If most Americans can agree on one thing, it’s a good cup of coffee. And over the years, chains from Starbucks and Costa Coffee to newbies like Blank Street Coffee have competed for that title.

Meanwhile, Nespresso has been gunning for a different cause: making the best cup of coffee at home. Since entering the market in 1986, the DTC retailer has been rolling out a series of different flavored coffee pods that have over time gained popularity across the world, including in the US.

In the first half of 2023 alone, Nestlé reported 4.5% organic growth for Nespresso.

“[The first half of] 2023 has been a strong priority,” Nespresso North America CEO Alfonso Gonzalez Loeschen told Retail Brew, adding the brand has notched double-digit growth in North America. “Our focus at Nespresso now is innovating the premium coffee experience, not only to continue enabling this growth, but really to try to capture younger generations, within our system and within our brand.”

To do so the brand has looked to innovative new solutions and the unique preferences that differentiates the young North American coffee drinker, and it really comes down to two words: iced coffee, the unofficial American drink of choice.

Keep reading here.—JS

To stand out in a competitive market, you’ve gotta make it personal. No, we’re not talking cold calling or door-to-door sales. In 2023, personalized mobile messaging is the name of the game.

And in their 2023 Mobile Consumer Trends Report, Vibes dug into how consumers want to interact with their fave brands.

To create the report, Vibes surveyed 1k consumers on their SMS, in-app push notification, and mobile-wallet preferences. Here’s what they found:

• 70% of consumers already opt in to SMS and app notifications.
• 54% of those younger than 55 are interested in (or already using) a mobile wallet.
• More than 40% are interested in providing their personal data to brands to help tailor communications to their interests.

Get the full scoop.

In news timed perfectly to its primetime spotlight at the US Open, athletic gear company Amer Sports, owner of tennis racket maker Wilson, confidentially filed for an IPO in the US that could value it at $10 billion, Bloomberg reported.

The company hopes the IPO will raise more than $1 billion, though it could seek up to $3 billion, sources told the outlet, which first reported that Amer’s investors were considering an IPO last December. The company plans to list early next year. Amer Sports declined to comment when Retail Brew reached out.

In 2019, four co-investors acquired Amer Sports for $5.2 billion, including Chinese sports retail giant Anta Sports. Finland-based Amer, which is more than 70 years old, operates 12 brands and has 10,200 employees. It began as a tobacco company, expanded into shipping, and had a publishing and printing division before turning its focus to sports in the 1970s, buying Wilson in 1989, shoemaker Salomon in 2005, and baseball bat company Louisville Slugger in 2015. Last year, the company’s revenue rose 22% to $3.3 billion, per its annual report.

Keep reading here.—EC

Do you love shopping at Zara, but just can’t get your head around the waste that fast fashion creates? Well, if you live in France, you’re in luck: Zara customers there will soon be able to sell, repair, or donate their secondhand clothing, the Spanish retailer’s parent, Inditex, has announced.

Per BoF, customers can avail themselves of services through not only the brand’s stores, but also its website and mobile app.

This isn’t Zara’s first resale rodeo. Its secondhand service has been available in the UK since 2022, and is also expected to be introduced in Germany this year.

Just so you know: Zara isn’t the first fast fashion retailer to try its hand at secondhand. Major brands including H&M, Primark, and Pretty Little Thing have all previously launched their own resale platforms.

Even ultra-affordable e-commerce giant Shein debuted a peer-to-peer resale program, Shein Exchange, last year.

Keep reading here.—JS

Today’s top retail reads.

Changing perceptions: While retail theft continues to be a cause of concern for companies, some retailers are pulling back on their previous belief that is the primary cause of their losses. (CNBC)

Smells like success: Inside Richemont’s new beauty division, which is on a mission to scale up fragrances. (Vogue Business)

Talking pictures: Why François-Henri Pinault, the French billionaire and CEO of Kering, is betting on Hollywood. (the New York Times)

Message ’em: Reach your customers everywhere (and make the most of your mobile marketing) with Vibes. Optimize your SMS, MMS, and mobile-wallet outcomes in one platform trusted by brands like Kohl’s and Chipotle. Learn more.*

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Three of the stories below are real...and one is most definitely not. Can you spot the fake?

1. A woman is suing Eataly Boston over a piece of prosciutto that she slipped on while at the restaurant, fracturing her leg.
2. British supermarket chain Lidl recalled four varieties of Paw Patrol-themed snacks after finding out the website URLs on the packaging led to a pornographic site.
3. A Detroit woman returned the Earthbound Farm spinach container she bought at the grocery store after discovering a live frog inside it.
4. An Ohio man won $235,000 in a lottery after finding a ticket in a bag of store-bought rice.

Keep reading for the answer.