This week's 10 ideas include: US retailers get organised for Prime Day, Over stock.com takes over Bed Bath & Beyond, Burger King relaunches in the US, Casetify expands in Japan, and Crocs in the metaverse.
US retailers aim to counter Prime Day
To counter Amazon's Prime Day on 11 and 12 July, retailers such as Target, Best Buy and Walmart are organising their own promotional events. The very first "Week Walmart +" starts at midday on 10 July for subscribers to the store's premium service, who will have access to exclusive offers for a limited time only. The general public will also have access to offers from the following day until 13 July. Best Buy is doing the same, opening up access to its event from 10 to 12 July for My Best Buy Plus and My Best But Total subscribers.
Read more on retaildive.com
Crocs unveils an immersive experience with Obsess
Good taste is taking over the metaverse! Crocs fans will soon be able to venture into an immersive experience developed in partnership with Obsess. They will be able to personalise their Crocs with designs from five different worlds, as well as discovering around thirty exclusive 3D pins to affix to their virtual shoes, which they can order in physical form if they wish. There will also be games to win pairs of shoes.
Read more on chainstorage.com
Discounter Poundland expands its offering
Poundland is determined to take advantage of the current crisis in purchasing power to gain market share. The British discounter intends to add a number of new categories to its offering, dedicating almost 50,000 m2 this autumn to the sale of alcohol, frozen foods, and fresh fruit and vegetables, as it refurbishes its shops or opens new outlets. In all, 570 shops will be affected by these changes.
Read more on retailgazette.co.uk
BK on track to succeed with its US recovery plan
Rising sales and improved profitability for franchisees: these are the results shared by Restaurant Brands International, the parent company of Burger King, which is seeing the effects of its recovery plan launched in September 2022 to close the gap with McDonald's and Wendy's in the fast-food market. In the first quarter, the chain's sales rose by 8.7%, while the parent company is investing in advertising and in renovating numerous restaurants, on the one hand, and pushing the most troubled franchisees to sell off the best-performing shops, on the other, in order to increase profitability and develop the most profitable shops more effectively. The company is now limiting the number of restaurants that can be owned by a single franchisee to 50.
Read more on cnbc.com
Casetify expands its business in Japan
Casetify, the Hong Kong-based specialist in phone cases and other electronic accessories, is opening its first shop in Japan, in Osaka. And as in its other 28 shops, the company is trying to stick to the local architectural and decorative style, in particular by reappropriating traditional Japanese lanterns. However, the in-store experience remains the same as in Casetify's other shops, with the possibility of personalising products on the spot, or attending exhibitions or concerts by local artists.
Read more on insideretail.asia
Target expands its D+1 delivery capabilities
The opening of a Target Last Mile Delivery centre in Smyrna, Georgia, has extended access to D+1 delivery of the company's private labels to consumers in the city of Atlanta. This is the ninth sorting centre to be operated by the company across the Atlantic, following its pledge to invest $100 million in developing its logistics capabilities.
Read more on cnbc.com
Overstock.com acquires Bed Bath & Beyond
21.5 million. This is what Overstock.com paid at auction to acquire all of Bed Bath & Beyond's intellectual property, from the brand name to the domain names of its various digital platforms, not forgetting its commercial data. The bankrupt brand could therefore be reborn in a purely digital form. It remains to be seen what will happen to the Buybuy Baby brand, which is the subject of a separate auction.
Read more on modernretail.co
Can pickleball save shopping centres?
Have you heard of pickleball? A mix of table tennis, tennis, and badminton, this sport is poised to revive some neglected shopping centres across the Atlantic. With the number of people playing the sport, which was invented in the 1960s, set to rise from 5 to 8.9 million between 2021 and 2022, more and more empty premises are being converted into courts in shopping centres, under the aegis of the start-up Picklemall, which aims to open 50 new halls in the country by 2025.
Read it on pymnts.com
Bolt to test automated delivery on a large scale
Estonian food transport and delivery start-up Bolt's partnership with Starship Technologies will potentially see it launch thousands of robots onto the streets of the 45 countries in which it operates. Thanks to this partnership, Starship will have access to over 100 million Bolt customers in more than 500 cities. Starship has a fleet of more than 2,000 robots in Estonia, the UK, and the US and has made 5 million commercial deliveries.
Read more on reuters.com
South Korean chain CU has its sights set on Kazakhstan
The leading convenience store chain in South Korea, with over 16,000 outlets, CU is venturing into Central Asia, and more specifically Kazakhstan, with plans to open 500 convenience stores over the next five years. This expansion has been made possible by a partnership with Shin Line, the region's leading ice cream manufacturer.
Read more on retailnews.asia