The jobs that gig workers line up on Taskrabbit can be stunningly random, from being hired to buy and deliver a whole branzino fish as a birthday gift to—oh, the humanity—dropping an ex’s items off after a breakup.

But certain popular gigs are not surprising at all, like moving and TV mounting, and Eric Haymond, Taskrabbit’s VP of business development, said the platform recently noticed a surge for a particular type of job.

“We’ve seen a big increase in our customers really searching and looking for baby-related services,” Haymond told Retail Brew.

• Taskrabbit saw a 25% increase in bookings for nursery set-ups (including painting and assembling furniture and toys) and a 56% increase for baby-proofing jobs in the first quarter of 2024 compared to Q1 last year.

Now the company is partnering with Joy, a universal wedding and baby registry site, to promote Taskrabbit gift certificates to expecting parents.

“Hire Taskers as early as the same day to handle everything from cleaning your home to assembling cribs and more!” states the web page on Joy promoting the gift certificates, which are available in denominations of $100–$300.

Haymond, a father of three, said he spent way too much time baby-proofing and painting after his progeny arrived.

“I did a lot of stupid things [that] took a lot of my time instead of spending time with our newborns,” he said. “Taskrabbit’s greatest quality is that gift of time that is so tough today.”

The wrench connection: It should come as no surprise that Taskrabbit is partnering with retailers since it is, after all, owned by one. In 2017, Ikea purchased the company.

Keep reading here.—AAN

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If you go outside in Dallas and see something foreign in the sky, we promise it’s (most likely) not Independence Day. It may be a Walmart drone delivering a package, though.

• The company originally announced drone delivery at CES earlier this year, as Retail Brew previously reported. Beginning this month, Walmart will allow select customers in the Dallas metro area use its drone delivery service directly through the Walmart app. It’s the latest move in the company’s customer convenience strategy, which also includes a GenAI-powered shopping assistant, currently in beta testing.

Keep reading here.—KP

Sam’s Club announced a new customer engagement community this week as part of Walmart Associate’s Week, according to a press release.

Known as the Member’s Mark Community, it enables customers to provide direct feedback on products from Sam’s Club’s in-house brand, Member’s Mark. It operates as a real-time feedback loop, allowing the community to taste or test Member’s Mark products before they hit the shelves.

The community’s been running in stealth mode already, and influenced how a new grill went to market.

Keep reading here.—KP

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