What happens when one of the biggest retailers in the US decides that an entire product category needs to move away from fossil fuels in five short years?

The retailer in question is Home Depot, which last June set a deadline of 2028 to transition 85% of its outdoor lawn equipment category to battery-operated. That means the vast majority of leaf blowers, chainsaws, and lawn mowers would have to say goodbye to the combustion engine for good to continue selling in Home Depot.

On the surface, this might sound simple: A major retailer drew a line in the sand, and now manufacturers can either play along or lose a coveted spot on its shelves. In reality, losing that shelf space isn’t a very palatable option for most product makers, as the big-box chain commands nearly one-fifth of the US home improvement market.

But Home Depot didn’t drop the deadline out of nowhere. It came after years of close collaboration with suppliers and not a small amount of pressure. Indeed, the retailer leveraged its size and scale to get companies on board.

Keep reading here.—AV

Sure, it’s still September, but Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just around the seasonal corner. Time is of the essence for fourth-quarter marketing strategies—and Listrak can help you get ready.

Their annual holiday resource hub has all the tips, advice, and to-dos for executing a successful holiday season. And it’s all available in bite-sized webisodes and downloadable guides to help you find the EOY insights you need.

Interested in tips to ensure inbox deliverability? Want some SMS compliance reminders? How ’bout a step-by-step marketing audit guide? Listrak’s holiday hub has it all.

As the industry’s integrated digital marketing platform trusted by top retailers and brands (think: vineyard vines, Hunter Boots, S’well), Listrak’s retail experts know how to make the most out of the holiday season. Let them help you reach (ahem, exceed) your quarterly and end-of-year goals.

Check out their resource hub.

We made it to the third and final day of Groceryshop. Here are some notable things we heard before recycling our lanyards and taking a much-deserved break from the word “omnichannel.”

The conference has been buzzing about Instacart after it made its stock market debut on Groceryshop’s first day (the stock jumped 40% on Tuesday, but slumped the next day), so seats were filled on Thursday to hear from Instacart COO Asha Sharma. She couldn’t say much about the IPO, at risk of being dragged into “IPO jail,” Groceryshop’s VP of content Joe Laszlo joked, but she did share one thing: “Thank you to all of our retailers and our advertisers who helped us get to this moment. There’s no place I’d rather be except with our partners right now.”

Sharma also discussed recent innovations at the company, including the Ask Instacart feature it introduced in May, which uses generative AI to answer shoppers’ questions. The tech has required “untraining” consumers who have gotten used to searching for keywords rather than speaking whole questions, but it’s seen growing adoption and conversion rates, Sharma said. Overall, she noted that for grocers, a focus on engagement with consumers is key.

Keep reading here.—EC

Japanese beauty brand Shiseido is expanding its thriving biz into what it hopes will become a full-blown beauty and wellness empire. The retailer will launch Shiseido Beauty Wellness, aka SBW, in February 2024.

After it conducts initial research and development in Japan in partnership with Tsumura and Kagome, the brand also plans to introduce SBW in other Asian markets including China, WWD reported.

The new brand, which aims to bring “harmony to the skin, body, and mind,” represents the first step toward Shiseido’s goal of becoming a “personal beauty wellness company” focused on “inner beauty” by 2030.

Keep reading here.—JS

Today’s top retail reads.

Ladies first: Under Armour appointed a woman as CEO but beyond that, its efforts to appeal to women as consumers have fallen short. (Retail Dive)

All encompassing: Inside L Catterton, the investment giant with stakes in everything from LVMH and Birkenstock to food (human and pet) companies. (the Business of Fashion)

Somethin’ extra: Cultured meat companies are going out of their way to cater to Jewish and Islamic communities who prefer halal or kosher meat. (the New York Times)

Cue the countdown: Check out Wunderkind’s comprehensive guide on Black Friday + Cyber Monday for predictions on consumer behavior, recs for meeting target customers, and expert advice on deploying BFCM strategies. Get prepped.*

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Three of the stories below are real...and one is most definitely not. Can you spot the fake?

1. One tourist dining at a Singapore seafood restaurant called the police after being charged $1,000 for “a little bit of crab.”
2. A Canada-based alternative meat company is being sued for adding bits of actual lizard skin to its products, which the company claims was for “enhancing texture.”
3. Fanta drinkers are freaking out about the extra neon color of the drink in the US compared to its more muted looking counterpart in Europe that comes with less artificial additives.
4. Kraft is recalling over 83,000 cases of Kraft Singles American Cheese after determining consumers could potentially choke on it.

Keep reading for the answer.