Campaign corner
Dehydration. Is dehydration making you disappear? In Getorade’s new commercial, a basketball player prepares for his final shot on the court, Damian Lillard joins him and raises a concerning issue. Lillard mentions that athletes are vanishing annually due to dehydration. Lillard suggests that the way to get back into the game is by replenishing oneself with a Gatorade.
Fingerprints. Many brands sponsor various celebrities. However, Cheetos made a peculiar choice. In awe of Becky G's contributions to both the music industry and her community, Cheetos makes an unprecedented move by offering her the inaugural fingertip sponsorship deal.
Retail technology
Visual search tool. Poshmark announced on Wednesday the launch of Posh Lens, a feature aimed at enriching the shopping experience on its app. This innovative tool enables users to search for secondhand items by simply using photos. By uploading or taking a picture of the desired item, users can easily browse through available listings for that specific product or find similar alternatives.
Biometric service. Amazon revealed in a blog post on Thursday that it intends to implement the Amazon One palm recognition and payment system in all of Whole Foods Market's 500+ stores by the conclusion of 2023. Presently, this biometric service is already operational in over 200 Whole Foods locations spread across 20 states.
Experts sharing knowledge
Free returns. Which industries or types of products do you think would benefit most from a returnless refund policy? How else can retailers strike a good balance between accommodating customers and managing returns? These are the questions that various retail experts answered in one of Retail Wire’s discussions. Here’s what Ken Morris mentioned:
Biometric payment. Will consumers likely be more comfortable with palm identification versus other biometric (i.e., face, iris/retina, voice) payment methods? Does payment through palm recognition offer enough convenience to offset privacy and security concerns? Retail experts answered these questions in one of Retail Wire’s discussions. This is what Neil Saunders stated:
In other news
Anti-competitiveness in food. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Wednesday its collaboration with attorneys general from more than two dozen states to combat anti-competitive practices in the food industry, addressing consumer inflation as part of the Biden administration's initiatives. This partnership, known as the Agricultural Competition Partnership, will provide funding and research support to enable states to tackle intricate antitrust cases. It involves attorneys general from 31 states and Washington, D.C. in a bipartisan effort.
Grocery insights. During the GroceryTech event in Cincinnati, EnsembleIQ's VP of Research, Beth Brickel, presented the "2023 Grocery Tech Trends Study: A Balancing Act" and shared exclusive data not included in the study. She highlighted that 57% of retailers expect their tech and automation spending to increase in 2023. Many grocers are keen on exploring digital shelves, electronic shelf labels, robotics, smart carts, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and enhancing customer experiences with cutting-edge solutions.
