Lovesac, known for its large, foamy beanbag chairs, is elevating its super comfy set of offerings by adding nearly 25,000 crystals to at least some of them for its 25th anniversary. Yep, 25,000!

The furniture company struck up a collaboration with Swarovski, which gets the credit for the shiny crystals that come embedded on a limited-edition set of one Squattoman and one MovieSac. The 25 sacs (we told you they were limited) are currently available both online and in stores for a whopping $10,000.

While a handful of the bedazzled beanbags have already been sold, more are up for grabs (while supplies last) for the remainder of Lovesac’s 25th year. “It really is a collectors’ item, and something—who knows?—25 years from now [that] might be quite valuable,” Shawn Nelson, Lovesac CEO and founder, told Retail Brew.

The brand has been in talks with Swarovski for a couple of years, and each Swarovski studded product was months in the making. In an exclusive chat with Retail Brew, Nelson spills the crystals…um, tea…on how the partnership came together and who the brand is targeting.

Keep reading here.—JS

Wanna keep customers comin’ back for more? Then you need to create an encore-worthy shopping experience—and Bluecore has the secrets of the trade.

They partnered with Lula and Georgia to help them scale their digital marketing efforts. Let’s just say, the results speak for themselves.

During their first year of working with Bluecore, Lulu and Georgia increased opted-in customers by 5%, boosted first-time buyers by 133%, and ramped up repeat purchases by 229%. Huge numbers.

How’d they do it? Bluecore focused on 3 main priorities:

• transforming casual visitors into subscribers
• inspiring new subscribers to make first purchases
• reducing the time it takes for customers to buy again

Start crushing your numbers. Read Bluecore’s press release.

Historically, even grown children with their own homes and 401ks have been apt to hide their cannabis stashes from their parents, out of habit from their high school days or just not wanting to upset them.

But today—when cannabis is legal for recreational use in more than 20 states and the retail stores selling it are thriving—much of the stigma of the Reefer Madness era has gone up in smoke.

An indicator of just how normalized partaking has become is playing out this month. For Father’s Day, consumers are being urged to eschew such mainstay gifts as ties and golf balls and to instead give paterfamilias a gift he’ll never remember.

“It’s not like every dad wants power tools and beer,” declares a promotional page with Father’s Day gift suggestions on DankStop, an online store that sells smoking accouterments. “Some are hitting their bubbler or bong from their college days.”

Among the offerings DankStop suggests to upgrade Dad’s dorm-room pipe is a $205 bong from Marley Natural with walnut wood accents.

DankStop also suggests a greeting card that declares “Dads are Dope,” which includes two bands at the top to add a pre-rolled joint and a book of matches, made by KushKards ($10.50).

“The best Dads smoke Dope!” the card’s product description enthuses. “The ‘Dope Dad’ Cannabis Greeting Card is for the stoner fathers who enjoy the green.”

Cannabis, it seems, has come full circle, from something you hide from parents to something you share with them.

Keep reading here.—AAN

Shopping online for clothes? We know you’re crossing your fingers that you won’t have to send those jeans back, but the reality is that a quarter of online apparel purchases are returned. That's $38 billion merchants have to refund every year, plus $25 billion in processing costs, according to recent data from Coresight Research. Not to mention the headache for you when the jeans don’t fit.

On Wednesday, Google introduced a new shopping feature to close at least one of the gaps—virtual try-on for women’s tops, powered by AI. Shoppers can use the tool to see how an item looks on a range of models with different skin tones, body shapes, ethnicities, and even hairstyles.

Google is working with brands including Anthropologie, Everlane, H&M, and Loft. Starting with an image of a product, its generative AI model shows how it will drape, fold, cling, and stretch on 80 models ranging from size XXS to 4XL. The goal is to represent a wide range of body types in the shopping process and cut down on the number of dissatisfied customers, and ultimately returns.

Keep reading here.—KM

Today’s top retail reads.

Slim pickings: Food service workers are harder to come by these days, which is why packaged-food companies are stepping in to fill the gaps. Companies like Hormel Foods, Post, and General Mills are leaning more into their food service sales to reach customers in Minnesota. (Star-Tribune)

Right on time: The good news is deliveries are getting faster as retailers have moved their distribution centers closer to consumers. The bad news? This might not be able to last. (Retail Dive)

Gimme dat: Even as consumers cut back on discretionary spending, international apparel brands are making moves to get in on US retail real estate. (Modern Retail)

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The numbers you need to know.

We’ve covered it before: Consumers want the brands they shop to align with their values. But what should brands do when those values clash with those who disagree?

The answer is complicated: Almost three in five shoppers (58%) believe corporations should be neutral on political issues, while 52% say the same of social issues, according to the latest Ipsos Consumer Tracker.

• And if you weren’t aware there’s a major divide on these issues, 48% say they are less likely to buy from a company that has opposing political views, and 52% say the same on social issues.

This year’s Pride month has been a bit of a debacle for corporations. While they’ve faced major pushack through protests targeting Bud Light and Target, some in the LGBTQ+ community have expressed that the month has become too corporate.

• Just over 2 in 5 Americans said too many businesses claim to celebrate Pride, and 44% said the same for Juneteenth “without committing to real change,” per Ipsos.
• But 53% believe corporations need to stand by their stances even in the face of backlash, as opposed to 15% who disagree.