With on-trend products at approachable price points, mass cosmetics had a massive year, serving as a particularly glowing highlight within the booming beauty category.

Among those seeing a banner beauty year is L’Oréal, which reported in September that its consumer products division notched its best nine months on record. This success has come in part from buzz around its innovation, Nathalie Gerschtein, president of L’Oréal’s consumer products division, North America, who oversees a portfolio of brands which includes NYX, L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline New York, and Garnier, told Retail Brew.

That’s true of its holiday strategy, too, as the season is a time to “bring excitement” to its brands, Gerschtein said. The portfolio of brands had a strong performance during the “Turkey Five”—the big shopping days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, she shared. Sales were up 64% compared to the period last year, with its first foray into TikTok Shop contributing to those numbers.

Keep reading here.—EC

The only consistent thing about e-commerce consumer expectations is that they’re always changing. Of course, that can complicate clear, decisive plans of action for retailers.

Luckily, if you’ve got Rokt’s latest report in hand, the future can look clearer. Rokt commissioned The Harris Poll to conduct research with 6k consumers across the US, Australia, the UK, Germany, France, and Japan about their online shopping expectations. That’s right, folks—we’re goin’ global.

Key areas explored include:

• the paradox of choice and the rise of relevance
• AI shopping and young consumers
• business blindspots with missed contextualization

Stay relevant to the modern consumer by taking a peek at Rokt x The Harris Poll’s timely findings—and evolve your e-comm for the better.

The Thanksgiving hangover is a little more intense than usual for Starbucks this year.

The coffee giant recently experienced an 11-day slide in its stock that wiped out 9.4% of its market value, or nearly $12 billion. It’s a bit of whiplash for Starbucks, since at the start of the month, the company reported stronger-than-expected results from the Pumpkin Spice Latte promotion that started in August.

• At the time, CEO Laxman Narasimhan told investors that the company saw “record-breaking average weekly sales.”
• Now, Starbucks is seeing a “material slowing” in sales, JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst John Ivankoe noted.

The good news (or bad news, depending how you look at it) is that Starbucks isn’t the only company in its category feeling the pain.

Keep reading here.—KM

Here come the golden arches: In the face of rising demand, McDonald’s plans to expand its footprint to 50,000 stores by 2027, marking “the fastest period of growth in Company history.”

The chain’s footprint as of September 30 was 41,198 locations, so the expansion would add more than 8,800 additional restaurants. The pace of these openings is set to accelerate over the next four years, hitting a run rate of 1,000 gross openings in 2027.

The announcement is an update to McDonald’s ongoing “Accelerating the Arches” growth strategy, which also includes additional investments in delivery, digital, and drive-thru services.

Some highlights include a plan to increase its active loyalty base to 250 million and expand its “Ready on Arrival” option in key markets for mobile customers.

Keep reading here.—AV