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Hello, it’s Thursday, and sadly, H&M has become the latest among many fashion retailers to be impacted by slowed consumer spending and high costs. Shares of the retailer fell 8% after it missed its earnings margin target for the year. Here’s hoping spending and profits are in fashion in 2025.
In today’s edition:
—Vidhi Choudhary, Natasha Piñon
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Thepalmer/Getty Images
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When Walmart says it will kick off this holiday shopping season “earlier than ever” to give customers more time to prepare, it’s almost like a warning from the largest retailer in the country.
The holidays aren’t going to be an easy ride for retailers this year, and preparation will be key as the window between Thanksgiving and Christmas is five days shorter than last year, and both holidays fall on a weekday.
The perfect storm: Bain & Company’s holiday forecast predicts 3% growth in retail sales this year. E-commerce sales are expected to rise at a 9.5% clip, which will add to shipping volumes. UPS has said it expects “the highest volume ever in our network” on Dec. 18, according to Supply Chain Dive. All of this suggests deliveries could be under strain with fewer days to deliver in time for Christmas.
The shorter holiday season could impact everything from marketing strategies to discounting for retailers. However, on-time deliveries are in many ways the North Star metric for companies to gauge success. Logistics experts told us retailers will rely more on technology, look for ways to ship on Sundays, and push to deliver goods ahead of the peak season.
Keep reading here.—VC
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As Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) inch closer and closer, it’s not just stockings that are set to be filled to the brim. Inboxes will also be hit with an influx of their own.
How does a brand avoid getting lost in the pile? With Klaviyo’s all-in-one marketing platform. Ensure you’re reaching customers where and when they actually *want* to hear from you.
For a head start, check out Klaviyo’s guide, 10 Omnichannel Tactics Proven to Drive BFCM Sales. Learn all about:
- smarter segmentation strategies
- sign-up form optimization that fosters list growth
- building an impactful post-purchase journey
Reach your peeps when it counts. Start with Klaviyo’s guide.
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Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images
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Amazon wants to do for the supply chain what it did for fulfillment.
At its seller conference last week, the tech giant announced a fully automated supply chain solution for merchants.
Amazon is betting that sellers will use its logistics services like Amazon Warehousing and Distribution (AWD) centers, Fulfillment by Amazon, and Multi-Channel Distribution to deliver orders beyond Amazon. In short, Amazon is taking steps to open up its supply chain to deliver orders placed on other platforms. While these paid features have been available to brands selling on the platform piecemeal, this year, Amazon is integrating everything under one dashboard.
Sellers just need to feed in product details and pickup locations and Amazon “oversees” the rest—from carrier pickup to inventory consolidation to finding fulfillment centers closest to the client, wrote Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon’s VP of worldwide selling partner services, in a company blog post.
“It’s as easy as pushing a button,” Mehta said.
Keep reading here.—VC
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Francis Scialabba
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It’s like a CFO’s fever dream.
Picture it now: You’re settling in to the first day on the job—shaking hands, learning names. Suddenly, a horrific twist. It’s earnings day—and you’re about to lead the earnings call, analyst questions and all, and you might not even know where the water cooler is yet.
For Emily Reuter, Instacart’s CFO, that hypothetical nightmare came to life this May.
Her first day in the CFO seat was also the same day the grocery delivery company reported Q1 2024 earnings. Don’t worry: She lived to tell the tale.
Keep reading here on CFO Brew.—NP
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TOGETHER WITH ADVERTISING WEEK
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Celebrate 20 years of Advertising Week. Join Advertising Week this October 7–10 for #AWNewYork24. Wander through zones and lounges curated to host all things entertainment, leadership, and trends. You’ll network with 17,000+ peers and experience a program featuring 28 content tracks, 1,200+ speakers, and 500+ sessions—and that’s just for starters. Register here.
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Today’s top retail reads.
Discount king: How an antitrust trial revealed just how deeply Michael Kors has embraced discounting. (the Wall Street Journal)
Risqué business: Why Grubhub-owner Just Eat Takeaway will now be delivering sex toys. (CNBC)
Same old, same old: Some trendy beauty brands are exploring old-school, offline means of marketing to boost brand awareness. (Business of Fashion)
Better, faster, stronger: That’s how you want to reach your audience this Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Don’t plop your brand voice into already overflowing inboxes—use Klaviyo’s guide to leverage proven omnichannel tactics instead.* *A message from our sponsor.
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Forget generic job searches. CollabWORK leverages the power of community to connect you with relevant opportunities in Slack channels, Discord servers, and newsletters like Retail Brew. Land your dream job through the power of your network with CollabWORK.
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The numbers you need to know.
A new study by logistics company Ryder System Inc. reveals what retail experts have been reminding brands all along: Omnichannel is the way to go.
The study titled “The Influence of Omnichannel Excellence on Consumer Behavior” found that 61% of consumers shopped in-store mainly because they actually enjoyed the experience, including being able to try items on and compare products.
- Meanwhile, 35% said they preferred in-store shopping because they didn’t want to wait for their e-commerce orders to arrive in the mail.
As always, there were of course some products customers just prefer buying in stores, like apparel and cosmetics.
- The study found 41% of cosmetics shoppers said they either like buying them at a physical store or a department/convenience store.
- As for apparel, 54% said they like buying products in the same physical locations.
And to whoever said brick and mortar is dead, the irony is shoppers even preferred physical stores for their online returns.
- The study found 55% of the 1,306 US shoppers surveyed said they preferred returning online purchases in stores, while 40% said they end up buying additional items when picking up or returning online purchases.
This does not mean online or mobile are not important but instead, they seem to complement each other: 77% of shoppers said they searched for products on their mobile devices while they were in-store, while 69% compared the prices of the items with nearby stores, and 58% checked for availability at other stores.
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