Retail & Ecommerce

Shoppers are least likely to trade down in the baby, pet care, and beauty categories: On the surface that’s good news for Chewy and P&G, but consumers are cutting back in other ways.

Consumers pull back on wine and spirits: Constellation Brands lowers its outlook as it expects a 4% to 6% decline in sales of brands like Kim Crawford, Robert Mondavi, and Svedka.

Instagram brings brands into the group chat: Channels feature offers brands a more intimate way to engage, but conversion success is uncertain.

Gen Z shoppers embrace Temu, Shein, and TikTok Shop: 1 in 4 makes a purchase at a Chinese online marketplace at least once a week, as their array of cheap, trendy goods proves impossible for the price-sensitive cohort to resist.

Amazon received 236.9 million unique US visitors in June 2024, according to Comscore. It far exceeded Walmart in second with 137.2 million unique visitors.

In August, brands got physical, with Olipop entering a new stadium, Nordstrom inking a deal with Rihanna, and Walmart growing with nonendemic retail media opportunities. Others took a more digital approach, making shopping more seamless on social media sites and AI-powered search. Here are the moves that made our analysts name eight brands to our unofficial most interesting list in August. 

Retail is largely unprepared for a TikTok ban: While 96% of merchants are aware of the potential disruption, only 28% have a specific contingency plan.

There’s far more uncertainty than usual this holiday season: A high-stakes US presidential election and a potential port strike are two factors that could throw retailers for a loop.

Halloween does the trick to drive sales: The majority of consumers plan to spend more than $50 on decorations and nearly half expect to spend that amount on candy.

A strong digital presence drove Nordstrom Rack's Q2 growth, while Crocs hopes to revitalize its HEYDUDE brand by focusing on a younger, female audience. Holliseter is leveraging back-to-school promotions and targeted marketing initiatives to reintroduce the brand to younger consumers.

Instagram shoppers and millennials are top spenders. TikTok shoppers buy most frequently. Gen Z has mixed habits on Facebook and Pinterest.

Affirm Card once again propelled the fintech’s growth. Affirm predicts rate cuts will give it an added boost

The one-click checkout experience is setting itself up for growth thanks to big-name partnerships like this one

Victoria Beckham sales defy luxury slowdown: The fashion and beauty brand reported a third consecutive year of double-digit growth after making strategic pivots and injecting millions into the business.

Macroeconomic headwinds drive shoppers to hunt for a deal: Off-price retailers like Nordstrom Rack, Burlington, and TJX are thriving amid the current climate.

Lower-income consumers feel pinched: That’s a challenge for Dollar General given that about 60% of its sales come from households earning less than $35,000 per year.

Best Buy’s comparable tablet and computing sales grew 6% in Q2: That’s a promising sign for the retailer, which has looked to AI-powered PCs and other technology, to help turn its fortunes around.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of the most interesting retailers for the month of August. Each month, our analysts Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Sara Lebow (aka The Committee) put together a very unofficial list of the top eight retailers they're watching based on which are making the most interesting moves: Who's launching new initiatives? Which partnerships are moving the needle? Which standout marketing campaigns are being created? In this month's episode, Committee members Arielle Feger and Sara Lebow will defend their list against analysts Blake Droesch and Sarah Marzano, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.

Retailers rank return fraud high on their list of challenges: Tactics like wardrobing are gaining popularity, forcing companies to tighten return policies at the risk of alienating honest shoppers.

Walmart enhanced its online marketplace with new capabilities and seller solutions, the retailer announced at its annual Walmart Marketplace Seller Summit this week. Updates include the addition of premium beauty products, expanded fulfillment services, and revamped seller solutions.