DTC has become “a bit of a dirty word,” Lovesac founder and CEO Shawn Nelson told Retail Brew. The furniture company executive said that the DTC label is similar to other recently diminished buzzwords, such as NFT and crypto.

“I don’t think it’s going to go away,” he added. “I just think that it’s going to drift.”

Nelson’s comments come during a period of transition for some brands claiming the DTC label. Many companies are relying more on wholesale to increase sales and improve the reliability of demand in an uncertain market. But whether this pivot marks a slow retreat from the DTC model is a matter of some debate.

For Nelson, the DTC label was always just a punchy three-letter pitch for investors, not a lasting business model. Case in point: Lovesac considered itself a more traditional retailer prior to 2016, but then pivoted after the success of DTC brands such as Warby Parker and Casper.

“Frankly, it was a story that investors can understand because it was a story that was being talked about,” he said.

Out of juice: Now, with venture capital pulling back and DTC brands struggling with profitability, Nelson said the label has lost its “juice,” adding that “it’s not toxic, but I don’t think it’s what it was five years ago when it was all the rage.”

Keep reading here.—AV

The team at Hibbitt needed help engaging a younger target audience in a meaningful and impactful way. Fortunately, the answer was in their back pocket the whole time.

They embraced mobile marketing—and they turned to Vibes to help them do it.

Vibes’ mobile engagement platform allowed Hibbett to do more than simple SMS marketing, like send text messages at exactly the right time (aka right when their new product launched) and give timely order updates to get their customers’ orders in their hands ASAP.

And the results speak for themselves. Hibbett achieved a 99% monthly SMS subscriber retention + a 27% increase in SMS-attributed revenue year over year.

Your audience is waiting. Send ’em a text.

Online prices dipped to a 40-month low YoY, according to the monthly Adobe Digital Price Index (DPI) published this week.

In August, overall online prices fell 3.2%, completing a full year of YoY price drops. Month over month prices increased 0.4%, which Adobe attributed to a rebound from the deep online shopping discounts on July’s Amazon Prime Day, along with competing events held by other retailers.

The DPI, which analyzes 1 trillion visits to retail sites and 100 million SKUs across 18 categories including apparel, books, personal care, and furniture and bedding, found that 11 categories saw YoY prices drop, while six categories’ prices dipped month over month.

Keep reading here.—EC

As pay hikes for new hires wind down across the country, Walmart is lowering the starting wage for some positions in the name of consistency.

“Consistent starting pay results in consistent staffing and better customer service while also creating new opportunities for associates to gain new skills from experience across the store and lay the groundwork for their career regardless of where they start,” Walmart spokesperson Anne Hatfield told Retail Brew in an emailed statement.

Prior to the change, both entry-level stockers and digital fulfillment workers were in many cases paid around $1 more than other entry-level roles. Now, all new hires will make between $14 and $19 per hour, the rates Walmart announced in January.

Hatfield said the change didn’t result in a pay decrease for existing employees, and that ~50,000 workers actually got a pay raise because their wages were below the new minimum.

Keep reading here.—AV

Today’s top retail reads.

Show it off: New York Fashion Week gave smaller brands the opportunity to showcase their sustainably sourced products and practices that are becoming more popular in the industry. (Inc.)

Watch and see: Although e-commerce is still an important sales channel for luxury brands, many of these companies are ramping up openings of boutiques around the world. (the New York Times)

Whinin’ and stealin’: Many retailers have reported less than stellar profits this year, and many have cited theft. But it turns out other factors might be even more to blame. (Insider)

SMS season: Learn how to send the right message at the right time with Vibes. They did the research to find the universally perfect time of day for brands to send text messages.*

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The numbers you need to know.

Inflation has exacerbated an issue that already affected many Americans: food insecurity.

Rather than shopping at one grocery store or supermarket, consumers are shopping around, according to new data from Attest. A survey found that 40% of Americans shop for groceries once a week, while 29% go two to three times a week.

• Two-thirds of Americans (67%) shop at two to three stores for groceries, as opposed to 27% who shop at one.

A plurality of Americans (39%) eat out one to three times a month, and 22.8% do so less than once a month, while only 13% say they can afford to eat out three to seven days a week.

• “[Food and beverage] brands and retailers must continue to adapt to real consumer needs imposed by macroeconomic conditions,” Attest founder and CEO Jeremy King said in a statement. “It’s likely that the outlook will remain challenging for months to come, with the certainty that F&B consumption is in a state of transition and the possibility that some of these new consumer behaviors will become permanent.”

Meanwhile, how consumers cook their meals is evolving as prices continue to rise. Although the microwave is the most common appliance found in homes at 85%, 58% said they also have an air fryer.

• Attest also found that cookbooks are “virtually dead,” with only 11% of those surveyed saying they use them to find recipes. That inspiration has shifted to websites and applications (36%) and social media (28%); friends and family still clock in at 21%.