This month, California’s truck drivers are protesting a state law that regulates whether they can work as independent contractors. In mid-July, a convoy protest slowed traffic on Los Angeles freeways, and a week of protests effectively shut down the Port of Oakland.

The demonstrations are in opposition to California’s Assembly Bill 5, which makes it difficult for companies to classify truck drivers as independent contractors. Just last week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced draft legislation creating “worker flexibility agreements” that would override state classification laws like AB5, Bloomberg Law reported. (TBD on whether the proposal makes it to a vote.)

Eleventh hour: Still, labor expert Ken Jacobs, who chairs the University of California Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education, said the application of AB5 is something the trucking industry has known was coming for years.

• If classified as employees, truck drivers would have the right to earn minimum wages, have their expenses covered by the trucking company, get paid for overtime, and receive workers’ compensation insurance, among other benefits, Jacobs explained.

“None of this should be a surprise to anybody,” Jacobs said. “The courts have consistently ruled against the companies for a very long time,” he added.

How did we get here? Read on.—MA

Inflation is taking its toll, and consumers are feeling less trustful of retailers and restaurants as consumer confidence dropped to its lowest point since May 2021, with the national index touching the 46.9 mark, per Refinitiv/Ipsos’s Global Consumer Confidence Index.

• The survey, which polled 1,000+ US adults, reflected the first time the number fell below the 50-point mark since December 2020.
• “Low-income consumers are being squeezed the most in the absence of stimulus checks that last year boosted their cash flow,” Thomas Alonso, senior analyst at Refinitiv, told WWD. “On top of that, they are facing higher inflation that is diminishing their spending power.”

All over the world: Outside of the US, the survey, which was fielded from June 24 to July 8, included 17,000 adults in 27 additional countries.

• Overall, the report found that the US, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy are dealing with their lowest consumer confidence levels in over a year.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and China were leading the pack in consumer confidence, with their National Indexes coming up above 70, followed by India (63.9), Sweden (54.5), Australia (53.5), the United States (51.7), Canada (50.8), and Mexico (50.2) that also floated over the 50-point mark.—JS

Thanks to viral videos from TikTokers like Evangelina Bulkley eventually landing it on Amazon’s Internet Famous page, a spiky acupressure mat now accounts for 7% of annual revenue for ProsourceFit, the company behind the trending “bed of nails.” It’s part of the “TikTokification of e-commerce”—a loop of virality and monetization that Morning Brew’s Sherry Qin recently explored.

Products attaining the viral fame once reserved only for cats playing a keyboard points to a new phenomenon: the increased buying power of TikTok users, who are taking cues from creators building content empires on hashtags like #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, which has [17.2 billion views].

According to a recent TikTok for Business press release, the “unstoppable power of #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt” inspired 67% of users surveyed to “shop even when they weren’t looking to do so”—but, consider the source. Forget lip-syncing and dancing videos, TikTok influencers can earn cash and build a following by recommending niche Amazon products like the acupressure mat and earning commissions (through Amazon) on the sales they generate.

Creators like Bulkley have turned their fans into a powerful buying force willing to spend $20 on a life hack that feels like, in the words of one five-star Amazon review, a “bizarre fire torture mat.”

ProsourceFit, the maker of the acupressure mat that Bulkley promoted, has been selling this particular mat since 2012. Konstantin Mikhaylov, ProsourceFit’s director of development, didn’t know about Amazon’s Internet Famous page. “It’s a nice surprise,” he said. That shows how far removed importers and manufacturers are from the influencers selling their wares.

Read the full story on Morning Brew.—EC

Today’s top retail reads.

Drink up: If you didn’t know, happy hour is outlawed in Massachusetts, but a new bill might give cities and towns the option if they want to bring it back or not. (Eater)

Fashion forward: Believe it or not, fashion influencers existed before the age of social media, but that original crop has evolved to keep up in the new age of marketing. (Vogue Business)

Too much to handle: Walmart is one of many retailers grappling with overstock issues, and now employees are documenting how bad it’s starting to get. (Insider)

Trending: the ROBO economy. Tune in to Bazaarvoice’s webinar on August 10 to find out how your brand can succeed in today’s rapidly changing omnichannel retail landscape. Secure your spot here.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

Is your brand ready for the metaverse? We discuss why you should think about this virtual space now—before your competitors do!

What happened in the world of retail this week in…1934 and beyond. Retail Brew takes you way, way, way back.

Lace up your shoes for this week’s journey back in time.

• On July 24, 1934, Converse registered its trademark for the “Chuck Taylor” name.
• On July 24, 2016, the merger between Dutch grocer Ahold and its Belgian rival Delhaize Group became effective, making Ahold Delhaize one of the largest food retail groups in the US, owning chains like Stop & Shop, Giant, Food Lion, and Hannaford.
• On July 27, 2000, Abercrombie & Fitch opened its first Hollister store at Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio.
• And on July 28, 2016, Walgreens shut down e-commerce sites Drugstore.com and Beauty.com, which it had acquired for $429 million five years prior, to focus on its own site.

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

• Macy’s to roll out smaller-format stores later this year
• SPF is coming to everything
• 2022 has seen a lot of union firsts. Here are some of the most notable in retail so far