Sales of air fryers boomed during the pandemic, and today, frozen food brands are developing products specifically for the device, while social media influencers outdo themselves finding more to cook in it. This is Part 3 of a series.

If there’s a bar and bat mitzvah moment for a food appliance, a time when it puts away childish things and crosses the threshold to adulthood, it’s when established food brands go to the trouble and expense of including the device in the precious real estate of on-package cooking instructions.

So it’s time to hire a DJ and caterer and say mazel tov…because the air fryer isn’t sitting at the kids’ table any longer.

Major frozen food brands, from Hot Pockets to Gorton’s Seafood, are, in every sense, warming up to the air fryer. Along with including the device in cooking instructions, they’re partnering with air fryer brands and air fryer influencers.

Ciera Womack, director of marketing at Rich Products Corporation, which includes SeaPak, the battered and breaded fish brand, said that since “before Covid,” the company took note of air fryers.

“We started watching it as soon as it made its way into the market and we were like, ‘This isn’t going away,’” Womack told Retail Brew. “This is probably your new microwave—everybody’s got one.”

Keep reading here.—AAN

Social media is the land of business opportunity. And with the right strategy, selling directly through your social accounts can make a major difference in your bottom line.

According to LinkedIn, 78% of brands that use social outsell their offline peers. So if you wanna be on the right side of that stat, check out Square’s guide to social selling.

Part 1 of the guide: strategy. There are a lot of ways to sell across social media—social media marketing, social commerce, social selling. Square outlines how to incorporate these tactics into your social strategy so you can easily streamline your efforts.

From there, Square outlines 6 key tips (with context) to help you tee up your brand’s social selling. They cover insights to look at, reliable tools to leverage, and much more.

Grab the guide and grow your social selling strategy.

Two of the largest big-box retailers reported their earnings last week, but the current macroeconomic environment leaves one in a slightly better position than the other.

Walmart’s sales rose almost 8% in Q1 on the back of its grocery and online sectors, while inflation continues to shepherd customers toward cheaper options. Target’s sales only grew 0.5% in Q1 and further diminished in March and April.

Both retailers acknowledged inflation is still greatly affecting consumer behavior. The difference is Walmart more heavily relies on grocery, whereas Target’s bread and butter is discretionary spending.

Keep reading here.—KM

We know everyone is eagerly awaiting the unofficial start of summer, but there’s plenty to look forward to in the retail world before we get to the three-day weekend. Here’s a quick snapshot.

In events: Today marks the start of the Sweets and Snacks Expo in Chicago, where thousands of confectionery and snack brands, manufacturers, and suppliers will congregate to display, discuss, and devour everything that’s happening in the industry.

On Tuesday, Global Design Forum will host a symposium called “The Future of Packaging” in New York City. The event, which is part of GDF’s Circular Design Series in partnership with SAP, will tackle how businesses can reach their sustainability goals.

In earnings: Lowe’s will reveal its Q1 earnings on Tuesday, and the signs aren’t positive. Zacks Equity Research says the company is expected to report a decline in year-over-year earnings based on lower revenues.

Keep reading here.—KM

Today’s top retail reads.

Kale-ing up: Sweetgreen’s quest to use robots to assemble its salads. (Bloomberg)

Swift current: How Taylor Swift concerts benefit local businesses. (Marketplace)

Riveting: Levi’s 501 jeans are turning 150. (CBS)

Shopping shifts: Ever heard of biometric scanning? This unique feature could soon become an advanced part of brick-and-mortar shopping’s future. Retail Brew covers the story, sponsored by Square.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

At the mall, it’s where band tees are the only tees. In Retail Brew, it’s where we invite readers to weigh in on a trending retail topic.

We’ve never had such near unanimity in a response to a question before, so let’s start with that this week.

Last week, we told you that consumers in self-checkout in airport shops and elsewhere increasingly are being prompted to add a 10%–20% tip, even for something like a bottle of water that they grabbed themselves without any assistance.

So we asked if you’d leave a tip in a self-checkout line, and we cannot tell you how relieved we are that our heads were not close enough for you to bite off. No less than 99.1% of you said no, you would not leave a tip in a self-checkout line where no one assisted you, while just 0.4% of you would leave a tip in a self-checkout line where no one assisted you and 0.4% of you did not know or weren’t sure.

This week’s question: A while back, we investigated why Trader Joe’s, unlike many supermarket chains, doesn’t deliver, and the company revisited the issue on a recent podcast. “It’s that experience of being inside the four walls of Trader Joe’s that makes Trader Joe’s what it is,” Tara Miller, VP of marketing at TJ’s, said on the podcast.

You tell us: Should Trader Joe’s offer delivery? Cast your vote here.

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• Forever 21 CEO Winnie Park on reinventing the brand for Gen Z and millennials
• Americans want helpful employees, stocked shelves, and some tech when shopping
• This diagnostic lab for pets has fashioned itself into a retail brand