Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know
Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.
It’s a spooky time for retailers—the earnings season right before holiday shopping kicks into full gear. As the Commerce Department reported last week, retail spending was up in September, but these next several weeks might be a whole different animal.
Let’s dive into what’s going on this week in retail.
In hirings: Today marks the beginning of Tim Wentworth’s tenure as CEO of Walgreens; the company appointed him to the role earlier this month.
- Wentworth is a healthcare industry vet who was the founder and CEO of Cigna’s health services arm, Evernorth. Before that, he was CEO of pharmacy benefit company Express Scripts.
- Wentworth takes the helm at a time when Walgreens wants to bulk up its healthcare services business and restore a falling stock price and profits.
The company has faced headwinds from slower sales of Covid tests and vaccines, and shoppers who have felt the pinch of inflation. Earlier this month while reporting its Q3 earnings, the company set out to cut $1 billion in costs in 2024, including closing underperforming stores and streamlining its supply chain.
In sales: Wayfair kicks off the holiday shopping season Wednesday with its second annual two-day sales event, Way Day. It will offer discounts of up to 80% on more than 1 million products.
- Sales will be available across Wayfair’s collection of brands, including AllModern, Birch Lane, and Perigold.
- And “for the first time, Way Day products will be available in Decorify,” the company’s “generative AI-powered virtual room styler,” which allows shoppers to upload images of their spaces,get product recs, and style a room to their liking.
In earnings: Amazon will report its Q3 earnings Thursday on the heels of its fall Prime Day event. Results from Prime Day won’t be reflected in this week’s earnings report, given the quarter ended on Sept. 30, but Amazon is hoping this year’s cost-cutting measures will springboard the company into its most important quarter.
- Analysts anticipate Amazon will see a YoY increase in revenue.
- This month’s Prime Day sales event was a strong kickoff to the holiday shopping season, which has increasingly become more competitive for Amazon as other major retailers now hold their own sales events.