Man or machine? It’s the commonly asked question when discussing the future of labor in the United States and globally.

Most companies, including retailers, use automation in some way to handle repetitive tasks at a faster pace. Experts told Retail Brew that these kinds of investments pay off in the long term from an ROI perspective. But where the rubber meets the road is whether or not automation will remove back-end jobs that are already largely outsourced overseas.

A slight majority of Americans report worrying about automation affecting jobs in retail (55%), customer service (54%), delivery (52%), and supply chain/fulfillment (51%), according to a Harris Poll/Retail Brew survey. Plus, a third of employed Americans (33%) are worried about automation affecting their own jobs.

“Every time we’ve become more efficient, people are afraid that we’re not going to have work done,” Lior Elazary, CEO at inVia Robotics, told Retail Brew. “It’s just historically, that’s never been true. And I think the reason for it is that we just don’t stand still.”

According to a 2019 study from Oxford Economics, more than 20 million manufacturing jobs around the world will be taken over by robots by 2030. The Oxford study says it won’t just affect the US workforce, given that 14 million robots could be put to work in China alone.

But this is where the disconnect lies. According to a 2022 study published in Socious: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, only 14% of workers say they’ve lost their job to a robot. Also, those who hadn’t experienced job replacement still estimated that 29% of jobs have been supplanted by robots.

Yariv Bash, co-founder and CEO of end-to-end drone delivery company Flytrex, told Retail Brew people shouldn’t be worried about robots taking jobs. His company specifically hires workers to operate drones that deliver goods to consumers.

Keep reading here.—KM

In February, Amazon announced that it had led a $20 million Series A investment round for Superplastic, a character-design studio that specializes in making celebrities—digital celebrities, that is.

Superplastic’s computer-generated virtual influencers have social media accounts, cult followings, and brand partnerships, just like human influencers. And the characters are surprising, to say the least.

There’s Dayzee, an “incorrigible flirt” who is blue with spiky purple hair, who holds Ph.D.s in nuclear physics and aerospace engineering, and has more than 700,000 followers on Instagram.

Then there’s Janky (a dumpster-diving “streetwear icon” who is also a…cat?) and Guggimon (a “fashion horror artist, ax collector, and DJ,” who happens to be a white rabbit with vampire-like teeth).

So, where does Amazon fit into this slightly confusing space? Alexa Fund director Paul Bernard said Amazon has been watching the synthetic celebrity trend gain traction and believes it represents a new form of intellectual property targeted to younger generations.

“In a lot of ways, this is representing how the metaverse is actually taking shape in customers’ lives,” Bernard told Retail Brew via email. “It’s an engaging way for brands to role-play with customers and fans, and we can see this playing out on a global scale.”

A burgeoning retail trend?

Virtual influencers are already taking off in certain markets. In China, for example, the virtual influencer industry is projected to be worth more than $42 billion by 2030, and elsewhere in Asia, brands like Calvin Klein, Nike, and Adidas have paired up with top digital celebrities from Japan and Korea.

Some US brands, like Pacsun, are already on board. In 2022, Pacsun partnered on a back-to-school campaign in 2022 with virtual influencer Miquela (whose creator, Brud, is another recipient of Amazon funding.)

Keep reading here.—MA

Today’s top retail reads.

Sit happens: The office furniture resale market in the Bay Area is booming, thanks to tech layoffs and offices emptied by the pandemic. (the New York Times)

A rum for their money: How an LA distiller shifted to nonalcoholic spirits. (Marketplace)

Black and blue: Black coffee drinkers flummox baristas who insist on leaving room for cream, and still endure long waits because of everyone else’s complicated orders. Bashar Muslih complained in a tweet about “waiting at Starbucks for your black coffee but the person before you ordered venti ice crisscross apple sauce double shot check engine oat milk diet coke macchiato with light triangle ice cubes.” (the Wall Street Journal)

Unbeatable brands: Last year we saw post-pandemic shopping booms give way to historic inflation. Now Placer.ai’s white paper explores how 10 brands created opportunities in an uncertain market and developed winning strategies for 2023.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

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.

Last week, the Morning Brew newsletter wrote about a new draft rule from the FDA that said oat, almond, and other plant-based milk can keep referring to themselves on their packaging as “milk.” The dairy industry has long argued that plant-based kinds of milk dilute the meaning of the term “milk” and has instead called them “beverages.”

You tell us: Should plant-based milk brands be able to call themselves milk, or do you agree with the dairy industry that only beverages from an udder should be allowed to call themselves milk? Cast your vote here.

Circling back: Last week, we asked if you want the restaurants you order from to deliver food in tamper-evident packaging. You surely do, with 96.8% saying you want restaurants to use tamper-evident packaging for deliveries, 2.1% saying you don’t want restaurants to use tamper-evident packaging for deliveries, and 1.1% of you didn’t know or weren’t sure.

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

• How the safety pin went from utilitarian to statement
• Three questions with Cynthia Rowley
• What retailers should know about the debate over SNAP