Retail News

A growing proportion of families are kicking off their back-to-school shopping earlier, according to survey data. One-fifth of families are now starting in June, with many shopper citing increased anxieties over the action as the impetus behind starting things off earlier (more).

Five Below delivered a series of massive wins in its first-quarter report, notching net sales growth of 32.5% YoY (to $1.28 billion) based on 15 of its 18 departments exhibiting positive growth. “We are thrilled with our outstanding first quarter performance, which is a testament to the team’s execution of our customer-centric strategy,” CEO Winnie Park said (more).

Job growth trounced Dow Jones consensus figures for May, with non-farm payrolls leaping up by a seasonally adjusted 172,000 against the Dow Jones estimate of 80,000. However, the unemployment rate failed to budge, still set at 4.3% (more).

Lululemon cut its full-year guidance even as it delivered a relatively decent Q1 report card, with EPS registered at $1.69 against $1.68 expected and revenue at $2.47 billion versus $2.43 billion anticipated. “We experienced spikes of negative commentary in the media and on social channels with regard to our brand, which had an impact on traffic and overall top line performance,” CEO Meghan Frank said (more).

Google’s multi-vendor Universal Cart, powered by AI, is set to become available soon for Walmart and Target customers. The question of whether shoppers will buy in on the idea remains to be seen (more).

The Federal Reserve’s most recent Beige Book indicated that consumer prices had risen by 3.8% year-over-year as of April, despite the Fed’s target of 2% inflation. “Districts noted that energy-related costs tied to the conflict in the Middle East were the primary driver of inflationary pressures, with spillovers into shipping, packaging, groceries, and fertilizer,” the Fed wrote (more).

Hasbro unveiled an AI studio charged with bringing some of its more famous characters — including Mr. Potato Head, Megatron, and Cobra Commander — to life via the power of artificial intelligence. While no plans currently see these personalities licensed to individual fans, a B2B business prospect is emerging (more).

In-store grocery ads are driving impulse buys from shoppers, survey data suggests. A full 62% of shoppers polled indicated that they’d purchased a product during a grocery run after seeing a product advertised on in-store screens (more).

Amazon is now facing a class action lawsuit over its Ring camera’s Familiar Faces feature, which is used to recognize regular guests when they appear on camera. The lawsuit claims, as a byproduct, “Millions of other Americans passed by a Ring ​security camera and unknowingly had their facial recognition information collected,” (more).

GameStop delivered the highest quarterly profit in company history June 2, with net income pegged at $389.6 million. Collectibles surged, accounting for $348.9 million in gross sales, or about 42% of total company revenue (more).