High real estate prices lead homeowners to invest in home improvements: Lowe’s and Home Depot continue to see strong demand from both DIYers and professionals.
This should be off-price retail’s moment: But TJX Maxx and Marshall’s reported declining sales and store visits in Q2 as inflation curbed demand for discount goods.
Meta doubles down on Reels: The tech giant is looking to spur more engagement across both of its social platforms.
The ROI is real; the influencers aren’t: Retailer Pacsun and Capital Records are two of many companies seeing benefits to working with virtual personalities.
Crypto TV ads are nowhere to be found: The category’’s downturn doesn’t bode well for US linear TV advertising, which was already on the decline.
AtoB, Super Payments, and Pomelo each recently raised funding to build out their businesses.
July spending figures confirm the advertising downturn: The industry is pulling back from pandemic-era highs, and everyone is feeling the impact.
On today's episode, we discuss teens' social media behavior, how brands are pivoting their messaging to reflect consumer concerns, how best to reduce returns, whether Airbnb is in full recovery, how department stores are going local, an unpopular opinion about paid time off, what the least affordable housing markets in the world are, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our vice president of Briefings Stephanie Taglianetti and analysts Suzy Davidkhanian and Evelyn Mitchell.
US back-to-college retail spending will reach a new high of $73.9 billion this year, beating last year’s record of $71.0 billion and eclipsing the pre-pandemic figure of $54.5 billion in 2019.
The cost of school supplies is weighing heavily on US parents. Between May and June, 40% of those planning to do back-to-school shopping considered it a significant concern in their budget, compared with 30% last August. Meanwhile, 19% said they could not afford it, up from 14%.
China’s COVID-19 shutdowns hit high-end retailers hard: Tapestry and Estée Lauder are the latest companies to feel the brunt of a weakening Chinese economy.
TikTok announced new Shopping Ads this week in an effort to streamline in-app ecommerce.
Can Amazon make its mobile app more engaging? The retail giant is running a test in which it shows users a TikTok-style photo and video product feed that can be shared with other users.
The state of public EV charging leaves much to be desired: Why would consumers invest in EVs when there’s a dearth of working public chargers? A study shows reliable charging could be the biggest hurdle to future EV adoption.
Kohl’s doesn’t expect its fortunes to turn around anytime soon: The retailer slashed its financial forecast for the rest of the year, pointing to inflation as the cause for its softening sales.
Short list of EV winners: Only about 20 EV models qualify for tax credits. Trouble could be ahead for EV adoption as price-sensitive consumers have even fewer affordable options.
We unpack the potential for cheaper consumer health devices as the FDA makes hearing aids directly available.
China’s loss is Vietnam’s gain: Apple is diversifying production into Southeast Asia as US relations with China deteriorate. Confidence in Vietnam’s production scalability could accelerate the shift away from China.