Category: News, Views & Reviews
A new LendingTree survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers, reported by Retail Dive, finds Americans plan to spend less on Halloween this year, and fewer plan to shop for it at all. For candy, decoration and costume suppliers, it names what shoppers plan to skip, and other surveys show where their Halloween dollars are headed.
When E.l.f. Beauty received about $50 million in tariff refunds, it reversed many of its earlier price increases and watched what happened to sales. CFO Mandy Fields walks CNBC through the results and where the rest of the money is going. For any supplier weighing a price move at retail, her numbers offer a real-world read on shopper response.
A new WARC Media report, covered by Marketing Dive, shows top consumer goods marketers spending more on advertising relative to sales, even as tech giants pull back. For Walmart suppliers weighing retail media and trade budgets, it is a useful benchmark. The coverage also names which of six leading consumer goods companies broke from the pattern.
Walmart’s 13th Open Call brought nearly 150 entrepreneurs to Bentonville. Last year’s brought more than 500. Fewer people were in the room, but a larger share left with a Golden Ticket, and Walmart says it was looking for businesses positioned to take the next step.
Walmart opened Mood & Mind, a new beverage category, in about 1,000 U.S. stores on Oct. 3, and Progressive Grocer asked Brian Salmon, VP of beverage at Walmart U.S., why. For beverage suppliers, it is a new destination organized around how shoppers want to feel. The story also notes how much of the assortment is exclusive.
CNBC’s Alex Harring reports that September’s producer price index climbed 6.3% from a year earlier, well above what economists polled by Dow Jones expected. For suppliers weighing cost and pricing decisions, the report is a current read on input pressure. The piece also traces where energy costs are spreading and what a separate retail sales report suggests about shoppers.
Matt Britton, founder of AI consumer intelligence platform Suzy, tells Retail Dive that Gen Alpha will be known as “the AI generation,” and explains what that means for how products get discovered. Brands and sellers counting on teen influence over household purchases should watch where that journey now begins.
A CNBC data analysis finds September’s 3.7% CPI reading extends one of the longest above-target inflation runs since the late 1940s, and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack says residents in her district are now “choosing” rather than trading down. For Walmart suppliers, that shift raises hard questions about pack size, price points, and which baskets get cut first.
Retail Dive’s Kaarin Moore reports that toy prices rose 4.2% from August to September on a seasonally adjusted basis, landing in a CPI report one economist called “tough.” For Walmart suppliers and Marketplace sellers setting holiday pricing, the story pairs that jump with fresh data on shopper finances and what Mattel and Hasbro are reporting.
When a shopper asks an AI assistant for the best item in your category, does yours come up? Have you ever asked? This email gives you a 20-minute check for your best-selling item. You finish with a short fix list, in time for Black Friday on Nov. 27.
Grocery prices fell in September even as diesel traded near record highs, and economists say fuel costs can take months to reach shelf prices. A new University of Michigan survey finds groceries among the purchases shoppers most plan to cut, which Michigan’s researchers say likely means trading name brands for generics. Inside the 3.7% inflation reading are the cost channels that matter most to Walmart suppliers and sellers heading into the holidays.