This story is part of our collaboration with CFO Brew on investing in changing consumer habits.

In a distant, forgotten epoch called the early 2000s, self-checkout machines, those infuriating devices in seemingly every grocery store waiting to inform you there’s “an unexpected item in the bagging area,” seemed like a good, even great, idea.

They’d bring retail stores into the modern age: Customers would whiz through lines, companies would save on labor costs, and everything would be new and shiny and good and perfect. Lately, though, they’ve started to look like a vestige of the boom years.

Dollar General, Target, Walmart, and Costco, among others, have all either pulled back on or tweaked their self-checkout process recently. And in California, there’s a newly proposed bill on the table that could force some stores to close self-checkout lanes without adequate staffing.

There’s just one issue: Retailers spent the start of the 2000s convincing people this was a worthy and effective technology.

Keep reading here.—NP

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The controversial weight-loss drugs known as GLP-1s are now available from Hims & Hers, and the direct-to-consumer wellness brand is touting the fact that its compound version is cheaper than name brands such as Ozempic and Wegovy and will help alleviate a nationwide shortage.

“We are leveraging our size and scale to secure access to one of the highest-quality supplies of compounded GLP-1s available today in order to be a part of easing the strain this shortage is placing on the millions of Americans who have obesity and are looking for help,” CEO Andrew Dudum wrote in a blog post.

But making compounded GLP-1s available to a larger customer base could come with some risks, according to Michael Grosberg, VP of product management at Model N, a software company that helps life sciences and high-tech companies manage their finances.

Keep reading here.—AV

If you’re addicted to retail therapy, maybe stay off of Amazon. Prime Video will soon start showing shoppable ads when viewers press pause on the shows they are watching, Amazon announced ahead of its upfront event this week.

The new ad formats, called interactive pause ads, will look similar to the pause ads that have become ubiquitous across the streaming landscape for the past five years. When viewers press pause on their remotes when watching Prime Video programming, ad creative will appear, and in Amazon’s case, there will also be “Add to Cart” and “Learn More” options.

Keep reading here on Marketing Brew.—JS

Talk about influence. 48% of consumers follow mega influencers and celebs, and 25% say celebrity endorsements influence their purchase decisions. Not surprisingly, retail trends are similarly influenced (literally and figuratively). Suzy’s got the scoop in this complimentary report on how influencer marketing is transforming retail. Read all about it.