Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know
Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.
On Tuesday, eBay is inaugurating a new holiday, Recommerce Day, with a “takeover” of its homepage. The e-commerce site will provide information about the benefits of re-commerce, the re-selling of previously owned goods, and offer deals on what it calls “pre-loved items.” The sales event and marketing campaign is just the latest effort to promote recommerce as a more environmentally friendly option for consumers—though we’ll have to wait and see if shoppers start marking their calendars.
Here’s what else is going on in retail this week:
In earnings: There’s a pile-on of earnings reports coming down the pike, starting with Lowe’s, Macy’s, and Urban Outfitters on Tuesday; Target, TJX Companies, and American Eagle on Wednesday; discounters Ross Stores, Dollar Tree, Burlington, and membership store BJ’s on Thursday; and then capping off the week, Big Lots on Friday.
Lowe’s, like rival Home Depot, has been struggling with a pull back in discretionary spending, while Target issued an uninspiring sales forecast for 2024 last quarter. Also, keep an eye on updates from discount chains reporting this week. From Big Lots’ recent opening of two Asian buying offices to Dollar Tree’s shuttering of hundreds of locations to Dollar General’s shedding of thousands of SKUs, retailers in the space are hardly treading water.
In conferences: Several big conferences are also taking place this week. In Boston, JPMorgan is hosting its annual Global Technology, Media, and Communications Conference, which last year touched on generative AI, payments technology, and other tech trends. Meanwhile, across town, MIT Technology Review is holding its “signature AI event,” which this year will focus on the implications of generative AI. Lastly, the annual Licensing Expo is taking place in Las Vegas throughout the week, bringing together owners of intellectual property and consumer goods manufacturers. Retail Brew recently touched on these crucial relationships in a story about how toy makers Hasbro and Mattel are increasingly outsourcing their IP to other manufacturers.
In corporate gatherings: On Wednesday, Amazon is holding its annual shareholder meeting, bringing investors together to vote on shareholder proposals that call on the e-commerce giant to look into or create reports about gender and racial pay disparity, customer due diligence, the sustainability of packaging materials, and warehouse working conditions. One proposal requests that the board charter a new committee to address the potential human rights risks of artificial intelligence. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently said the company plans to invest more heavily in AI. The board, for what it’s worth, is recommending that shareholders vote against these proposals.