Greetings from the Retailist team! As we look ahead to 2024 the e-commerce, retail, and Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) world shows no signs of slowing down. We've seen a range of key news, developing trends, and unique stories from the world of retail over the last week. Dive in to explore the top stories:

Retailist 2024 Power Player Awards 

🔥 Application opportunities will soon open for the Retailist 2024 Power Player Awards! Sign up to be notified and find details on submission requirements here.

New from Retailist

Six Tips for Retail Marketing Success in 2024

While the knee-jerk reaction might be to cut marketing spend in tough times, it could be a big mistake: Retailers and brands will likely fare better if they stick with the strategic plans they painstakingly developed.

Have an exclusive scoop on a retail story? Click here to email our team.

In the news: Top headlines this week

8 DTC brands to keep an eye on in 2024. In 2023, several direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands faced challenges, with some filing for bankruptcy or undergoing significant changes. While the overall deal count decreased from 2021 peaks, there were notable exits, including initial public offerings for Oddity (parent company of Il Makiage and Spoiled Child) and Birkenstock, as well as acquisitions of Mielle, Great Jones, and Otherland. However, established DTC darlings like Allbirds and Grove Collaborative encountered difficulties, such as layoffs, leadership changes, and transformation plans. The evolving landscape suggests a shift in the traditional DTC playbook, with emerging brands exploring innovative ways to connect with customers in 2024. [Retail Dive]

The Apple Watch Has Been Banned Again. The Federal Appeals Court has denied Apple's request to temporarily halt the import ban on the latest Apple Watch models, including the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. The International Trade Commission (ITC) previously ruled that these models violated patents held by Masimo, particularly related to the pulse oximeter function. While Apple had a short-term reprieve, the import ban is now back in effect, and the company can only import redesigned watches without the contested pulse oximeter feature. [Retail Wire]

Burger King owner Restaurant Brands buys chain’s largest U.S. franchisee. Restaurant Brands International, the owner of Burger King, is acquiring Carrols Restaurant Group, the largest Burger King franchisee in the U.S., for approximately $1 billion in cash. The deal marks a strategic shift for Burger King, which has mostly been franchised for the last decade, and is part of Restaurant Brands' $400 million plan to revitalize Burger King's U.S. business. The acquisition will allow Restaurant Brands to focus on rapidly remodeling Carrols' Burger King locations, investing about $500 million for renovations and planning to sell them back to franchisees, with the goal of completing the deal by the second quarter of 2024. [CNBC]

Retailers to use AI for marketing, financial forecasting: survey. Major retailers and consumer packaged goods companies anticipate either growth or stability in sales compared to the previous year, with a focus on continued investment in artificial intelligence (AI). The National Retail Federation (NRF) introduced principles for responsible AI usage in retail, emphasizing customer engagement, trust, governance, risk management, workforce applications, and business partner accountability. While online retailers like eBay and Amazon have deployed AI tools for product summarization and description creation, brick-and-mortar retailers like Walmart are exploring generative AI for various applications, including customer assistance and search capabilities. Additionally, a December report suggests that, contrary to the emphasis on same-day delivery, free shipping remains a critical factor for most U.S. online shoppers. As the industry navigates challenges and opportunities, 2024 is seen as an exciting opportunity for retailers to embrace innovation and integrated omnichannel experiences.[Retail Dive]

Tesla: The spotlight has turned on its directors as Elon Musk asks for more control. Are they up to the fight? Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, is pressuring the company's board of directors to grant him more control, citing the need to steer Tesla into a leadership position in artificial intelligence and robotics. Musk expressed discomfort in growing Tesla without having 25% voting control and warned that he would prefer to build products outside of Tesla if his influence is limited. Critics have raised concerns about the board's oversight and its close ties to Musk, while Musk's public demands come amid ongoing governance issues and questions about his control over the company. [Yahoo Finance]

Apple, Google face legal challenges to their payments businesses. Apple and Google are facing legal challenges and regulatory pressure on their payments businesses as competitors seek a share of their payments revenue. Both tech giants have made it easier to pay online and in person with devices, leading to lawsuits and regulatory scrutiny. Google lost a federal court battle with Epic Games over its app store, and Apple faces a class-action lawsuit and regulatory interest in opening tap-to-pay functionality to rivals. While potential rulings could force these companies to allow in-app payments processing by competitors, operational challenges may arise for traditional payments companies. [Payments Dive]

Strong US holiday sales in 2023 underline consumer resilience. Despite inflation concerns, U.S. consumers showed resilience during the 2023 holiday season, driving a 3.8% increase in sales, reaching $964.4 billion, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). The data indicates a stronger-than-expected performance, with consumers exhibiting a robust appetite for beauty products, apparel, and electronics, contributing to the positive trend in both brick-and-mortar and online sales. NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz highlighted the possibility of a different pace in 2024, suggesting that the current strength may not be sustainable due to potential deceleration in job growth. [Reuters]

Google Continues Job Cuts in Its Advertising Team. Google is continuing its job cuts, particularly in its advertising sales team, as part of a larger restructuring strategy aimed at improving services for small and medium-sized businesses. The recent wave of layoffs affects various product teams, including those behind Google's Nest, Pixel, and Fitbit devices, as well as the augmented reality team. The company acknowledges the impact on its employees and states that those affected will have the opportunity to apply for open positions within Google as part of the planned reconfiguration for future growth and sustainability. [Retail Wire] 

China Launches a Security Review of Shein. China's Cyberspace Administration is conducting a security review of Shein, the fast-fashion giant, ahead of its anticipated U.S. initial public offering (IPO). The review focuses on Shein's supply chain presence in China, with an emphasis on how the company manages information about its employees, partners, and suppliers, as well as examining data security measures to prevent leaks overseas. The review poses challenges for Shein, potentially positioning it as a Chinese company amid strained U.S.-China relations, despite the company's efforts to present itself as a global entity founded in China. [CNBC]

Job Board: This week’s Top Openings in DTC, RetailTech, and more

Want to submit a role to our talent board? Email [email protected].

• Director, Architecture Governance (Chicago, IL) Peapod Digital Labs - more here

• Staff Business Intelligence Engineer (Bellevue, Hybrid) Chewy - more here

• Engineering Manager (New York City, NY) Peloton - more here

• Senior Program Manager (Needham, MA) SharkNinja - more here

• Director of Strategic Partnerships - New Marketplaces (Remote) ID.me - more here

• Director, Client Partnerships, General Merchandise (Denver, CO) Ibotta - more here

✈️ Upcoming Industry Events

• Smart Retail Expo – February 2024

• eCommerce Berlin Expo – February 2024

• EuroShop – February 2024

• Natural Products Expo West - March 2024

• ShopTalk - March 2024

• World Retail Congress 2024 – April 2024

ABOUT RETAILIST

Retailist Magazine is an outlet focused on modern commerce as it relates to digital innovation. The publication examines our culture’s ever-evolving relationship with marketing, commerce and traditional retail. Our goal is to connect our audience to quality content and award programs for retail brands to tell their story of innovation.

These experts stand at the helm of their niche in retail and provide readers with real-time, trending insights to ensure you remain on the bleeding edge of commerce innovation. Contributing thought leaders include C-suite executives from Hubspot, Wix, Printful, Global-e, Zapaygo, TradeGala, Birdie, Inurface Media, and more.