What a year it’s been here at RetailWit!
A little over a year ago we started categorizing and tagging articles from our favorite news feeds in the retail industry, with the simple goal of making it easier for you to keep up to speed with the news that was relevant to you. As it stands today, we source articles from over 150 feeds and have posted over 24,000 articles that are tagged and catalogued for easier search. The amount of content we have on our site has amazed us and really surprised our tech team as they deal with the storage space…
The RetailWit team is busy working on a year end summary, which will be posted in the coming weeks, but at this point in the year we would like to thank you for reading and following. Whatever brought you here, we appreciate the traffic and hope that you are more informed and up to speed on the retail world than you have ever been.
Thanks for being part of our wild, crazy and fulfilling first year!
CHEERS!!!!!
As we reach the end of our first year, and the end of the calendar year, the team at RetailWit has a few quick reminders about our site:
1. Thanks for your referrals!
Much of our traffic and usage comes from you sharing and passing along our site to your friends, coworkers and family. If we have provided a service that you find useful, for even just a few minutes a day we ask for you to pass along the word. We think we have something special we are building, and we have lots on the horizon for year two!
2. Drop downs are live!
We have added a feature to customize the feed you see on the main page, with the addition of drop boxes you can select the exact topics that are most important to you. You have to be a registered user on the site in order to access the drop downs, which is a pretty simple process and we promise not to spam you. The drop downs were a feature many readers were asking for, to cut down the time they had to spend scrolling for stories they wanted to read about. We were excited to get these up and running and think it is a great add to the experience.
3. We are always looking for content!
RetailWit could be your platform for original content! If you are putting together a full white paper, a point of view or just want to get an article out there beyond LinkedIn, the team is always looking for original content. Please reach out to [email protected] for more information on how to become a published author. We’d love to help you amplify your voice.
And now to last week’s top retail stories, so you can catch up what you may have missed…
Spotify Introduced a new “Netflix Hub” on its app
A couple weeks back we noticed something peculiar on our Spotify app, there is a new “Netflix hub” on Spotify. According to TechCruch, the two companies expanded their current partnership to which will offer a centralized place for finding the official soundtracks, playlists and podcasts for top shows and movies on Netflix. This seems to us like a marriage made streaming heaven and are going on a limb and call out a merger in 2022.
Instacart CEO, Fidji Simo, joined the Shopify Board.
Another interesting tie up and high potential merger? We will be watching this one closely.
TikTok’s Planning to Open its Own ‘TikTok Kitchen’ Chain of Delivery-Only Restaurants.
We are not sure anyone saw this one coming. As reported by TechCrunch: “The menu at the restaurants will draw upon the most popular viral food posts on TikTok, which people can then have delivered to their door via Grubhub. TikTok plans to launch around 300 locations that will start delivering dishes in March, with plans to open more than 1,000 restaurants by the end of next year.”
The trade off and environmental impact of delivery is showing it’s true colors; according to a new report from marine conservation group Oceana Amazon’s plastic packaging increased by almost a third, to 270,000 tonnes, during the pandemic last year.
An Amazon spokesperson told The Guardian: “Amazon shares Oceana’s ambition to protect the world’s oceans and respects their work but, for a second year, their calculations are seriously flawed. They have overestimated our plastics usage by more than 300%, and use outdated assumptions about the sources of plastic waste entering our oceans.”
Judge rules against AutoStore in patent fight with Ocado
Big news for both Ocado and Kroger as the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) administrative law judge has ruled that certain patents held by AutoStore are invalid, dealing a blow to the Norwegian robotics company’s effort to block British rival Ocado from bringing technology used to build automated grocery e-commerce warehouses into the United States.
Attention Toys R Us Kids: The Toy Superstore Is Back
Growing up a ‘Toys R Us Kid, this warms my heart. Toys R Us has a huge nostalgia equity and opportunity, there have been several stops and starts but we hope this is a sign of things to come so my children can also have the pure joy of walking the aisles of a true toy store.
Boxed Advances to Its Next Chapter — as Public Company
Following its completion of a merger with Seven Oaks Acquisition Corp. on Dec. 8, Boxed Inc.’s common stock and warrants are now available for trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol BOXD.
Meijer expands small-store market concept to Ohio
Before the pandemic hit many retailers were testing smaller format stores, now there is renewed focus on the need for smaller footprints. We expect the news of more retailers doing this to accelerate in 2022. Meijer is expanding its scaled-down grocery concept outside of its home state of Michigan, announcing on Tuesday plans to open a 40,000-square-foot store in Cleveland, Ohio.
CVS outlines strategy to expand health care reach.
During CVS’ investor day event, CVS Health sees increased sales and accelerated growth as it innovates in the healthcare business. “Omnichannel health services” will be critical, and CVS will be adding new products, subscription models, home health options while integrating drug stores, health insurer (Aetna), and pharmacy benefit manager (Caremark).
Hy-Vee rolls out new healthcare subsidiary.
Likewise, Hy-Vee announced a venture into Healthcare with RedBox Rx—which is essentially telehealth and DTC digital pharmacy service. The ecosystem is heating up, with players like Apple, Walmart, and many others angling for a slice of the pie.
Kroger promotes Gump to division president.
Kroger makes some leadership shifts, moving Laura Gump from Houston’s VP Merchandising to Houston Division President. Gump comes from HEB and joined Kroger in 2020.
Albertsons launches new auto-replenishment offering.
Albertsons takes a page out of Amazon’s playbook and launches “Schedule & Save” in prime markets (with plans for a national rollout). Their prime target? Convenience-seekers, offering the benefit of “set it and forget it” with significant savings.
Lowe’s says pandemic-fueled home improvement demand could cool in year ahead.
Not a surprise, but a trend to watch over the next few weeks and months—especially with the Covid’s Omicron variant on the rise. We’re already seeing some retailers place worker vaccine mandates at a higher priority to keep stores operational.
Grocery e-commerce sales were up 15% YOY in November.
70MM HH buying online resulted in $8.6B ecommerce sales in November (+15% YOY). Pickup grew much faster (29%) versus delivery (6%). Digital sales accounted for >10% of total grocery spend (vs 2% pre-pandemic). Most of the growth is being driven by the 30 – 44 Y/O cohort (likely those who can afford it and are strapped for time).
Dollar General slates Mexico entry for 2022.
Announced in DG’s latest earning results, they are looking for new areas of growth with sights set on Mexico. 10 stores will open in Mexico in 2022 (1,100 new stores total ), and their expanding their pOpshelf stores as well (1,000 by end of Fiscal 2025). In Q3 results, DG saw an increase in net sales (+3.9%), decline in ID store sales (-0.9%), and decline in operating profit (-13.9%).
LEGO continues successful ‘Retailtainment’ strategy.
LEGO has opened another ‘Retailtainment’ store, this time in Europe (the first being in New York). The format is vital to LEGO’s (physical) store expansion strategy, offering omnichannel, immersive experiences—and shifts to tapping into experiences and building customer relationships within the store.
Nike acquires digital sneaker studio in latest metaverse bet.
Jumping feet first into the metaverse, Nike acquires RTFKT—which leverages all the buzzwords possible (Blockchain, AR, NFT, gaming) to drop digital collectibles and experiences. They are no joke; a collaboration last winter netted $3.1M in sales in under 10 minutes. Donahoe, Nike CEO, is looking to RTFKT as a push towards digital transformation and efforts.
Instacart expedites omnichannel retailing.
Looking to understand the latest moves by Instacart? This is a great, if rose-tinted glasses, overview.
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