Lowe's has embarked on a "Total Home" strategy with the goal of growing market share by offering all of the solutions people need for every aspect of home improvement and decor. The mission comes as the pandemic has altered the way many think about their homes and a December survey revealed that 59% of consumers plan to spend some of their extra cash on home improvements.

Lowe's and Wayfair come from different parts of the retail world, but Lowe's President and CEO Marvin Ellison and Wayfair President and CEO Niraj Shah both talked about the importance of technology and strong foundations at Retail's Big Show. "It's like building a home," Ellison said. "You need a sound, solid foundation."

Suitsupply and Verizon have adopted strategies such as retail-by-appointment during the pandemic to both keep shoppers and employees safe and further personalize the shopping experience, executives from both companies told attendees at Retail's Big Show. Suitsupply made store improvements to enhance the experience when in-person shopping returns and made stylists available in virtual channels in the meantime, CEO Fokke De Jong said.

Holiday season retail sales were up 8.3% in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, according to a report from NRF, which in November forecast an increase of between 3.6% and 5.2%. "Faced with rising transmission of the virus, state restrictions on retailers and heightened political and economic uncertainty, consumers chose to spend on gifts that lifted the spirits of their families and friends and provided a sense of normalcy given the challenging year," NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said.

Petco raised $864 million in its public stock offering Thursday and shares of the newly renamed Petco Health and Wellness Co. rose 63% in the first day of trading. The pet products retailer has about 1,500 stores in the US, Mexico and Puerto Rico, and this week's IPO took it public for the second time since its 1965 founding.

Instacart will offer its full-service shoppers a $25 stipend if they miss a shift to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Dollar General has also announced this week that it will give front-line employees four hours of paid time off so they can get the vaccine, and the company is working on a similar program for its distribution and transportation workers.

Existing technology helped some retailers pivot quickly to meet changing shopper needs, Scandit co-founder Christian Floerkemeier said during a session at NRF 2021: Retail's Big Show -- Chapter 1. Target's Shipt service was already using Scandit's mobile scanning tech, and the partnership allowed the service to get more than 40,000 new shoppers on board in eight weeks, Floerkemeier said.

Buy online, pick up in store options have surged in popularity, but 62% of consumers reported less-than-great experiences with BOPIS, according to a GreyOrange survey released at NRF 2021: Retail's Big Show -- Chapter 1. While most of the more than 2,000 global shoppers surveyed reported switching to online shopping channels during the pandemic, upwards of 50% plan to return to pre-pandemic shopping habits when it's safe.

NRF CEO Matthew Shay and Jamie Dimon, chairman of the board and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, pondered what it meant for business and political leaders to be involved in civil discourse at NRF 2021: Retail's Big Show -- Chapter 1. Shay and Dimon agreed that recent events have exacerbated economic divides in the nation and the best strategy moving forward is to keep talking, keep collaborating and keep working. Read more.

NRF 2021: Retail's Big Show -- Chapter 1 features more than 330 speakers. Source: NRF.

A session at NRF 2021: Retail's Big Show -- Chapter 1, "Luxury Goes Digital: Understand how Alibaba and Moschino are Driving New Innovations," explored the Tmall Luxury Pavilion platform and what we can learn from luxury consumers. Chinese luxury consumers in particular typically bought and interacted with brands while traveling. COVID-19, however, has shifted focus. As these consumers shop from home, there's continued room for digital luxury growth. Read more.

Employees ranked In-N-Out as the third-best place to work in the US, according to the latest survey from Glassdoor. Two other restaurant chains, LongHorn Steakhouse and Raising Cane's, also made the Top 100.

In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the US, SmartBrief will not publish Monday. Publication will resume Tuesday.