Fries McFlurry and an XL Crunchwrap, Please

Garrett King

Aug 23, 2024 — 7 min read

Welcome to Friday again, everybody. We made it. You wanna feel like a million bucks? Listen to this.

📰1/ headline roundup: Some things that caught my eye this week

🛒The 50-Year-Old Technology That Brands and Retailers Are Trying to Quit

By 2027, barcodes could be a thing of the past. Large CPG's like Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola are working towards it, saying that both the costs of the transition as well as the upside could be big. The ultimate goal is a single QR code that provides necessary information for retailers like price and inventory scan details, while also offering shoppers the ability to scan it and learn more. I think it'll arrive eventually, although 2027 seems soon, and I like how it could improve marketers' ability to tell their brand's story. Soon, maybe kids will get to enjoy a mix of joy and terror as a QR code explodes the Kool-Aid man out of the beverage shelf.

🦹California cracks down on organized retail crime with new package of laws

It's been eye-opening, seeing the continual stream of store closings as a result of theft in California. Pressure continued to mount on cities like San Francisco to do something to change the trend, and this change to increase penalties is something. I think we'll see a wait-and-see approach from large retailers that had closed stores, but if downtown foot traffic trends improve, retailers will come back. Imagine, if you will, downtowns that have fallen on hard times coming back in a big way. The phrase "Manhattan is the new Brooklyn" illustrates the point and makes me laugh because it's completely absurd. Anyway, change is the only constant.

🇨🇦Owner of 7-Eleven stores receives buyout offer from Canadian rival

Fascinating to see that we might get to witness the largest corporate takeover in Japanese history. Ultimately, if it does go through, I'd be really surprised if the customer experience at a 7-Eleven meaningfully changed, but perhaps one thing they ought to consider: I've heard the sushi at Japanese 7-Eleven stores is actually quite good, could we trade that for the taquitos warming by checkout at my store down the block?

⭐️Amazon considers doing away with product reviews and ratings in search

Wow. Imagine searching for something on Amazon and not seeing a star rating, but instead the number of units sold in the past month, and a few tags you're used to like "Amazon's pick" or "Best Seller". That could be the future based on a test that's currently running, which would be a big course reversal for the retailer that pioneered user reviews. I bet this test stays a test unless we get to a point in the future where large language models can offer a more conversational search experience. In that case, I think ratings and reviews might be less vital.

🚚Mattress Firm, DoorDash partner on 2-hour delivery

The headline says it all: DoorDash continues to add retailers to their platform, like Ulta, Academy Sports and Outdoors, and Lowe's. Their main rival, Instacart, is doing the same, with retailers like Sally Beauty and Kohl's. We're gonna keep seeing this, these last-mile providers are an increasingly useful distribution channel, and we'll talk a bit more about that below.

👉Shein sues Temu over copyright infringement, alleges rival loses money on every sale

Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this headline. Felt like the fast-fashion equivalent of this meme. I recommend reading the article solely to see the language used in the complaint. One highlight: "mafia-style intimidation of suppliers".

🏎️Fewer Teens Want to Drive. It’s Changing How They Spend.

Fascinating statistic: 87% of 19 year olds had a drivers' license in 1983, 69% had one in 2022. I keep hearing about parents with teenage children that are completely bewildered by this exact trend. There appear to be a range of causes - rideshare and public transit offer alternatives, cars are 32% more expensive since 2019, and far more alternatives to connect with friends exist. This'll probably be a concerning trend for automakers and maybe businesses that benefit from auto travel (fast food restaurants, gas stations), but I'd be surprised if we saw this trend continue to decline much more. There's got to be a floor.

