Let’s rewind a few months to late spring. Consumers were blessed with discounts as retailers were attempting to shed inventory ahead of the holiday shopping season.

So what should retailers’ discount strategy be going into Black Friday—the traditional start to the holiday shopping season—amid inflationary pressures? Well, shopping events from earlier in the year might offer some insight into how consumers are approaching Black Friday.

Hot discount summer: Amazon held two Prime Day shopping events this year: one in July, and the other earlier this month. The first Prime Day and its competing sales events were largely successful, as total online retail sales in the US during the event surpassed $11.9 billion, according to Adobe Analytics data.

On the other hand, Amazon’s second Prime Day event, dubbed the Prime Early Access Sale, didn’t see the same success. Although it sold over 100 million items during the two-day event, that was 3x fewer products than the July event.

On the other, other hand, Target’s second Deal Days event of the year, which ran a week ahead of the Prime Early Access Sale, gave the company more foot traffic nationwide—a 3.2% increase compared to the previous week, according to Placer.ai.

“The rationale behind Target Deal Days and Amazon Early Access is similar to Black Friday holidays in the past. Consumers respond when they think they’re getting a better deal than they usually would,” RJ Hottovy, head of analytical research at Placer.ai, told Retail Brew.

So what should retailers do? Hugh Fletcher, global marketing director and thought leadership lead at Wunderman Thompson Commerce, believes companies will have to work much harder to encourage Black Friday spend, but the pressure felt by brands, retailers, and marketplaces doesn’t come without a potential opportunity.

Keep reading here.—KM

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

Megan Sprenger worked in shopper marketing for brands like PepsiCo, Heineken, and Arm & Hammer before joining beer giant Anheuser-Busch this year. She spearheads retail programming across the company’s small format, drug, and dollar retailers.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? We leverage applicable data and insights to craft programming and messaging aimed at talking to and influencing shopper behavior along the path to purchase and drawing them to retail to purchase our products.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? My team works on national retail accounts for our largest sales channel, c-store.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? In general, working with our retailers to uncover opportunities for growth and solving through strong programming, rooted in shopper trends and insights.

Which emerging retail trend are you most excited about this year, and why? I’m continuously interested in how digital commerce continues to evolve. With the rise of mobile usage and new shopper expectations, brands and retailers are always looking for ways to stay ahead of the curve and meet those demands. Working with our retailers to expand their retail presence outside of brick and mortar and tap into these new shopping behaviors to drive growth in the digital space is very rewarding.

What’s your go-to coffee order? I’m fairly low-fuss when it comes to coffee—a splash of cream is all I need!

Worst piece of advice you’ve received? “Don’t rock the boat”—some advice a senior VP shouted over his shoulder after I met him at the coffee machine on my first day. From then on, I did my best to do the opposite. Growth means challenging the status quo and finding ways to evolve and optimize, especially in shopper marketing, as the needs and demands of shoppers are constantly changing.

What was your favorite retail product when you were 15, and what’s your favorite retail product now? At 15, I was definitely at the register begging my parents to get J-14 or Seventeen Magazine in the basket. These days, I’ve graduated to Vogue or Vanity Fair and added in some guilty-pleasure sour gummy worms to snack on, too.

In 2022, building a smart city is no longer just about who can produce the most ambitious technological vision. Instead, it’s about something much more logical: how tech can help fulfill the needs of city residents.

And those needs are significant. From making transportation more efficient, to improving food security, to maintaining a city’s sewers, officials have their work cut out for them. Tech can help with this work, but it can also serve as a distraction. It’s up to city officials to parse those distinctions.

To explore how cities and companies are trying to fit tech into the vibrant, complex, and human world of urban life, Emerging Tech Brew produced an interactive package covering everything from robotaxis to vertical farms.

Click here to check out the interactive and learn about what it means to build a smart city in 2022. And Retail Brew readers? Be sure to check out this story on Phoenix’s high-tech plan to grow its own veggies.

Today’s top retail reads.

Fast track: C-stores, like 7-Eleven, are increasingly going head-to-head with fast food restaurants as they grow their ready-to-eat businesses. (The Takeout)

Thrift shift: Secondhand shopping is no longer just for consumers looking to save $$ on clothes. “When I started in this business, there was a stigma around purchasing previously owned items, and that stigma is gone,” Winmark CEO Brett Heffes said. (CNBC)

Full speed ahead: As it adds distribution centers in the US, Shein is becoming a more formidable competitor for its fast fashion peers like Forever 21 and H&M. (Bloomberg)

Got marketing on the mind? So do we over at Marketing Brew, our newsletter covering the latest news, developments, and ins and outs of the marketing world. Stay up to date on what’s brewing when you subscribe here.

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Hey retail readers, have you heard?

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Incredible speakers from HBO, REI, Vans, and more will take to the stage to tackle the dizzying industry topics we love so dearly. Get 15% off your tickets using code RetailMarketers at checkout!

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• Fashion retailers should push gift cards and discounts this holiday season
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