B. Friday Bluster | Costco Sues @ Tariffs | Cust. Experience Bad
Costco sues Trump administration for ‘full refund’ of tariffs at The Hill. “The list of companies who’ve recently sued include players in the auto industry — like Kawasaki — and several corporations part of the Toyota Group, food companies like Bumble Bee Foods and the cosmetics business Revlon. Even board game company Smirk & Dagger Games filed a suit.” Read more
Walmart delivered 57% more orders from stores on Black Friday this year than last year, with 44% more orders delivered in under 3 hours Press release
Amazon’s AI chatbot Rufus drove sales on Black Friday at TechCrunch. “In the U.S., Amazon sessions that resulted in a purchase surged 100% on Black Friday compared with the trailing 30 days, while sessions that resulted in a purchase and didn’t include Rufus increased by only 20%.” Read more
Prada completes Versace takeover after long courtship at Reuters
Black Friday online spending hits record $11.8B at Fox Business. “On the year’s busiest shopping day, U.S. online spending surged 9.1% from last year…AI-driven traffic to retail websites jumped 805%.” Read more
**A message from Su Salsa – The amazing flavors of cilantro, lime, and a hint of garlic make Su Salsa unique from other salsas. Spice up your salsa set with the lime colored label that pops on shelf. Learn more | Sample: info@eyeonretail.net
Why smart CEOs are looking past the rosy ‘record Black Friday’ headlines at Fortune. “…the spending growth is fueled almost entirely by inflation…Salesforce…found order volumes fell 1% compared to last year while average selling prices increased 7%. Volume barely budged in 2024 either, so consumer spending has been stagnating for two years now. For another, Adobe found that consumer use of “Buy Now Pay Later” services…rose 11% on Black Friday compared to last year, suggesting these shoppers are struggling to stretch their dollar.” Read more
Signet Jewelers Q3 comp sales +3.0% Press release
American Customers Are Madder Than Ever at WSJ. “Some companies do offer service or an experience that seems to resonate with consumers in a good way. Chewy, a pet supplies retailer, topped Forrester’s Customer Experience Index for a fourth year in a row, with a score of 80.3 out of 100. But the overall trend is downward. Seven percent of the 469 brands Forrester studied improved their score by a statistically significant amount from 2024 in the U.S. and Canada, compared with 25% whose scores fell.” WSJ subs.
Shopify resolves outage disrupting merchants on Cyber Monday at TechCrunch
A Surprise When Your Package Arrives: You Have to Pay the Tariff at NY Times. “Since Aug. 29, when the (de minimis exemption) loophole closed for all countries, Customs and Border Protection has cleared over 70 million shipments that would previously have qualified for the exemption, according to a spokesman for the agency, implying a daily average inflow of over 800,000 packages. The spokesman said the agency had “assessed over $400 million in duties” on the packages.” NY Times subs.
**Get your product, service or event in front of the most powerful decision-makers in the retail community. Contact: info@eyeonretail.net