Express Checkout #3

Welcome to Express Checkout, a weekly newsletter keeping you up to date with all things commerce!

If someone sent you this please consider subscribing!

I think the winning story this week is that Dyson has released its $949 air-purifying headphones....yes they're real

Also please check out my favorite talk from Brewbound Live which I attended the other week - Bell’s Brewery EVP Carrie Yunker on Transforming Your Business with One Question

Now to the news of the week! 👇👇👇

CPG/Consumer News from the week (12/5 - 12/11)

🛍 Retail

• Lord & Taylor is the latest retailer to set up a retail media network of their own. In partnership with InMobi Commerce, they'll also offer a full funnel platform including shoppable video

• Meijer is opening their smaller format grocery stores in January 2023. And mind you, smaller here means 75,000 to 90,000-square-feet which is normally 150,000 square feet and 250,000 square feet

• Toys R Us owner, WHP, has acquired 7.4% of Express. The deal is split into two parts: WHP will invest $235 million for a 60% stake in an intellectual property partnership and buy $25 million worth of Express common stock

• Restoration Hardware is continuing its efforts to climb up the 'luxury mountain' with acquisitions of Dmitriy & Co, a to-the-trade custom upholstery atelier, and Jeup, a to-the-trade custom furniture atelier. They're also hiring former editor-in-chief of Architectural Digest and Elle Decor, to create RH Media

• The eCommerce beauty platform Thirteen Lune is opening its first brick-and-mortar location in LA. They first entered the physical retail space through a shop-in-shop partnership with JC Penny

• Amazon has announced that they’re testing select Staples stores as in-person drop off locations for product returns. There are 300 million active customer accounts, that’s a lot of returns! They currently allow returns at 18,000 locations including at Kohl's, UPS, and Whole Foods

-

🏭 Supply Chain

• Amazon wants to say "bye bye" to the barcode. While the ubiquitous lines have adorned products for 50 years, Amazon thinks it can do better by using multimodal identification. Basically intelligent image recognition

• Victoria's Secret is making the move from air freight to ocean freight to save costs. They saw their costs raise by roughly $300 million last holiday mostly because of their reliance on air freight, they ship 90% by air

• Companies are starting to choose Mexico for their future manufacturing needs over China. The numbers show it, foreign direct investment in Mexico increased to $32 billion in the first nine months of 2022, that's about a 30% bump compared to the same period in 2021

• Maergo, a parcel delivery platform, has raised a $20M seed round from Deep Lake Capital and RyderVentures, the venture capital arm of Ryder System, Inc. The service is used by retailers and DTC brands like Saks Fifth Avenue, Allbirds, Chubbies, and Buck Mason

-

🛒 CPG

• Pernod Ricard, the worlds second largest wine and spirit company, is set to invest a cool $250 million over the next 5 years to to build a state-of-the-art and carbon neutral distillery in Kentucky.

• Asahi Group has announced a new startup investment fund seeking to invest in US startups that have attractive high-growth brands in the low-alc, non-alc beer, and RTD categories. Asahi owns brands like Peroni and Nikka Whisky

• Any animal product these days has its alternatives. Bel Brands has launched Laughing Cow vegan cheese wedges and a line expansion of Nurrish cream cheese made in partnership with Perfect Day’s animal-free whey

• Ferrero Group has acquired Blue Bunny and Halo top owner Wells Enterprises. This follows Ferrero's acquisitions of Fannie May, Nestle’s US confectionery business, Kellogg’s cookies & snacks business, and the Ferrara Candy Co

• Serena Williams has launched a recovery brand Will Perform with five topical products

• Malk (yes a real name of a brand) has just closed a $9M Series B as the premium milk market grows. The round was led by Benvolio Group and its previous investor Rotor Capital

• More brands are coming after Impossible and Beyond Meat. Black Sheep Foods has snagged $12.3M in Series A capital to create better plant-based meats. They raised $5.25 million in Jan '22

• From the Ground Up has acquired PopChips parent company Velocity Snack Brands in November for an undisclosed amount

• Keurig Dr Pepper is making a strategic cash investment in Nutrabolt of $863 million. Nutrabolt has a category of health and wellness brands including C4® Energy.

• Second Nature Brands, which owns Sanders caramels and Kar's trail mix, has acquired Brownie Brittle from Encore Consumer Capital

-

💻 eCommerce

• Amazon launched a TikTok-like shopping feed which supports both photos and videos called Inspire. The tool will be rolling out to a select few customers. This comes as live shopping and other forms of more social selling has been on the rise.

• Walmart has unveiled a visual search tool called TrendGetter. It's an image recognition tool that allows shoppers to find discounts

• A French startup called Pickme has raised a $3.7 million to build out a network of pick-up and drop-off points for ecomm retailers. The difference here? Customers can let their neighbor receive the package directly

• Bath & Body works is partnering with Instacart just in time for the holiday season

• Oda, the Norwegian grocery delivery startup, has raised $151M at a lowered valuation of $353M. Online grocery delivery boomed during the pandemic but has slowed down more recently and these online delivery services have taken a hit

• Resale isn't going anywhere! Archive, which powers resale operations for brands ranging from North Face and Marimekko to M.M.LaFleur and Dagne Dover has announced a $15 million Series A round led by some impressive retail folks including Julie Bornstein, chief shopping officer at Pinterest and founder of The Yes; Kerry Cooper, former president of Rothy's; Lisa Bougie, former general manager at Stitch Fix and Nike; Wendy Yang, former president of Hoka; and Marigay McKee, former president of Saks Fifth Avenue and co-founder of Fernbrook Capital Management

• Philips Norelco, yes the razor brand, is using Roblox to market health to Gen Z through it's Shavetopia world which has already welcomed 1 million players spending 43,838 hours in the space

  • Check out Future Commerce tracker on Roblox partnerships

-

🧐 Interesting reads and research

• Why DTC brands are seeking a spot in D.C.'s Georgetown (Modern Retail)

• Free returns fading out as retailers rollout restocking, shipping fees (Washington Post)

• The Era of Digital Product Tags Is Nigh (Fashionista)

• In-store bakery is becoming a consumer magnet: Report (Supermarket News)

• The Dumb Money Driving The Plant-Based Meat Boom (Forbes)

• Morning Consult fasting growing brands 2022

• Year End Trend Reports

  • Instagram 2023

  • Pinterest Predicts 2023

  • Well+Good 2023

Thanks for reading! I'll be back next week with more commerce news straight to your inbox. If you have any suggestions, feedback, or stories I missed, let me know!

Nate :)