buyers anticipate trends by identifying the styles, colors, and materials customers are likely to search for in upcoming seasons. During the most recent holiday season, Target launched a conversational AI program intended to help shoppers find gifts by guiding them through a dialogue about the recipient's interests and preferences. The company has not disclosed usage metrics or revenue impact for either tool. You Might Be Interested In Retail industry races to adopt AI. Target's move arrives as major retailers accelerate their AI investments. Walmart has been rolling out AI tools and agents across its stores and supply chains to improve customer experience and internal efficiency. Gap announced a partnership with Google's Gemini earlier this year. Best Buy has established collaborations with both OpenAI and Google. The competitive pressure extends to the executive suite. Former Walmart CEO Doug McMillon told CNBC's "Squawk Box" in December that he decided to retire and hand leadership to John Furner, who became chief executive on February 1, 2026, in part because he believed the next phase of retail would be defined by agentic commerce and AI-driven shopping. "About a year ago, I really started feeling like this next run, you could see what agentic commerce was going to look like, the vision for AI shopping, and I started thinking about everything that needs to happen over the next few years, and it really caused me to think that now was the right time [to step down]," McMillon said at the time. Target has struggled to win back shoppers and investors in recent quarters, though the company did not explicitly link the new AI leadership to any specific financial recovery plan. The retailer said Nair would report to chief information officer Brett Craig and would be based at its Minneapolis headquarters. You Might Be Interested In

Grocery Outlet results: is the discount supermarket heading for another shock? 12th August 2026 Grocery Outlet reports its second-quarter 2026 results after the market closes today - and the numbers could reveal whether the struggling discount retailer is finally turning the corner or heading into another difficult period. This is not a routine earnings announcement. Grocery Outlet is coming into the results under pressure after a difficult start to the year. In the first quarter, sales increased 3.6% to about $1.17 billion, but the company recorded a huge goodwill impairment and announced plans to close 36 underperforming stores. The retailer itself acknowledged that performance was not where it needed to be. Now Wall Street is waiting to see whether the second quarter provides evidence of a recovery. What International Supermarket News expect. The current consensus points to second-quarter revenue of approximately $1.17 billion, slightly below the same period last year, with expected adjusted earnings of around 13 cents per share. Its forecast is more cautious. International Supermarket News expect revenue to come in around $1.15 billion to $1.18 billion, with comparable-store sales remaining under pressure. The biggest number to watch may not be revenue. It will be same-store sales and management's comments about the 36 stores being closed. The discount model is being tested. Grocery Outlet built its reputation on a simple proposition: customers can find branded and private-label products at significantly reduced prices. That model should be attractive when consumers are worried about household budgets. But the company is facing a new problem. Traditional supermarkets have become much more aggressive on price. Walmart, Aldi, Lidl and other value-focused retailers are competing heavily for price-conscious shoppers. That means Grocery Outlet can no longer rely simply on being perceived as the cheap option. It has to give shoppers a reason to visit its stores. 36 stores are the warning sign. The decision to close 36 stores is arguably the most important background to today's announcement. A retailer does not close dozens of locations because everything is going well. The closures show that management is willing to sacrifice store count in an attempt to improve the quality of the remaining estate. That could ultimately be positive. But in the short term, it creates a difficult question: How much sales growth is being lost while the company cleans up its store network? Its biggest concern: margins. Revenue could remain relatively stable while profitability deteriorates. That is the danger. If Grocery Outlet is forced to use deeper discounts to attract shoppers, sales may hold up while margins come under additional pressure. And if costs remain elevated, the company could find itself selling more but making less. That would be a particularly bad outcome. The surprise could come from management. The most interesting part of tonight's announcement may actually come after the numbers. Investors will want to know whether management is seeing improvement in customer traffic, basket size and comparable sales. They will also want a clearer picture of what happens after the 36-store closures. If management says the remaining stores are performing better and customer trends are improving, the market could view the restructuring as evidence that the turnaround is beginning. If management cuts its outlook again, the reaction could be much harsher. Its forecast. ISN forecast: a mixed quarter, with revenue roughly flat to slightly down, continuing pressure on comparable-store sales and margins, but early signs that the store-closure programme could improve the business later in the year. International Supermarket News do not expect today's results to reveal a dramatic turnaround. The more likely scenario is a company still in repair mode. But there is one number that could change the story completely: comparable-store sales. If Grocery Outlet manages to show meaningful improvement there, investors may begin to believe that the discount chain has finally stabilised. If not, today's results could reinforce the view that the retailer's problems are deeper than simply having too many underperforming stores. Tonight's announcement is therefore less about how much Grocery Outlet sold - and more about whether customers are coming back. Discover more

Kids' personal care expansion targets a growing retail opportunity. Contributed by Ty Griffin Baby-products company Frida is expanding into personal care products for children ages 6 to 11, introducing body wash, deodorant, electric flossers and other items priced from $6.99 to $19.99. The Frida for Kids collection will be available through Walmart and Amazon as the company follows its original customers into a new stage of childhood. The launch coincides with Walmart's development of a dedicated kids' care aisle designed to bridge the gap between baby and adult products. Frida sees an opportunity to address a fragmented market while building loyalty among Generation Alpha consumers, with the global kids' personal care category projected to grow as retailers devote more attention and shelf space to younger shoppers. Market Reaction * Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ: WMT): $112.50, down $0.16 (0.14%) * Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): $273.25, down $4.84 (1.74%) * Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG): $144.52, down $1.92 (1.31%) * Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL): $92.24, down $0.91 (0.98%) * Unilever PLC (NYSE: UL): $62.32, down $0.53 (0.84%) Investor Sentiment Frida's expansion highlights the potential for established retailers and consumer-products companies to capture spending from parents seeking age-appropriate personal care products. Dedicated merchandising, accessible pricing and products designed specifically for younger children could help transform a fragmented category into a more meaningful source of growth. Investors will monitor whether demand from Generation Alpha encourages larger personal care companies to introduce additional child-focused products or acquire emerging brands. While all five related stocks declined during the session, the longer-term opportunity will depend on whether companies can build early brand loyalty without relying on short-lived beauty and wellness trends. NOTE TO INVESTORS: IBN is a multifaceted financial news, content creation and publishing company utilized by both public and private companies to optimize investor awareness and recognition. For more information, please visit https://www.InvestorBrandNetwork.com Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the InvestorBrandNetwork website applicable to all content provided by IBN, wherever published or re-published: http://IBN.fm/Disclaimer Corporate Communications