Shoppers don’t just want snacks delivered ASAP. They need shampoo and deodorant in a pinch, too.

Enter: instant-delivery companies.

Beauty fits into what Adam Wacenske, US head of operations at Gorillas, calls an “Oh no, I’m out” situation. “You run out of shampoo or lotion or something, it’s not something you typically plan for,” he told Retail Brew. “The ability to have these things delivered relatively quickly…it sort of sets up nicely for a lot of beauty products.”

Gorillas, which already works with brands like Dove, Olay, and Aveeno, sees plenty more potential in the space. “We know that there’s demand for it, and we see it through a lot of our searches,” Wacenske said. “We know that we want to bolster this.”

So do other startups. Gopuff partnered with Coty in 2020 to drop off beauty fixes—like Sally Hansen’s Miracle Gel nail polish or Covergirl’s LashBlast mascara—in 30 minutes. FastAF now works with premium brands like Olaplex (hair) and Dr. Barbara Sturm (skin care) to get their goods to consumers—in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, for now—in under two hours.

• About a third (36%) of FastAF’s order composition is beauty, according to the company.

In the eye of the deliverer: Beauty products, like face wash and deodorant, are right up there with toothpaste and vitamins, the most popular items in personal care for Gorillas. John Mercer, head of global research at Coresight Research, told us “there’s probably a lot of potential” in that segment, “because it’s really just transferring from one grocery format to another.”

But the beauty of beauty is that it isn’t limited to lower-price points.

“A lot of these items are sort of luxury items, just by nature,” Wacenske said.

Click here to read more.—JS

Walk around New York City’s Lower East Side, and you’re bound to stroll past cannabis dispensaries of all sorts, even if you don’t realize it at first. Because while New York now allows personal possession of up to three ounces of cannabis for adults ages 21 and older, retail licenses are still in the works. So, selling it for recreational use is not exactly legal…yet.

Retail Brew spoke to a few dispensaries in the city to understand how they’re adapting to the shifting legal landscape of cannabis in New York.

Fresh legs: Out of his Lower East Side concept store, Bowery Showroom, 25-year-old Matthew Choon operates a second business, Potion. What started in 2018 as a millennial-focused CBD company selling gummies has since scaled up, introducing new products like prerolls, tinctures, and even topicals to its mix—and expanding into e-comm.

“Decriminalization of [cannabis] has definitely helped because now people are more open to it. We’re seeing a lot of older folks who are from older generations…who might have had more of a stigma toward it, they’re a lot more open to it,” Choon told us. “That also allows everybody else to start branding their own cannabis, and so we are able to now openly do activations at different properties around cannabis, versus in the past, you’d have to go to the underground pop-ups.”

Click here to read more.—KM, JS

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

Michele Vakiener’s life in retail started in print production at Delia*s—fittingly so, as it was the first mail-order catalog she had ever ordered from. A few roles later, Vakiener landed at New York & Company, focusing on window marketing. One eye-opening project, she told us, was helping create visuals for Happy x Nature, the retailer’s collection with Kate Hudson; the collab’s focus on sustainability extended to its marketing and introduced Vakiener to greener substrates and more eco-friendly production processes. Now, she brings that mindset to retailers like Gap and Macy’s, working as an account executive for sustainable green printing at Orora Visual.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? I help brands get their in-store and window marketing greener.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? We did a national launch for a new campaign, 400+ locations. It was huge and it went off flawlessly—not a single reship.

Name your favorite retail accounts to follow: Love beauty (@glossier), love the people behind the windows (@katekrabel), love sustainable (@rothys).

One trend that you’re excited about: The concept of “phygital”—using technology to marry the physical and digital within the store environment—has become a fun and exciting revolution to watch unfold…Customers are looking to have an experience in stores and online beyond scrolling.

Hands down, the best fast food restaurant chain is…Chipotle. #ExtraGuac4Life

Today’s top retail reads.

Fashion weak: Where are fashion’s Black CEOs? “We see this pyramid where you have high levels of Black and brown talent at entry levels, but it never gets to the top,” said Ayana Parsons, a senior client partner at business consultancy Korn Ferry. (Business of Fashion)

Buggin’ out: When will Americans get over the ick factor and start eating insects? (Quartz)

You say you want a resolution: How annual meetings are increasingly becoming battlefields over a brand’s stance on social and environmental issues. (The Economist)

Your future is social selling. Ambitious brands see the social-commerce wave on the rise. That’s why Flowspace and Digiday surveyed 100+ execs about their priorities and tactics for this exciting channel. Their new report, The State of Social Commerce, is a must-read. Get it here.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

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

• Anheuser-Busch InBev on its rapid-delivery success in Brazil
• Champs Sports opens a new experiential concept
• Breaking down alt-proteins’ 2021 by the numbers