Friday Business on a Saturday
Two changes today: It's a special Saturday edition of Friday Business (I'm late) and we'll be focusing on a larger number of headlines in lieu of our normal structure. Cheap Strategy and Andes Mints will make a return real soon.
📰 Headline Roundup: What's up in digital commerce and retail this week?
🧾Macy’s expands post-purchase offers in a boost to its media network
Interesting line of thinking from Macy's here. Everyone in retail wants to figure out how to build a bigger basket before the point of purchase, whether it's trade in, trade across, or trade up. I hadn't thought about the flip side, what if somebody cracks basket-building after the point of purchase? I've seen something similar on Amazon Fresh, where you have a few minutes after your order to add other items before the delivery gets packed up.
👗Trove acquires competing resale platform Recurate
A new tie-up in the resale business. These two companies had different business models, but there's something here: Trove's model was to work with brands like Canada Goose and Patagonia to manage all the operations of resale like inventory management and site building. Recurate took a peer-to-peer approach, offering the ability for you to list a used pair of Steve Madden's on the product listing page. Let's watch where resale goes, I'm particularly curious to see if generational trends make this a good move - Gen Z's "underconsumption core" trend may be a tailwind for firms like this one.
🪙In latest effort to trim costs, Grove Collaborative switches to Shopify
Continuing theme from last week's "zombie brands" article. Another rapid-rising DTC brand that is in a newer, tougher chapter. Grove Collaborative saw a difficult Q2, with net revenue -21.2% YoY, DTC orders -25%. Without knowing their full financials, the shape of the business is interesting: Gross margin profile is +200bps YoY at 53.9%, which seems high. But their net losses were $10.1MM on a $52.1MM quarter. Suggests to me that there's a lot of expenses below that GM line, and that may not get any easier as they continue to mix their distribution towards traditional mass retail like Walmart, Target, and Costco.
📈Tesco Has Gained Share Every Month For The Past Year, Says Kantar
Twelve straight months of market share gains in the UK for Tesco. Another big winner is Ocado. Those not performing so well are Asda and Morrisons'. I'm no expert on the UK grocery market, but to me this indicates the growth is coming in places that win on convenience (feels like Tesco's are everywhere, and it's hard to get more convenient than an Ocado delivery straight to your home).
🥤Olipop Breaks Into the Exclusive World of Stadium Soda
When was the last time you went to a sporting event and saw a soda that wasn't from the triumvirate of Coca Cola, Pepsi, or Dr. Pepper? You might start to see it more, as upstart brand Olipop will be sold in 25 concession stands at the LA Clippers' new stadium, Intuit Dome. WSJ calls it "one of the few carbonated drinks to get around the hold PepsiCo and Coca-Cola have on the arena space through watertight supplier exclusivity deals."
🛍️Halfday Jumps On Gopuff’s New Ads Platform
Gopuff, from what I can tell, has done a really nice job reaching Millenial and Gen-Z consumers. Super fast delivery, especially in dense urban environments. Upstart iced tea brand Halfday is leaning in with their ad offering to try to break through the highly competitive beverage space. Their hypothesis is that "The Gopuff consumer is willing to try new things and switch between brands."
🪩The Hottest Club in Town Is… Run by Your Credit-Card Company?
The hottest club in town is... Capital One? Stefon would be proud. Credit card companies continue to add perks to their highest-fee credit cards. What's not new is card companies like AmEx and Capitol One building their own airport lounges for cardholders, but these experiences continue to proliferate for people with disposable income: Wells Fargo sponsors lounges at music festivals in New York, Chase runs its own lounge at Madison Square Garden, American Express offers concession discounts at Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena, and AmEx has recently opened up their own cocktail bar in One Vanderbilt, the tallest building in Midtown Manhattan.
🍪Mondelēz and Coca-Cola Collaboration Taps QR Codes and Spotify Personalization
Mondelez continues their run of successful limited edition offerings by partnering with Coca-Cola for an Oreo that tastes like Coke and a Coke that tastes like Oreo. They've had far more hits than misses, with one of the most notable in the past decade being the Swedish Fish Oreo. I'll be first in line for the Dr. Pepper iteration someday.
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