💵 2/ cheap strategy: An off-the-cuff strategy recommendation to give you ideas on how to flex your own strategic thinking

Let's build off the prior story about young people driving less. Three recommendations for anyone looking to accelerate demand with Gen Z that might be worried about foot traffic:

Intermediaries: Not that long ago, in the before times (i.e. before interest rates escalated and the cost of capital became prohibitive) I heard the CEO of an unnamed rapid grocery delivery company state that one of their success drivers were logistics efficiencies, and that they could be more efficient than Amazon. That company is no longer operating in the US, but it hints at a differentiator worth developing: Savvy CPG's will treat intermediaries like GoPuff, DoorDash, and Instacart as a competitive differentiator rather than a cost center. Why? Because that's a place younger shoppers are shopping. Kudos to HEB, by the way, for their early purchase of Favor back in 2018. Smart low risk bet.
Better in-store experiences: I think it's a misnomer that younger generations don't want to go do things in real life. Lines at brands like Brandy Melville indicate otherwise. The lesson here is, if at all possible, control your distribution and make it a lovely experience to be a part of. One great example is clothing company Buck Mason - their Charleston store smells like Palo Santo, has a gorgeous vintage BMW, and beautiful leather chairs welcoming you to stick around. It worked on me, I bought jeans i didn’t need.
Novelty: Something I feel the fast food chains, particularly McDonalds and Chick-Fil-A, have gotten right, is encouraging mobile app use. Restaurants and retailers could use them even better to drive awareness of novelty items and get people in the door.
- McDonalds, y'all launch an app-exclusive McFlurry with an attention-grabbing flavor like Haribo gummy bears or, heck, actually put McDonald's fries in there, people do it themselves anyway. Do little PR about it, only show it to users in a certain zipcode, and wait until it catches on (it will).
- Taco Bell, can you do an XL crunchwrap that's 50% bigger, but only available for in-app orders?
- 7-Eleven, borrow the success of Lay's "Do us a Flavor" limited time offerings and expand what you've done in Texas with your "Texas Pecan" flavored coffee. Make them app-only. Could you get a chopped cheese taquito in New York 7-Eleven locations? Is a Chicago Dog possible at Illinois stores?

🍫 3/ an andes mint on the way out

Let's take a hard left, I'd like to tell you about a regret I have: It's how I handled a five-minute stretch of one random weekday in early Fall 2004. I was a sophomore in high school, and I remember it like it was yesterday: I came home on the bus from school, and I was in a rush, because that night was the Homecoming parade, and I was one of the finalists for Homecoming King. This, by itself, is completely nuts, because I wasn't athletic, I wasn't one of the best looking, and I'd largely gotten it because I'd started a tongue-in-cheek campaign to try and get in the final group. In retrospect, I pretended this "King 4 King" bit was a joke, but I know myself well enough to know that I was (and still sometimes am) deeply insecure and the place it came from was a place of wanting to feel liked, validated, in the inner circle.

So I get off the bus, I'm in an absolute tizzy because I've got to shower, put on a khaki suit, and go. I get home, and my parents are excited to show me something. They roll up the garage door, and right there is a sparkly white, lightly used, four-door Nissan Frontier pickup truck with brown leather interior and a Harmon Kardon 6-CD changer that we didn't have that morning. These sweet, sweet people bought me a car. This is a seminal moment, this is life changing, this is freedom, this is the American dream for a 16-year-old. The keys belong to me.

And you know how I handled it? Without a shred of gratitude. "Great!" is about all they got from me, as I rushed up the stairs to take a shower. I had to sit in the backseat of some stupid convertible, in some stupid parade, for some meaningless award that I didn't win and wouldn't matter 24 hours after it got handed out.

I think about that moment every couple months, because it's a perfect indicator of a person I want to avoid becoming. Ungrateful, disconnected from the present moment, focused on false glory, prioritizing momentary admiration of the many over the people closest to me. I feel fear in my heart when I think back to that day, because I know that guy isn't all the way gone. The things that vexed me at sixteen still hang around at thirty six, they've just gotten craftier with time, like late-stage Jason Kidd. We all have our ghosts, that's but one of mine.

My learning: Family is too easy to deprioritize for all the other people out there you don’t know but feel you should impress. It's a bet on the unknown that I haven't seen pay off yet for me. Keep your loved ones close. And if you're ever lucky enough to have somebody buy you a truck, you better hug 'em tight.