When shopping in a store, customers often care about the checkout process—whether the transaction went smoothly, if they were offered a discount, or even if the cashier was friendly and asked about their day.

While this kind of personalized experience can’t directly be replicated online, there are many pitfalls merchants fall into when constructing their checkout process. Largely speaking, retailers employ one checkout experience regardless of who is shopping or where they are coming from, which is a mistake when the e-commerce experience can be so varied depending on a number of variables, Jay Myers, co-founder of checkout platform Bold Commerce, told Retail Brew.

• The average rate shoppers abandon carts is just under 70%, according to the Baymard Institute, and the percentage of those who reach the payment section of a website but don’t actually complete a purchase due to extra costs is just under 50%.

But it doesn’t have to be this way, Myers said.

“There’s no one perfect product page; there’s no one perfect homepage,” he said. “There are companies…like an automotive company and a fashion company, but once you get to the checkout, they have the exact same checkout.”

Keep reading here.—KM

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With SoFi Invest®, you can get in on IPO action at IPO prices before they’re listed on an exchange. Visit SoFi.com/IPO to see what IPOs are available now.

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Here’s to making investing more accessible for the rest of us. Learn more.¹

Even an energy drink brand needs an infusion of energy sometimes, and that’s exactly what Celsius is undergoing with its college influencer program.

Celsius, which launched in 2004, has worked with college influencers on campuses for years, supplying them with products and swag—both for sharing with other students and as compensation for their efforts.

But as the new school year approached last summer, it introduced Celsius University, a program where the brand puts college students on the payroll, hiring one of what its website calls “paid student marketing ambassadors” per campus to be a point person for the brand and to oversee other (unpaid) influencers.

Students apply—including sending a video of why they’d be a “perfect fit for Celsius U”—and those who get the gig are flown to Boca Raton, Florida, where Celsius is based, for a three-day August conference. The conference ends, naturally, with a cap-and-gown ceremony.

• When the program launched in 2022, it hired 17 of the paid ambassadors.
• This year, the program expanded tenfold, with the brand hiring 170.

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.

Stacia Andersen’s expansive retail career includes over 20 years working in merchandising at Target. Now, she’s the EVP and chief customer officer at PetSmart.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? My role is complex, but my job is simple: make sure that PetSmart puts the customer at the center of everything we do.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? I’m the unofficial dog referee of the office. I’m a proud pet parent to a Vizsla named Macallan and our chief merchandising officer, Kristin Shane, also has a Vizsla, Ruby. These dogs are known for their endless energy and come with us to the office most days. When Kristin and I are in meetings together, those two really tear it up. They run circles during our executive meetings and often I’m the only one who can settle them down if they get too distracting.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? We recently teamed up with renowned interior designers Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent on the Nate + Jeremiah x PetSmart Collection. It was so much fun to work with them to align their vision and design philosophy with our expertise in pet care to create something new that is every bit as functional as it is stylish. Together, we made a vegan leather couch for hamsters and it’s the best-selling item in the collection—it doesn’t get much better than that!

Keep reading here.—EC

Today’s top retail reads.

Mall talk: Last year, European mall owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield said it would pull back its US presence, but this year has changed its tune as occupancy at some properties has reached pre-pandemic levels. (the Wall Street Journal)

Power strip: Inside the efforts to unionize at three retail locations—Trader Joe’s, Barnes & Noble, and Michaels—all located in a row in a Western Massachusetts strip mall. (Boston Globe)

Gold standard: Celebrating the life and career of Alexandra Waldman, co-founder of size-inclusive brand Universal Standard, who passed away on September 8. (Fast Company)

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This should not be considered a recommendation to participate in IPOs and investors should carefully read the offering prospectus to determine whether an offering is consistent with their investment objectives, risk tolerance, and financial situation. New offerings generally have high demand and there are a limited number of shares available for distribution to participants. Many customers may not be allocated shares and share allocations may be significantly smaller than the shares requested in the customer’s initial offer (Indication of Interest). For more information on the allocation process please visit IPO Allocation.

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