This Week in Retail: SNAP benefits, McDonald’s reports earnings

Halloween is behind us, and while this should mark the start of the holiday shopping season, many Americans are facing economic uncertainty around how they will pay for their food this week. Over the weekend, the US Department of Agriculture froze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), leaving 42 million Americans in danger of losing the benefit if the federal government doesn’t tap into contingency funds to pay for the program.

Here’s what else is going on in retail this week:

In earnings: A handful of Q3 earnings are coming out this week. First up today is Simon Property Group. The mall operator is coming off a strong Q2, when a tight market for rental properties allowed the mall operator to hike rental rates. Next up is Shopify on Tuesday. The e-commerce platform is also coming off a successful Q2, when it achieved 31% revenue growth. And lastly, McDonald’s is reporting on Wednesday. The fast food chain saw a healthy rebound in same-store sales, which jumped 3.8%, in Q2, but CEO Chris Kempczinski still expressed concern about the resilience of its low-income customer base

In industry gatherings: Glossy is hosting its Beauty x Wellness Summit in Newport Beach, California, from Monday through Wednesday. The event will bring together industry leaders to discuss the slowdown in the beauty category, the growing strength of the wellness category, and new challenges and opportunities from tariffs and artificial intelligence.

In new research: IEEE, a professional association for technology workers, just released the results of its “Impact of Technology in 2026 and Beyond” study. The survey covers how AI will impact the retail industry in 2026, AI’s role in enabling warehouse automation efficiencies, and an overview of market adoption trends for agentic AI.