Walmart dipped its toe into livestreaming circa 2020—piloting TikTok’s shoppable content with its “Holiday Shop-Along Spectacular”—when consumers were largely stuck at home and avoiding stores. The company was among the first major US retailers to go after the big-in-China trend, and even as shoppers return to physical retail, it’s not giving up on testing the waters.

Since that first stream, Walmart has partnered with Twitter and Facebook for more live-shopping events, including a 30-minute variety show—hosted by Jason Derulo, of all people—and even introduced its own live-shopping website. The retail giant announced a partnership with livestream social-commerce platform Talkshoplive last December as part of a holiday push, and this week it doubled down on the strategy with the introduction of regularly scheduled programming.

Buffering: Casey Schlaybaugh, vice president of brand at Walmart, cited in a release the new slate of programming as a way to connect with customers and provide “both entertainment and product information.”

• Walmart is rolling out eight Talkshoplive shopping “experiences” scheduled to run through March, including Black-Founded Brands Week, hosted by celebs like Jermaine Dupri, and Women Entrepreneurs Week.
• Talkshoplive, founded in 2018, claims its events generate three to nine times more sales versus other online pre-orders, with a 45% organic cart-to-purchase ratio.

Talkshoplive’s CEO and co-founder Bryan Moore touted the interactive, social nature of livestreams hosted by familiar faces, referencing a stream last March where Catherine Zeta-Jones sold her own coffee line. “People get in touch with the experience,” he told Retail Brew. “Someone wrote about how [they] never broke eyes with Catherine Zeta-Jones while [they] bought her coffee.”

Anywhere, any time: A professed perk of Talkshoplive is that its content is shareable across platforms. A consumer can watch and one-click shop from a livestream on any site, be it a brand page or a celebrity’s social media—no need to download a separate app. “We’re cutting out all the friction and path to purchase, which drives up sales conversion rates,” Moore said.

Click here to read about the live-shopping opportunity for Walmart.—JG

Get in, loser; we’re going out to eat.

In its inaugural Restaurant Trends report released today, restaurant software company Toast found same-store sales for its ~57,000 partners (ranging from fine dining establishments to pizza joints and food trucks) were up 41% YoY in 2021, based on gross merchandise volume (GMV).

• And compared to 2019, restaurants, on average, saw GMV increase 6% from pre-pandemic levels in Q4 2021.

Out and about: After lots of takeout orders in 2020, consumers are returning to dining out, per the report, with on-premise sales rising 70% YoY in Q4 2021, and 55% full-year growth.

But takeout and delivery sales are still having their moment. They rose 59% from Q4 2019, and while that span includes the takeout peak, levels are still high, Toast found.

• Strong earnings reports from DoorDash and Uber Eats earlier this month show consumers still crave grub to-go.

On the money: With the tumultuous dining landscape over the past two years, restaurants need $$ to keep up. Toast, which also offers financing, found that 28% of restaurants used that capital for short-term cash flow, followed by overhead and day-to-day ops (20%), renovations (17%), and new equipment (14%).

But, but, but: Though things are looking brighter after a dismal 2020, many restaurants are still financially insecure. About two-thirds of the restaurants and bars that applied for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund grants this year were denied, per the Independent Restaurant Coalition.

• The National Restaurant Association called for replenishment of the depleted $28.6 billion fund last month, saying it could save 1.6+ million jobs.—EC

On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Bill King is a senior director for retail at Brookfield Properties, one of the largest mall owners in the US. But even when he’s not managing leasing activity across three shopping centers in Connecticut, Delaware, and New York City, King still makes room for more retail: He teaches the next generation of retail professionals about real-estate development at Temple University.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? I have the unique perspective to see ideas become storefronts as retailers, new and old, populate high-performing shopping centers.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile: How great of a feeling it is to see someone cut the ribbon on their grand opening day.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? The SoNo Collection in Norwalk, Connecticut. It is one of very few enclosed shopping centers to open (and thrive) in the face of a much-maligned face-to-face retail environment.

Name your favorite retail accounts to follow: @Rhone, @Amazon 4-Star, @Savage x Fenty, and @Warby Parker.

Which emerging retail trend are you most excited about this year, and why? Clicks to bricks is still in its infancy. There are so many concepts that will continue to open stores that the shopping experience will continue to evolve, in a good way.

Hands down, the best fast food restaurant chain is…Chick-fil-A. Everyone else is second best.

Today’s top retail reads.

Going, going, gone: What do people do with their unwanted goods—from Goodwill to Depop to the Buy Nothing Project—and how has the gift economy changed? (The New Yorker)

The right fit: Dia&Co’s Nadia Boujarwah delves into the growth of extended sizing. “We believe that inclusive fashion is the largest opportunity in retail today—plus-size women spend about $21 billion a year, and if she could spend at parity what women in smaller sizes are spending on apparel, that’s like an incremental $80 billion to $100 billion a year in spend.” (Modern Retail)

Good for you: Immunity-boosting, gut-strengthening, and skin-soothing: A look at the health-focused food and bev brands targeting older millennials. (Snaxshots)

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• Inside By The Namesake’s pop-up strategy
• Robots have landed in grocery store aisles—here’s how they’re helping retailers “remain competitive”
• How brands can make smart moves into the metaverse