Much like stand-up comedy, e-commerce is all about nailing the delivery. That’s why retailers have execs whose job it is to make the shipment process as quick, easy, and inexpensive as possible.

There are a lot of ways to do that, and they’re not always simple, so we caught up with delivery heads from Kroger, Shein, and Walmart to share how they’re delivering on their top priorities.

Bill Bennett, VP of e-commerce, Kroger

In March 2020, the run rate for Kroger’s digital sales grew from $5 billion to $10 billion in three days, according to Bill Bennett, the grocer’s VP of e-commerce. Since then, he said the company has been working to turn the spike into a “sustainable trend.”

• To do this, it’s rolled out a slew of delivery programs, including its 30-minute delivery solution, Kroger Delivery Now, and a Boost membership, which offers shoppers next-day and two-hour delivery on select orders. Still, that growth isn’t without its challenges.

George Chiao, president of US operations, Shein

As its popularity grows stateside, Chinese fast-fashion retailer Shein is zooming in on localization, George Chiao, its president of US operations, told us.

• The company recently opened a 600,000-square-foot distribution center in western Indiana, he noted, which it is working to expand to 1.5 million square feet and will be adding more mechanization and automation.
• Plus, early next year, it’s opening a 1.8-million-square-foot facility in Southern California. A center in the Northeast will likely follow, he said.

Jennifer McKeehan, SVP of end-to-end delivery, Walmart

With its massive reach, Walmart’s main delivery challenges come in meeting customer expectations, said Jennifer McKeehan, SVP of end-to-end delivery. Those include making more items available for pickup and delivery and ensuring a driver is available in the timeframe customers request their deliveries, she said.

Keep reading here.—EC

By now, you’ve probably got a handle on shrinkflation, the portmanteau for when manufacturers make their products smaller rather than raise prices. Now it’s time to meet shrinkflation’s mustache-twirling cousin, skimpflation: This is when a product stays the same size but is made more cheaply, either by switching to lower-cost ingredients or decreasing the portion of an expensive ingredient while increasing the portion of a cheaper one.

Edgar Dworsky, a longtime consumer advocate and lawyer, has documented cases of shrinkflation for decades, most recently, the case of cereal brands downsizing their family-size and giant-size boxes. But he says that while shoppers increasingly notice when products have been downsized, determining that a product has been reformulated is far more difficult.

Skimpflation is “very hard to detect” because consumers “really don’t know when a manufacturer has changed the recipe,” Dworsky told Retail Brew.

But sometimes consumers do notice. And if Conagra thought no one would when it reformulated some of its Smart Balance products recently, it was in for a big surprise.

Start newsing the spread. Dworsky documented the way Smart Balance has reformulated its buttery spread in a recent story on his website, Mouse Print, that showed the old and new products side by side.

• In small print at the bottom of the label, it notes that the new version has 39% vegetable oils, down from 64% before.
• Now, the ingredient list has “water” as the first (and most plentiful) ingredient and “vegetable oil blend” second; before, it was the inverse.

Consumers may not have noticed the changes on the label, but they did notice the changes to the product itself. And when they did, they put down their butter knives—and picked up their pitchforks.

Keep reading here.—AAN

On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Today, we’re getting to know Swosti Panda, who, for the past three years, has served as Google’s application product manager for physical stores, where she works across e-commerce, retail, and supply-chain tech. Learn more about her role (and some of her favorite beverages) below.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? I work with my retail stakeholders and associates to map the retail business reprocesses in the inventory and point-of-sale systems. I make sure our systems are capable of handling huge transactions and can operate at scale.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? I work a lot with UX designers and UX researchers to provide an appealing and user-friendly experience to our customers and store associates.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? I was part of the project where we launched two Google stores in New York City. One is a flagship store at Chelsea, and another one is a neighborhood store in Brooklyn. These stores are very lively, and customers love the layout and ambiance.

Which emerging retail trend are you most excited about this year, and why? How technology is influencing the new retail store formats, like Just Walk Out tech, Dash Carts, etc.

What’s your go-to coffee order? Chai tea latte.

Worst piece of advice you’ve received? After working for a few years in supply chain consulting for firms like Apple and Syngenta, I decided to do my master’s in the US and I received a lot of advice around how it would be detrimental to my career to take a break from the corporate world.

What was your favorite retail product when you were 15, and what’s your favorite retail product now? My favorite retail product in high school was Frooti [a mango-flavored drink from India], and right now, my go-to product is Vita Coco.

Today’s top retail reads.

Floor model: Investors weigh in on the possible end of the DTC business model for consumer brands. “They raised way too much money way too easily,” said Headline founding partner Mathias Schilling. (Fortune)

Makeover montage: From a new “TikTok Made Me Buy It” shopping option, to a collab with “Euphoria” actor Cherry Chloe, beauty brand Urban Decay is revamping its digital presence to appeal to Gen Z. (Glossy)

The tax of hacks: From cheaper Chipotle burritos to elaborate Starbucks drinks, TikTok users love a secret menu hack. For these short-staffed chains, it’s becoming a labor issue. (Eater)

Learn: Mark your calendar for October 17, when the Brew’s founder reveals his biggest content strategy secrets (aka helps you find that new customer base you’ve been searching for). Secure your seat.

Sticker shook: Rising ad rates, privacy regs, and economic uncertainty have booted many brands off Facebook and Instagram. See how DTC advertisers are rethinking the game in our latest article, sponsored by Black Crow AI.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

The SKU: A Retail Brew Summit is coming to NYC in just two weeks!

In just one day away from your desk, you can expand your professional network, gain perspective from leaders at top retail brands such as Crocs and Kroger, and head home with strategic insights that could help reduce your brand’s carbon footprint, increase brand awareness and affinity, and much more. Tickets are only $599 for a limited time!

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

• Why Pacsun teamed up with the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a clothing collection
• Amazon’s Prime Day 2.0 aims to move holiday shopping before Black Friday
• Calpak is all in on live shopping