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The retail industry, which accounts for roughly   18.7 percent of GDP , is one of the key metrics that economists look to when judging the health of the economy. Retailers are the front line of the US economy and are highly susceptible to macroeconomic fluctuations such as   inflation , which affect consumer behavior.  Just this past week, Target and Walmart, released their earnings reports for the second quarter of 2022. These set of reports reflected the impact of sustained inflation on consumer spending, as customers adjust their behaviors to account for the drag of inflation. Walmart over delivered on forecasts by posting an 8.4 percent jump in profits and a same-store sales increase by 6.5 percent. Target on the other hand saw profits decrease by 90 percent, as the company liquidated excess inventory. Both retailers saw an increase in grocery sales and a decline in consumer electronics as customers trim spending back to necessities.  Appliance and CE retailers  saw a 4.9 percent y

Yesterday,   TikTok   made developments in the e-commerce space by announcing an ad suite that the company is calling “Shopping Ads” that will streamline the advertising experience for brands interested in expanding their audience on the social media platform. The announcement also revealed the immense impact that TikTok ads have on consumers, saying that 56 percent of users say TikTok advertisements guide them to new brands or products. There are currently three advertising formats that TikTok is testing: Live Shopping Ads, Catalog Listing Ads and Video Shopping Ads.  In other news, Logitech has announced an  audio accessory  designed for use with the Meta Quest 2 VR headset called the Chorus. The headphones are open-back and sit slightly off users’ ears to allow them to be more aware of their surroundings and reality. While some may prefer a more fully-immersive VR setting, the Chorus headset makes for a safer and less closed-off experience. The headset slides on and off the Meta Que

Numerous startups are working to improve ecological performance in the consumer electronics and home appliances sector. At IFA NEXT 2022 they will present their innovations and strategies for sustainable electronics products. Sustainability has become an omnipresent topic. In the food and clothing industries in particular, resource-friendliness has been a hot media topic for many years. But in the case of electronic devices what exactly does sustainability mean? At IFA 2022 from 2 to 6 September visitors will receive an answer to this question. At the IFA NEXT innovation hub in Hall 20 on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds, research institutes, startups, associations and experts from industry and science will present innovative solutions for driving development towards greater sustainability in the electronics industry. Resource-friendly and carbon-neutral production methods, repairability and recycling are among the crucial aspects here. At IFA NEXT, the  Fraunhofer Institute for Reliabili

Games are constantly evolving with better graphics, higher frame rates, and new technology. Now with Cloud Gaming,   streaming   and game storage has become easier, but games on cloud gaming platforms can only be played on PCs, console, or smart TVs for now. Recently, the Logitech, a PC and console gaming gear company, announced that Tencent, a Chinese publisher, is its new partner in a future project. Both companies have come together to create a   cloud handheld gaming device . Logitech G’s leadership in PC and console gaming gear make them an ideal partner to help us realize the vision of bringing a better gaming experience to gamers around the globe,” said Daniel Wu, general manager of Tencent Games Smart Solution Innovation Lab. “As someone that grew up playing video games, the idea of being able to stream and play AAA games almost anywhere is super exciting, and we can’t wait to show everyone what we’ve been working on,” said Ujesh Desai, general manager of Logitech G.   Here You

Today’s Nationwide PrimeTime experience has been all about exploring the showroom floor where hundreds of vendors have set up booths touting the latest and greatest products and services they have to offer. The vendors at PrimeTime are extremely diverse and range from well-known manufacturing giants such as Samsung,  Beko  and Tempur Sealy to the cybersecurity firm TBI.    Nationwide is adamant that each vendor brings a unique product, service, or skill to the table that helps its independent retailers better tackle industry challenges. Since the CE retail market is constantly changing and evolving so too is Nationwide’s family of vendor partners. For this particular PrimeTime event, Nationwide added 29 new vendors including the luxury appliance manufacturer Signature Kitchen Suites (SKS) and the Powerhouse Alliance distribution network.   In regards to the new additions, Lee MacDonald, VP of consumer electronics, told us: “We don’t onboard vendors just to onboard vendors. We’ve alread

Coming very shortly after Samsung’s Unpacked announcements, where the company announced the new Fold 4 smartphone,   Xiaomi has released   the second generation of its own foldable phone, the Mix Fold 2. The catch: it’s only available in China. But in a smartphone   landscape   where foldable products are rare, the Mix Fold 2 would probably attract a decent amount of consumer consideration here in the United States.  The Mix Fold 2 has two displays, with the outer display coming in at 6.56-inches and the inner display coming in just a hair over 8-inches at 8.02-inches. This display system beats the size of Samsung’s upcoming Fold 4. Its camera system is Leica-powered and its base version comes with 12GB Ram and 256GB storage. Should it come to the United States, we could expect a price range around $1,300 since it runs for RMB 8,999 (or roughly $1,335 US). The Mix Fold 2 comes with an advanced camera consisting of a 50-mp main sensor, 13-mp ultrawide sensor and an 8-mp telephoto sensor

