Modern Retail

While Amazon has been offering free movies and shows to Prime members since 2011, more retailers and delivery platforms have added streaming to boost their subscription services over the last few years. Retailers are now looking beyond the standard perks of free delivery, savings on gas and restaurant discounts as they look for new ways to retain and attract people to their membership programs. Kroger announced this month that it would add a choice of The Walt Disney Company streaming options — Disney+, Hulu or ESPN+ — for Kroger Boost members paying $99 or $59 annually. The program also offers benefits like free next-day delivery from Kroger stores and added fuel points. “Collaborating with Disney takes Boost member savings and benefits to the next-level, making our industry-leading program even more valuable and convenient for our members,” Stuart Aitken, Kroger’s senior vice president and chief merchant and marketing officer, said in a statement. #kroger #walmart

On this Modern Retail Rundown: Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.'s acquisition of GHOST, Tupperware avoids bankruptcy and Peloton Interactive enters Costco Wholesale.

More retailers are bringing in postpartum products. In September, Frida launched in 3,400 Walmart stores, expanding its brick-and-mortar reach to 4,000 locations. In this piece by Melissa Daniels, we speak to Chelsea M.R. Hirschhorn.

With election campaigns drowning out digital ad platforms, some e-commerce brands are turning to out-of-home campaigns to draw the eye. #retail #ecommerce #ooh In this piece by Gabriela Barkho, we speak to Kevin Bartanian of KEVANI, Matthew Scanlan of NAADAM, and Philip Atkins of phidel digital agency.

As TikTok Shop gears up for the holiday season, the social media app is going all-in on livestreaming to boost sales. #retail #tiktokshop In this piece by Allison Smith, we speak to Kelsie Johnston, Mindy Yang of TikSage, and Ana Barrett of LiveCraft.

This week's Modern Retail Download features all the big retail headlines you need to know. First, Walmart, Kroger and others test out streaming services for paid members. Then, Brompton Bicycle's Gen Z strategy. Lastly, we speak with brands like Unreal Snacks about their Halloween marketing plans.

While many shoppers today are on the hunt for dupes — products that offer the same quality or look for a cheaper price — premium brands are out to prove that their higher-priced products are superior. To combat dupes, brands like Jolie and lululemon have been initiating dupe swaps, where people could get a product from a premium brand for free if they turn in product from a competing brand.

Modern Retail spoke with a half-dozen former Nike employees in total. Many said that they felt like under Donahoe’s tenure, Nike took fewer risks and didn’t do as good of a job of connecting to some of the key sporting communities that make up Nike’s consumer base. Some cited specific examples of initiatives that Donahoe killed, as well as a growing culture clash between a data-driven CEO with a tech background and longtime Nike employees who had fine-tuned their gut instincts over the years to suss out what would resonate with the brand’s customers. #nike

Juozas Kaziukėnas, founder and CEO of retail data analytics firm Marketplace Pulse, said he has also noticed TikTok Shop listings appearing in Google’s Shopping tab recently. “Google remains the most popular search engine for shopping,” Kaziukėnas said, although some data suggests Amazon has overtaken the top spot, “And TikTok capturing some of that is not surprising.” #tiktok #google

“We’re finding tangible ways to leverage generative AI to improve the customer, member and associate experience. We’re leveraging data and large language models from others and building our own,” Walmart president and CEO Doug McMillon said. “Without the use of generative AI, this work would have required nearly 100 times the current headcount to complete in the same amount of time.” #ai #walmart