Sequels are notorious for not being able to capture the magic of the original, so what does that mean for the Everything Store? No, it’s not déjà vu. We’re gearing up for Amazon’s second Prime Day of the year.

For starters, Prime Day 2.0 is Amazon’s opportunity to get out ahead of the holiday shopping season, a trend that’s in line with consumer expectations, Fareeha Ali, director of market intelligence at Mirakl, told Retail Brew.

The two-day shopping sale, dubbed the Prime Early Access Sale, marks the first time Amazon has held the event twice in the same calendar year (the first was in July), and it comes at a time when consumers are looking to sidestep delivery delays and price hikes.

• “We’re seeing consumers starting to look for more cost savings and bargain shop a little more,” Ali said. “That’s kind of what we’re anticipating for the holiday season, so having a big sale helps with that.”

Shoppers are now primed for deals much further ahead of the typical holiday season that traditionally started around Black Friday. Less than two-thirds (60%) of consumers plan on using the second Prime Day to kick off their holiday shopping, according to a Klaviyo survey.

• And more than three-quarters of consumers (78%) plan to exclusively purchase holiday gifts during Prime Day as opposed to waiting for Black Friday, with 35% of respondents saying they expect better deals during this upcoming sale.
• Plus, a third of shoppers anticipate bigger discounts from retailers across the board this holiday season.

“It actually will benefit a lot of brands because so many brands rely heavily on Q4 shopping,” Val Geisler, customer advocacy lead at Klaviyo, told Retail Brew. “I’ve talked to so many brand operators who pay their entire payroll from Q4.”

Keep reading here.—KM

Luggage brand Calpak is no stranger to digital trends. From celebrity partnerships to TikTok, the brand has seen it all. But in 2022, Calpak began experimenting with live shopping directly on its website, and according to the brand, the payoff has been huge.

Livestreaming wasn’t a complete unknown to Calpak’s marketing team when it began experimenting with streaming on the company’s site in July. When Instagram rolled out live shopping in 2020, Calpak used the feature to give customers a more in-depth understanding of products than is possible with an image, director of marketing and sales Jeannie Shin explained.

Instagram streams weren’t necessarily a big revenue driver, but they were a great way to answer customer questions and show off the features of Calpak’s products, she added. But when the brand launched live shopping on its own platform, it was a whole different story.

“We immediately saw so many viewers, we saw so much engagement, we saw so many conversions,” Shin told Retail Brew. “From day one, we were like, ‘This is something.’”

New channel, new opportunities

Shin said one reason Instagram livestreams weren’t as successful for the brand was because the videos weren’t accessible once the event was over, meaning Calpak couldn’t drive eyeballs to them after the fact using its existing email list.

• Calpak has hosted 10 live shopping events on its website in the last three months, including product demonstrations and flash sales, with promotions that are live only for the hour of the event, Shin said.
• Conversion rates for the events are extremely high, up to around 20% depending on the promotion, she said. (Ecommerce conversion on average is around 2%.)

Keep reading here.—MA

Today’s top retail reads.

Nickeled and Primed: With Amazon expected to get a revenue boost from Prime Day, as Katishi delved into above, some warehouse workers are reporting raises of only 50 cents to $1 an hour. (Insider)

When all is shed and done: Outdoor dining sheds are one step closer to being permanent in New York, despite a recent legal challenge. (Curbed)

Kernel of truth: In defense of candy corn, the candy industry’s most bashed Halloween treat: “Who, I ask the candy-corn haters, do you think was pining after candy corn for its sophisticated taste, like some snobbish food critic awaiting a locally sourced fresh-honeycomb-and-young-dandelion-blooms rendition of the things? No one.” (The Atlantic)

Save the day: Are you an inspiring leader? Powerful planner? Wearer of many hats? Let Smartsheet help you figure out which professional power YOU bring to the table. Meet your powers here.*

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Today is the last day to enter The SKU ticket giveaway!

If you’re interested in networking and engaging with top retail brands, give us a quick update on what you’ve been up to in the world of retail and you’ll be entered to win a ticket to The SKU.

We almost forgot the best part: You don’t have to come alone. You’ll also get a second ticket to give to one of your colleagues.

At the mall, it’s where band tees are the only tees. In Retail Brew, it’s where we invite readers to weigh in on a trending retail topic.

Starbucks recently fired a barista, Will Westlake, who worked at a store near Buffalo, New York, after he repeatedly refused to remove an anti-suicide pin from his uniform, an apparent violation of the company’s dress code. The pin said, “You are not alone,” and promoted the website of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The barista told Bloomberg that he wore the pin to honor a co-worker who died by suicide earlier this year. And he contended that he was fired because he had been active in organizing a union at the store.

Starbucks Workers United filed a claim with the NLRB “alleging that the company was retaliating against him for his union activism.” Starbucks denied that Westlake’s union organizing had anything to do with his firing, and claimed it was due to him violating the dress code by wearing the anti-suicide pin.

Putting the union matter aside, we wonder what you think of Starbucks’ stated reason for the firing.

You tell us: Do you think Starbucks should have fired an employee for repeatedly refusing to remove a pin from his uniform because the pin violated Starbucks’ dress code?

Circling back: While many have pronounced the skinny jeans trend dead, a recent study by retail platform Edited said, “Not so fast”: The portion of men’s denim jeans delivered to retailers that were skinny-fit was 25% from January 1–July 31, and for women, it was 21%.

We asked what your deal was with skinny jeans, and 38.2% of you said you purchased skinny jeans in the past, still wear them, and you’ll continue to purchase and wear them; 32.9% said you purchased skinny jeans in the past and still wear them, but don’t see yourselves buying them anymore. Another 17.1% of you purchased skinny jeans in the past, but you don’t wear them anymore and won’t be buying them again, while 11.8% never purchased or wore them, and have no plans to do either.

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

• Logo big or go home: How FedEx’s secret arrow was created accidentally
• Fashionphile’s CEO on the changing luxury resale landscape
• How Sally Beauty revamped employee training for the personalized personal care era