For the first time in months, we are seeing highly encouraging signs from a number of angles that inflationary pressures may finally be easing. Gas prices, which soared to all-time highs of over $5 per gallon in June, have regressed to   $4 per gallon . This decrease in gas prices has instigated a major cooling in the   cost of shipping . Importers are now paying $6,632 to move a container from China to the West Coast, which is down from the roughly $18,000 that was being paid to   move a container   at this time last year. Eytan Buchman, the chief marketing officer for Freightos, said in an   interview with  The New York Times : “Broadly, it is clear that we are on a vector of normalization.”  Moreover,  eCommerce  prices have posted their first monthly decline since June of 2020, marking the end of 25 consecutive months of rising prices. The 1 percent price fall in July was led in large part by a  9.3 percent  year-over-year decline in the price of electronics. Inflation is still hig

  Direct-to-consumer (DTC) retail   exploded during the pandemic   as companies sought to gain access to their customer base without using third-party retailers or intermediaries. Although   DTC retail   saw major growth prior to the pandemic, it became the preferred mechanism of reaching customers when many brick-and-mortar retailers were forced to shutter their doors.   However, the logistics of DTC retail are vastly different because instead of shipping products en masse to distribution centers or stores it forces companies to manage the flow of individual goods.  To manage these shifting logistics, companies have increasingly turned to supply-chain software technologies, which help to streamline the shipping process and remove points of inefficiency. Terry Esper, an associate professor of logistics at the Fisher College of Business at the Ohio State University, said in an interview with  The Wall Street Journal : “Getting a product shipped to you directly from the manufacturer has

  Shopify  only added  71,000 new merchants  in the first half of 2022, which puts it on pace to add just 142,000 new merchants this year. These numbers are a far cry from 2020 and 2021 when the online shopping platform added 680,000 and 314,000 merchants respectively. Globally, the number of merchants using the platform has plateaued slightly below 2 million. The overall stagnation of Shopify’s growth can be attributed mostly to the decline in online shopping.  In a reversal of pandemic-era trends, many brick-and-mortar retailers are experiencing immense growth while  online retailers struggle . Costco is one of the physical retailers that has benefitted from consumers focusing on necessities and bulk deals. Over a 48-year week-to-date period,  Costco’s net sales  increased by 16.4 percent to $205.19 billion. This is a continuing growth trend for the company, which has had a strong resurgence over the tail end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022.   In other news, Beats has announced its

We have previously reported on a number of Amazon acquisitions and industry expansions, but the corporation does not seem to be letting up. Today it was announced that   Amazon would be acquiring iRobot , the company behind Roomba, the disc-shaped robot vacuums that slide around households all over the world. The acquisition was made for roughly $1.7 billion, but money does not seem to be a worry for the mega-corporation. This acquisition is also the latest development for Amazon on the smart home front, and it will not be surprising if iRobot and its products begin to be incorporate into Alexa and other smart home capabilities.  This comes after recent developments for both Amazon and iRobot in home robot  technologies  — iRobot launched its latest OS earlier this year, and Amazon released its Astro smart home robot last year. That said, Amazon’s acquisition of iRobot does not come as a total surprise due to the corporation’s previous interest in smart home robot technologies. But due

Consumer spending   in the month of June remained strong, growing   1.1 percent   in the face of increasing inflation and exorbitant gas prices. However, new data released this week by the New York Fed show a concerning link between sustained consumer spending and increased credit card debt. In the second fiscal quarter of 2022 credit card balances increased by   $46 million   or roughly 5.5 percent from the year’s first quarter.  Moreover, the number of new credit card accounts in the country grew by  13 percent  on a year-over-year basis, which is the largest recorded jump in the last 20 years. With the increase in accounts came a  $312 billion or 2 percent  increase in household debt, as consumers struggle to keep up with the high prices of everyday necessities.  Joelle Scally, administrator of the Center for Microeconomic Data at the New York Fed, said in a  press release : “The second quarter of 2022 showed robust increases in mortgage, auto loan, and credit card balances, driven

The variety of cooking gear may seem overwhelming – especially for new cooks. While the only tools necessary to execute a meal are a sharp knife and a method for heating, the abundance of   cooking tech   is designed to help make your time in the kitchen simpler and your food taste better. That is, if you know which tools to buy.  Online food ordering became a lifesaver for many homes during the pandemic, experiencing an increase of 123 percent in the U.S. However,  Forbes  found that a restaurant-delivered meal is five times as expensive as cooking at home. As we enter a recession more and more takeout regulars will be inclined to cut their costs and head to the kitchen.  67 percent  of new cooks attribute the switch to saving money. Luckily, with the right gear, the transition to cooking has never been so easy.  The all-time holy grail product for chefs and home cooks alike is an Instant Pot. All you have to do is throw your ingredients in the pot and let it do its magic. The Instant

Today  Amazon announced  that Prime members in certain U.S. cities and metro areas will be able to get same-day delivery from  retailers  PacSun, SuperDry, GNC and Diesel by ordering through the Amazon app and website. Those stores will be followed by Sur La Table and 100% Pure in the near future, though it is safe to expect that Amazon will continue to expand this concept to other retailers. This same-day delivery service will be free to Prime members spending $25 or more, but will cost $2.99 for members who do not meet that price threshold. Customers will have to place orders before noon in order to be eligible for same-day delivery, but actually placing the orders is simple: Prime members in ZIP codes associated with this new service can browse the stores’ selections and select “Same-day delivery” at checkout. This comes after companies like Target, Walmart and Instacart have offered same-day delivery on items for some time, indicating a desire on Amazon’s part to catch up with its