MARKETING

Nissin Foods/Cup Noodles

For a limited-time Halloween flavor, Cup Noodles recently introduced the blood-red soup Vampire Noodles and to promote it partnered with an unexpected choice for a lighthearted collab: Titan Casket.

The Cup Noodles x Titan Casket Vampire Noodles Casket is maroon with the Cup Noodles logo and blood drops adorning the lid. Embroidered on the black crushed velvet interior: “It’s to die for.” Along with being listed on Titan’s website for $3,999, Cup Noodles promoted what it called a “dead giveaway” on Instagram. The Nissin Foods brand filled the casket with cups of soup, and the first person to guess correctly how many would win it (or could opt for a plan-ahead contract for another casket).

“The partnership with Titan Casket [helped] us create a Halloween moment that felt both memorable and conversation-worthy,” Priscila Stanton, SVP of marketing for Nissin Foods USA, said in a statement to Retail Brew.

It’s not the first collab for Titan, which earlier this year teamed up with Supreme to produce red caskets with the streetwear brand’s logo on their lids and leopard print interiors.

Keep reading here.—AAN

      

Sponsored By WooCommerce

There’s no default way to pay. How people choose to pay depends on where they live, what they’re buying, their device, and even their age.

WooCommerce and Stripe surveyed over 1.4k shoppers across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific to learn about how payments affect their shopping habits. Here’s a sneak peek at what they found:

• Three in four buyers have abandoned a cart, and 63% of them blamed checkout or payment issues.
• 59% of buyers shopped internationally in the past year, and 80% reported that having their preferred way to pay mattered while shopping.
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• Younger customers’ expectations will soon become the standard.

Download the report to learn how brands can keep up.

E-COMMERCE

Vidhi Choudhary

TikTok Shop expects this holiday season to be bigger and better than ever after big names like Sephora and Best Buy started selling on the platform.

TikTok Shop’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday holiday campaign will run from Nov. 11 to Nov. 30, Patrick Nommensen, the marketplace’s president for strategic initiatives, announced at its New York event last week.

Nommensen is pitching TikTok Shop as the place where holiday shopping lists are not only inspired, but eventually purchased. He said hashtags like #holidayshopping rose 263% in September, adding that shoppers on TikTok are looking for ideas for “what to buy, what to gift, what to wear, and what to cook this holiday season.”

“We’re seeing that lots of shoppers are coming to TikTok Shop not just to shop, but really to figure out what should be on that holiday shopping list,” Nommensen said.

The shopping arm of TikTok, which launched in the US in 2023, is in transition as the platform goes after established brand names in the hopes of being seen more as a rival to Amazon than to cheaper alternatives like Temu or Shein.

Keep reading here.—VC

      

Sponsored By NRF

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COMMUNITY

Kimberley Walker

On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Kimberley Walker leads brand partnerships for Hike, an Amazon marketing agency.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? My role at Hike centers on building and growing our brand partnerships. I connect with brands looking to launch, scale, or strengthen their Amazon business in the US, UK, EU or Japan, via attending trade shows and industry events. My focus is to understand what a brands’ priorities are, their needs and goals, so as to ensure they are set up for partnership and growth success! I’m also an ongoing resource for our existing brand partners, helping shape strategies for long-term sustainable growth. Those conversations operate within the Amazon ecosystem (purchasing, assortment planning, inventory management, etc.), however, they often also extend beyond Amazon. This can be overall brand consulting, assortment roadmapping, new distribution introductions (e.g. Walmart) or preparing materials for launching into new doors. We are the go-to crew for e-commerce expertise and expansion.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? For someone whose work primarily focuses on e-commerce, I spend a fair amount of time following what’s happening outside of e-comm platforms, reading up on wider retail news. Big store openings, brand acquisitions, or a shift in tariffs can influence a brand’s priorities at any point in time. Understanding their wider world helps me recognize when to push an opportunity or investment, when to rethink it, and when timing simply isn’t right to make drastic changes regarding certain product or marketing opportunities online.

Keep reading here.—EC

      

From Express Checkout

Now check this out. We’ve got a must-read newsletter for CPG and retail pros + curious consumers alike. Express Checkout just joined Morning Brew Inc. to bring you the latest trends, news, and insider perspectives on the world of consumer packaged goods, e-commerce, and more.

Subscribe to explore where your cart meets culture.

Retail Brew

Shoppers aren’t just buying gifts this season. They’re stocking the pantry and watching the budget. Join Retail Brew on Oct. 29 to hear how CPG brands can reach them the moment seasonal intent forms and keep the momentum going past December. Register now.

swapping skus

Today’s top retail reads.

Members only: Walmart introduced a joint membership with its club chain Sam’s Club, combining a membership for Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus for $120 a year. (CNBC)

Hire calling: Amazon plans to hire more than 300,000 seasonal workers—20% more than it did last holiday season. (Bloomberg)

Run for its money: Adidas delivered a strong third quarter thanks to tariff refunds and a 9% YoY jump in revenue. (the Wall Street Journal)

^{*A message from our sponsor.}

Illustration: Francis Scialabba, Photo: Issarawat Tattong/Getty Images

Peers, creators, and live audiences have replaced the sales pitch. This deep dive covers how new behaviors are rewriting the path to purchase and what brands need to do to keep up.