Morning Brew - ☕ Lessons earned

Walmart’s impressive Q3 earnings results.
November 21, 2024

Retail Brew

Uptempo

Hi, it’s Thursday, and TJX Companies, which runs TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Home Goods stores, said its holiday quarter is “off to a strong start.” We think those “we came here for just one thing” trips are adding up.

In today’s edition:

—Alex Vuocolo, Vidhi Choudhary, Katie Hicks

STORES

World of Walmart

Walmart storefront View Press/Getty Images

Walmart released its Q3 earnings results on Tuesday, and the retail giant is firing on all cylinders as its heads into the heart of the holiday season. Comp sales were up 5.3%. E-commerce sales increased 27%. Advertising revenues were up 28%, and membership income was 22%.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the report:

Bigger tickets: While Walmart in recent quarters has prioritized volume over price, there was a slight slowdown in volume growth in Q3. Transactions slowed from 3.4% to 3.1%, while average ticket size increased 2.1%, up from 1.5% in the same period last year.

As for the increase in ticket size, Walmart US President and CEO John Furner told shareholders that it was the result of getting its assortment right for the fall season. “Seasons are important,” he said. “We ended October with a strong Halloween.”’

Fashion-forward: Relatedly, executives acknowledged that Walmart is moving into new categories that it had previously left to its competitors.

Keep reading here.—AV

   

Presented By Uptempo

Even giants need a boost

Uptempo

E-COMMERCE

Shop through Google Lens

Google Lens in-store shopping Google

Google’s holiday shopping tweaks just keep on coming.

On Tuesday, Google said it is making Google Lens more akin to in-store shopping.

Google’s Lilian Rincon, VP of consumer shopping product, said shoppers can use Lens—the little camera button beside the text box on Google Search—when shopping in-store to find details like product information, similar products in stock, whether a store’s price is competitive, and reviews by clicking an image of the product.

“This new update is made possible by major advancements in our AI image recognition technology,” Rincon said in a blog post. “This new feature can give shoppers the information and confidence they need to make a decision on the spot.”

Keep reading here.—VC

   

MARKETING

Guide by side

A collage of holiday gift guides Amelia Kinsinger

There’s power in a good recommendation.

According to recent data from influencer platform Mavely, a quarter of consumers, and nearly half of Gen Z consumers, said they have used a gift guide to make a holiday shopping decision.

As the founder of PR agency Dreamday and co-founder of product recommendation website The Quality Edit, Lauren Kleinman has experience seeing both sides of the gift guide pitching process. In her experience, she said the majority of her clients’ press coverage is published in November.

Kleinman starts pitching legacy gift guides that have long lead times (like, for instance, Oprah’s Favorite Things) in June and targets digital-first outlets that tend to have shorter lead times in September, she told us, but pitching for gift guides is an ongoing process. In other words, it’s never too late for brands to jump in—especially if they’re looking to land on a last-minute shopping list or pitch a creator’s gift guide.

We spoke with Kleinman and Mavely CEO and co-founder Evan Wray about some strategies brands can use to help their chances of making the cut.

Keep reading here on Marketing Brew.—KH

Together With Guild

Guild

SWAPPING SKUS

Today’s top retail reads.

Slop era: Amazon Haul makes it official: Shopping for random, low-cost items is here to stay. (The Atlantic)

Lovin’ it: McDonald’s is planning to drop a buy one, get one option on its $5 value meal deal in 2025. (NBC News)

An eye for IP: How Authentic Brands Group CEO Jamie Salter became a self-made billionaire through licensing deals with distressed brands. (the Wall Street Journal)

Say goodbye to spreadsheets: IKEA changed their planning process with the Uptempo planning platform to save time, money, and an immeasurable amount of frustration. Want the full story? Check it out.*

*A message from our sponsor.

JOBS

Forget generic job searches. CollabWORK leverages the power of community to connect you with relevant opportunities in Slack channels, Discord servers, and newsletters like Retail Brew. Land your dream job through the power of your network with CollabWORK.

SHARE THE BREW

Share Retail Brew with your coworkers, acquire free Brew swag, and then make new friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag.

We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link.

Your referral count: 2

Click to Share

Or copy & paste your referral link to others:
retailbrew.com/r/?kid=303a04a9

         
ADVERTISE // CAREERS // SHOP // FAQ

Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here.
View our privacy policy here.

Copyright © 2024 Morning Brew. All rights reserved.
22 W 19th St, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10011

Older messages

☕ Flop city

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Why Comcast is spinning of its cable networks... November 21, 2024 View Online | Sign Up | Shop Morning Brew Presented By SmartAsset Good morning. Do you plan to sing along during Wicked? Ahead of the

☕ Hit the books

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

How series adaptations and BookTok are changing publishers' marketing strategies. November 20, 2024 Marketing Brew Presented By CallRail It's Wednesday. Did you see that Gladiator II commercial

☕ Land of milk and money

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Warehouses, farmers, and retailers. November 20, 2024 Retail Brew Sponsored By TikTok Hey there. Delta said this week it'll start serving Shake Shack burgers to its first class passengers on select

☕ Bougie buyers

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Jaguar completely rebrands... November 20, 2024 View Online | Sign Up | Shop Morning Brew Presented By Compare Credit Good morning. You know who's having a good fall? Italian tennis star Jannik

☕ Double-duty buses

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

School buses and V2G tech. November 20, 2024 Tech Brew Sponsored by Chase It's Wednesday. We spill a lot of pixels explaining how workers and companies are using AI, but we're wondering how you

You Might Also Like

Wednesday Briefing: A brief martial law in South Korea

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Plus, become a gladiator for a day. View in browser|nytimes.com Ad Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition December 4, 2024 Author Headshot By Gaya Gupta Good morning. We're covering a short-lived

Steal Away

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

How to Shoplift in 90 Seconds ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Andy Jassy delivers big AI announcement at AWS re:Invent 

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Seattle sushi restaurant reopens following TikTok critique controversy ADVERTISEMENT GeekWire SPONSOR MESSAGE: Improve focus and memory with Thinkie: For a limited time, save $50 on Thinkie plus get

I’m nervous. We’re falling short.

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

We're approaching our make-or-break Giving Tuesday fundraising deadline. You don't usually hear from me, but my name is Michael Sherrard, and I'm the person at The Intercept in charge of

Today is Giving Tuesday, check out a great opportunity to give back...

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

On this Giving Tuesday, we're sharing an urgent message from our partner, World Concern. ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌

☕ Nothing but blue skies

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Inside Bluesky's rapid growth—and what new features are on the horizon. December 03, 2024 Marketing Brew Presented By Delta It's Tuesday, and the official Oxford word of the year is “brain rot.

☕ On the plus side

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

The benefits of photo-reviews from plus-sized shoppers. December 03, 2024 Retail Brew Presented By National Retail Federation It's Tuesday, and Black Friday weekend is officially over. Shipping

The Hunter Biden pardon.

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Plus, we catch you up on everything we missed. The Hunter Biden pardon. Plus, we catch you up on everything we missed. By Isaac Saul • 3 Dec 2024 View in browser View in browser President Biden and son

Gift of the Day: Our Favorite Sateen Sheets That Won't Make Them ‘Sweat to Death’

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Brooklinen's giving 27 percent off just for Strategist readers. The Strategist Gifts Every product is independently selected by editors. If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an

Dark Puzzle

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Against The Dark Forest // Black Hole Puzzle Dark Puzzle By Kaamya Sharma • 3 Dec 2024 View in browser View in browser Against The Dark Forest Erin Kissane | Wreckage/Salvage | 29th November 2024 | U