Consumers take a cautious approach to back-to-school shopping: To drive shoppers to spend, Macy’s revamped its Epic Threads brand, Kohl’s added Limited Too, and Old Navy offered cash back.

Consumers don’t feel great, but they’re still spending: Retail sales blew past expectations in June despite subdued confidence among lower-income households.

Amazon’s pricing and returns policies draw complaints from sellers: Merchants flag lost revenues, higher fees, and inadequate seller support as reasons for their discontent.

Walmart’s retail media network generated 11 billion impressions in Q1: The retailer is chipping away at Amazon’s dominance, despite the latter’s moves to boost non-endemic spend.

PepsiCo and Conagra temper outlooks as they struggle with consumers’ shrinkflation concerns: Sales volumes for both companies fell as private labels capture record dollar and unit share.

Kroger leans into value: The grocer is hosting a big sale about a month before a crucial court hearing on its proposed merger with Albertsons.

Etsy fights against Amazonification with new seller policies: The marketplace is overhauling its product designations to ensure all items have a human touch.

Gen Alphas’ anti-aging skincare regimen causes concerns: Brands and retailers are under pressure to disclose product risks as tweens copy their favorite beauty influencers.

Retailers shifted the peak shipping season earlier this year: In an uncertain macroeconomic environment, that could lead some merchants that play the percentages to still miss the mark.

Ecommerce will account for 35% of all back-to-school shopping this year: That’s a massive shift from the 23% share it accounted for prior to the pandemic as consumers embrace convenience.

Mercado Libre is beating Amazon at its own game in Latin America: The former is expected to represent more than half of all retail media ad spending in the region, while the latter continues to lose share to local players in Brazil and Mexico.

Walmart bets on AR: The retailer experiments with several use cases for the technology that it hopes can make shopping online as immersive, interactive, and social as in-person experience.

The nation’s largest fast- food chains race to the bottom: Taco Bell and Sonic joined Starbucks, McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s in rolling out low-cost value meals to attract cost-conscious consumers.

TikTok Shop joins Amazon in holding a July sale: The marketplace hopes exclusive discounts on brands like L’Oréal and live-shopping events will boost GMV.

Amazon Prime Day conditioned shoppers to expect bargains in July: That’s driven Google, Target, Walmart, and others to seize on the opportunity to drive consumers to spend.

Consumers spend cautiously as inflation perceptions, higher debt payments hurt confidence: But we expect retail sales growth to be healthy as buying power recovers.

Amazon to launch budget marketplace to compete with Temu, Shein: The retailer is copying their playbook—complete with cheap products and longer delivery times—to stay ahead in the ecommerce race.

Supply chain headaches mount for retailers: Disruptions in the Red Sea are driving up shipping rates and creating backups at key ports.

Target looks to its online marketplace to drive growth: The retailer’s new partnership with Shopify could expand its selection online and in stores, while also boosting its retail media business.

68% of shoppers were deceived into buying counterfeits last year: Copycats’ rapid growth is a mounting problem for global players like Nike and Amazon as well as small merchants.