Blog Posts

On September 2, the Justice Department widened its antitrust investigation into beef prices to eight major retailers — including Walmart, Costco and Amazon, according to Fox Business, Newsweek and ConsumerAffairs. The probe, which earlier focused on the big meatpackers, now wants to know why beef has stayed so expensive at the register even when cattle […]

On August 27, YouTube announced that Amazon had officially joined its Shopping Affiliate Program, a move Bloomberg and other outlets picked up on September 1. Eligible U.S. creators can now tag Amazon products directly in their Shorts, long-form videos, and livestreams — so a viewer can watch a 30-second review and buy the item without […]

Shein finally went public on September 1, and the long-awaited debut came with a thud: shares fell roughly 10% to 17% in grey-market trading before the Hong Kong listing, Reuters and The Business of Fashion reported. The fast-fashion giant priced its IPO below the top end of the range, raised about $1.74 billion, and went […]

On August 27, Gap named a retail industry veteran to run Old Navy and revive the struggling brand — and the stock jumped 12% on the news, according to CNBC and Reuters. That headline deserves a second look, because Old Navy has never been a luxury label. It is the mall’s dependable spot for cheap […]

On August 27, Dollar General and Dollar Tree both reported strong second-quarter results and raised their full-year earnings outlooks — at almost the same moment several big grocery chains were cutting their forecasts. Reuters led the coverage with a simple summary: shoppers are opting for cheaper products. The Wall Street Journal put an even finer […]

Amazon just brought back Second Chance Deal Days — a ten-day sales event built entirely around returned, refurbished, and open-box items. The event is back in Europe, with the same deals running in the US, Mexico, and Brazil, and this year it even includes luxury handbags. Amazon’s own newsroom announced the return this week, and […]

New data this week shows the European Union’s €3 customs charge on small parcels is doing exactly what it was designed to do — and then some. Euronews reports low-value parcel shipments from China into the EU have plunged 30 to 40 percent since the fee took effect in July. FashionNetwork confirms the sharp fall […]

New data out this week shows US e-commerce sales climbed 12.2 percent over the past year, a return to the double-digit growth the online shopping world used to take for granted. What makes the number notable is what happened at the same time: a wave of new multistate tax rules landed on online retailers, adding […]

Dick’s Sporting Goods, the biggest sporting goods chain in America, saw its stock collapse by as much as 30 percent on Tuesday after the company missed quarterly expectations and cut its full-year guidance. The culprit, according to executives, is a “challenging” footwear market — the same weakness that led the company to lower its outlook […]

MarketWatch ran a rundown this week on what to know about Chinese e-commerce giant Shein ahead of its long-awaited IPO, while The New York Times profiled the company as fast fashion’s former next big thing now “fighting for a second act.” Shein spent years as the most disruptive force in global shopping: clothes designed in […]