December 10, 2025

Here are our picks for top news impacting retailers today:

  • Instacart is charging different customers differing prices for the same product, at the same time, from the same store, a new Groundwork Collaborative study alleges. Instacart referred to these pricing differences as “tests,” and denied using dynamic pricing on its platform. “Just as retailers have long tested prices in their physical stores to better understand consumer preferences, a subset of only 10 retail partners – ones that already apply markups – do the same online via Instacart,” Instacart told the New York Post (via The New York Post).
  • Amazon has reached its stated goal of 2,300 same-day delivery grocery locations coming online, up from 1,000 in August. In addition, the online retailer’s assortment of perishables has improved by 30%, and perishable grocery sales have increased by a whopping 30x since January, according to Amazon itself. “We’re seeing customers combine their fresh grocery orders with their regular Amazon purchases, like electronics, gifts, clothes, and household essentials, in ways that make their lives easier and save them valuable time,” Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores, said (via Sherwood News).
  • Target has opened an immersive experiential retail location in Manhattan’s trendy SoHo, featuring curated items mostly tied to the beauty and fashion categories. “Guided by incoming CEO Michael Fiddelke’s vision to put style and design at the company’s forefront, Target SoHo reflects Target’s ability to move at the speed of culture, transforming retail into a destination for inspiration and connection. From concept to completion in just four months, the store showcases Target’s agility and ambition to redefine what shopping can feel like,” Target said (via Chain Store Age).
  • Home Depot forecast flat to 2% growth in comparable store sales for 2026 as consumer tastes cool toward big-ticket home improvement items. With easing interest rates and mortgage rates failing to improve a choppy housing market, Americans are tending to avoid large-scale renovations (via Reuters).
  • Thrive Market has announced its exit from selling alcohol, the first major online grocer to make that decision. “It’s time to really double down on non-alcohol and take a stand that is aligned with where science and where we think attitudes among health and wellness consumers is shifting,” Thrive CEO Nick Green told CNBC. “Alcohol is not the future” (via CNBC).