QuickWit Weekly (7/12) The Billionaire Space Race, and the Top Retail News from Last Week

It became official yesterday, when he reached an altitude of 53.5 miles above the New Mexico desert, Richard Branson beat Jeff Bezos to space. While he was in space for just a short time, this could be the landmark event that finally brings space tourism to those who can afford the $200,000+ tickets. The Billionaire Space Race was won, at least for now, by Branson – but don’t count out the likes of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Will be fun to watch how this progresses over the next year now that one of them has set the bar.

Now, onto something a bit more tangible. The Kraft Heinz Company calls on hot dog and bun companies to sell equal numbers of products in each package. The effort is timed to National Hot Dog Month in July, and should be getting more attention now that we are in the midst of grilling season.

It’s been 30 years since Steve Martin’s character in ‘Father of the Bride’ was famously jailed for his tantrum in the bun aisle for “removing the superfluous buns”.

We think it is time to get behind this effort and see if we can force meaningful change here. It might seem a small step, but just think of all the hot dog buns we could save in the process.

Now, once that is solved we firmly believe someone needs to step in and solve “toilet paper math” once and for all. Is there a more confusing experience for the shopper than standing in the toilet paper aisle and trying to make sense of this?

I mean, beyond a few folks in R&D and on the brand team, nobody understands the difference between a “mega”, “mega plus” or”double plus” rolls. People just want their toilet paper and they want to get on with things, don’t make us do that much math in the aisle.

Any other nominees for the next category/product we should go after next?

Top Retail News from Last Week:

A really great article from Lisa Goller about the legacy Jeff Bezos leaves behind at Amazon, it’s eye opening to say the least.

Jeff Bezos’ Retail Legacy

U.S. retail sales continue to heat up, with June marking the ninth consecutive month of total retail sales growth. Excluding gas and automotive, U.S. retail sales rose 11.0% over the year-ago period and 10.4% compared to June 2019.

Retail sales in June up 11% year-over-year and 10.4% over 2019

The scourge of immediate consumption (in addition to eComm) continues to expand. The pandemic accelerated many trends in retail and one of the more notable changes involved dramatic growth of self-checkout, add in the pandemic labor challenges and that will accelerate this trend.

Self-Checkout Installations Surged 25% in 2020

CVS Health’s recently released study gives clues on where retailers pushing into the medical space can focus. The study, surveying both consumers and providers, shows how perspective is changing. New avenues of care are being realized and health goals are taking more of a priority. Routine care is changing too, with a shift away from primary care to other health care resources (ie. Online, community health centers, and pharmacies).

“Health Care Insights Study 2021”

Another week, another Ransomware attack. The same group behind the JBS attack hit Kaseya, an IT firm that powers retail technology. The attack affected Swedish retailer, Coop. One thing is for certain: retailers need to focus on cybersecurity efforts, identify and build in redundancy in their systems—this will not be the last ransomware attack.

800 grocery stores shut down by “colossal” ransomware attack could take weeks to recover

The Recommerce growth continues as people emerge from lockdown and get ready to get back out into the world, and realize their closet is full of things they can’t or won’t wear.

Online thrift store Poshmark CEO sees fashion shift as consumers ‘purge’ closets