Uber Eats looks to expand its customer base: It plans to begin accepting SNAP benefits next year, as well FSA Cards, Flex Cards, and relevant waiver payments.
Darden Restaurants calls out uneven dining demand: While the restaurant chain’s casual brands are thriving, fine-dining sales fell as customers trade down or avoid eating out.
The firm added new payment methods, a dynamic express checkout, and an A/B testing system
The Block CEO’s return to Square could include a crypto push
RFID technology makes Just Walk Out compatible with clothing and other softline shopping categories, opening it up to new use cases
Walmart is opening a pet services center: The move positions the retailer to grab a share of some of the most lucrative areas of the pet industry: health and other services.
WhatsApp continues its push to become an end-to-end shopping platform: The messaging app is rolling out new features to make it easier to purchase items and services via chat.
Key stat: 43% of US adults say discounts are the main reason they sign up for subscription services, per May data from SurveyMonkey.
On today's podcast episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss how younger Gen Z consumers are most likely to discover grocery products, whether this new wave of celebrity-backed brands is different from previous ones, and what social media's role in all of this is. Then, for "Pop-Up Rankings," we rank the four elements a celebrity- or creator-led consumer packaged goods (CPG) brand needs to succeed. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Blake Droesch and Carina Perkins.
Quick-commerce companies face shrinking valuations as investor interest cools: Jokr’s valuation fell nearly 40% in its latest funding round, while Getir’s could plunge by as much as 80%.
The second-largest employer in the US will hire 250,000 logistics workers, offering higher wages and bonuses despite sluggish retail and past layoffs.
Target moves quickly to grab a share of holiday sales: The struggling retailer’s Q4 push will begin with the launch of its Target Circle Days sale on October 1.
Ikea adds a BNPL option: Letting customers pay for products in four installments removes a barrier keeping them from buying furniture.
US business confidence in China plunges to record low: But companies like Starbucks and Lego remain bullish about long-term opportunities.
US ecommerce back-to-school and holiday growth trends are usually pretty similar, but this year, growth will diverge. US ecommerce back-to-school and holiday spending growth were within 1 percentage point of each other in both 2020 and 2021, and closer to 4 percentage points apart in 2022, during a holiday season impacted by inflation, supply chain issues, and geopolitical concerns. This year, we forecast a US back-to-school ecommerce growth rate of 1.5%, slower than our forecast 11.3% holiday retail ecommerce growth.
Amazon explores standalone subscriptions as Prime user growth slows: The retailer could roll out separate grocery and healthcare membership services as early as this year.
Google is bringing Bard AI to its suite of apps. The potential for adoption is huge and could minimize reliance on rival services like ChatGPT.
The number of US BNPL users has doubled since 2021, even though firms can’t fund rewards as richly as issuers do. But they do have retail connections.