April Lane has had a long—and sometimes winding—retail career that led to her most recent gig: chief merchandising officer at Thrive Market.

Lane, just five weeks into her new role when she spoke to Retail Brew, began as an associate focusing on retail and CPG strategy at Boston Consulting Group in 2002 before holding roles at Limited Brands and Nike, working on the launch of surf brand Hurley’s e-commerce website, and eventually joined Amazon in 2010. But before any of that, she was a cashier at Whole Foods in college, a role that shaped the way she saw the grocery category and informed the work she did once she joined Amazon, and eventually, Thrive Market.

Membership-based marketplace Thrive Market ships its national branded and private-label food and beverage products, as well as supplements and cleaning products, to 48 states. Earlier this year, the company became the first online-only available grocer to accept SNAP benefits through payments made using electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards.

It’s that ethos of accessibility that inspired Lane to join the online grocer, she said, and the experiences of her 20+ years in retail could help her thrive.

Keep reading here.—EC

Here’s a tough stat to see: Roughly 30% of online purchases are abandoned because customers can’t remember their passwords. The trick to getting shoppers across the finish line? You gotta streamline the checkout process—and passkeys can help.

Get this: Passage by 1Password is hosting a live webinar at 2pm ET on June 25 that will go all in on how businesses can slash abandonment rates by implementing passkeys into their checkout processes.

The talk will feature 1Password’s CEO Jeff Shiner and CMO Melton Littlepage in a town-hall-style discussion. They’ll cover everything from how to slash abandonment rates to getting started with passkeys.

Save your spot.

Shopify’s sales data for May shows some predictable and not-so-predictable shopping trends, from outdoor grill spits and cocktail ingredients to computer hardware designed to support the “AI gold rush.”

Invited to the cookout: To start with the fun stuff, the e-commerce platform saw sales increases for items that seemed related to recent outdoorsy holidays and events such as Father’s Day, Memorial Day, and graduation parties. For example, sales of food warmers were up 242%, grill spits spiked 254%, and large catering dishes grew 223%.

Shaking things up: There also appeared to be a bit of “cocktail craze” in May, according to Shopify, though not necessarily for your standard mixed drinks.

Keep reading here.—AV

While AI seems to be generating the most hype these days, innovation isn’t just for fancy new technology. In the world of fast food, Wendy’s is innovating the venerable chicken nugget. Starting this week, the chain’s new Saucy Nuggs will be available nationwide. The offering takes the chain’s popular chicken nuggets and tosses them in a flavorful sauce. So look out, Nvidia. Wendy’s is on the cutting edge.

Here’s what else is going on in retail this week:

In technology roll-outs: On Saturday, Lowe’s launched a pilot offering customers an in-store shopping experience powered by Apple Vision Pro. The home improvement store said the tech will help customers visualize and design their kitchens. This experience was initially available through Lowe’s Style Studio, which launched in February, but the pilot brought it into select stores. Lowe’s was one of the early adopters of using AR, or augmented reality, to reshape digital shopping.

Keep reading here.—AV

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