The Week in Commerce Marketing — Retail, E-commerce and DTC: May 2, 2025 edition

Welcome to The Week in Commerce Marketing — Retail, E-commerce and DTC, a weekly roundup for marketers from Quad Insights.

Amazon Fashion has spent years trying to gain traction in the luxury space, experimenting with high-end brand partners such as Oscar de la Renta, before investing in holding company Saks Global — parent of Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue — late last year. Now Amazon and Saks Fifth Avenue have launched a new digital storefront, appropriately called Saks on Amazon, featuring a curated selection of women’s and men’s clothing, shoes, beauty products and more from the likes of Dolce & Gabbana, Stella McCartney, and Moschino. To promote the partnership, Saks created an editorial campaign on social media, accompanied by a brick-and-mortar window display at the retailer’s New York flagship. Saks on Amazon is live now and accessible via the Amazon Shopping app, as well as on desktop and mobile browsers.

Previously:

• “Saks Fifth Avenue celebrates SNL’s 50th anniversary with limited-edition merch collection,” from the Jan. 10 edition of this column.
• “Amazon unveils shoppable holiday window displays tied to its 2024 holiday kids catalog,” from the Dec. 6, 2024 edition of this column.

More brand partnerships:

• “Revlon renews licensing deal for Juicy Couture fragrances with Authentic Brands Group” (Drug Store News)
• “Vineyard Vines releases official style guide for the Kentucky Derby” (MR Magazine)

That’s the share of U.S. consumers who say they’d buy more private label products if a larger variety were available, according a Store Brands report on the latest NielsenIQ research. (See more industry and marketing stats in the latest edition of The Weekly 10 from Quad Insights.)

More consumer insights:

• “Shoppers to reduce spending on footwear — including sneakers” (Chain Store Age)
• “Americans Putting Off Major Purchases Due To Tariffs: NielsenIQ” (Consumer Goods Technology)
• “Consumer expectations plunge at fastest pace since 1990 recession” (Customer Experience Dive)
• “Loewe unseats Miu Miu as the world’s hottest brand” (Fashion Dive)
• “Survey: Flowers, greeting cards, gift cards top Mother’s Day shopping lists” (Chain Store Age)
• “Shoppers expect to spend 8% more on groceries due to tariffs, survey finds” (Food Dive)
• “Walmart Holds Tight to 1st Place for Grocery Market Share” (Progressive Grocer)
• “Shopify shoppers favored pet products and baby essentials in April” (Retail Brew)

OpenAI is rolling out an updated ChatGPT AI engine to improve users’ shopping experience, TechCrunch’s Maxwell Zeff reports. In addition to providing information when users search for products, ChatGPT now returns customized results that can include images and reviews, recommendations and direct links to retailers. Results are based on metadata and aggregated content — such as product descriptions, pricing info and reviews — and OpenAI isn’t receiving affiliate revenue, according to Zeff’s report. Notably, the metadata that determines these recommendations is from third-party sources, meaning ChatGPT can only surface results from merchants that are included in those datasets. OpenAI is exploring options for online sellers to integrate their product feeds with ChatGPT directly; merchants can register interest in participating via a new portal on the OpenAI website.

More commerce operations and innovations:

• “Lowe’s expands in-store pilot of kitchen visualization tech” (Retail Dive)
• “Inside Amazon’s sustainability lab: Grueling tests forge the future of planet-friendly plastics” (GeekWire)
• “Dollar Tree sells Family Dollar for $1B” (Grocery Dive)
• ICYMI: “GNC taps drones for faster, less error-prone inventory checks” (Retail Brew)
• ICYMI: “DSW debuts in-store shoe protection kiosks” (Chain Store Age)

A pair of Wisconsin heritage brands — Duluth Trading Co. and Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company — have joined forces for a new line of limited-edition merch. The capsule collection is designed with summer weekends in mind, featuring a printed camp shirt, trucker hat, boxer briefs, crew socks and, yes, a sturdy 28-ounce silicone beer stein. The designs incorporate Northwoods-ready motifs (canoes, cabins and lager bottles) along with Leinenkugel’s classic scripted logo. The Duluth Trading x Leinenkugel’s collection is available now on the Duluth website and at select stores, with prices ranging from $8.95 to $44.50.

Previously: “Duluth Trading Co. gives away Underwear for Life during third-annual Underwear Trade-Up Event,” from the March 28 edition of this column.

More launches and collabs:

• “The Miu Miu x New Balance Collaboration Taps Coco Gauff” (Trend Hunter)
• “JCPenney Launches Plus-Size Apparel Line with Supermodel Ashley Graham” (Retail TouchPoints)
• “Gap launches 2nd collab with Dôen” (Fashion Dive)
• ICYMI: “Lee’s new collection is wearable art” (SJ Denim)
• ICYMI: “Lilly Pulitzer Teams Up With Saint James, the French Nautical-inspired Brand, for Capsule Collection” (Women’s Wear Daily)
• ICYMI: “KFC launches wearable accessories in partnership with Funko’s Loungefly” (Nation’s Restaurant News)

The secondhand luxury market is booming, thanks in no small part to online consignment shops including The RealReal and Vestiaire Collective. EBay, the most influential player in digital resale, is doubling down on pre-owned fashion and accessories. The auction platform just released its first-ever Watchlist, an in-depth trend report focused exclusively on pre-owned fashion. The (free) PDF combines search and sales data from eBay’s massive userbase with analysis from stylist and influencer Brie Welch, who’s been hired to serve as an in-house expert, per a brand announcement. Her first round of insights includes large year-over-year gains for specific items (the Gucci Bamboo handbag, the Seiko Half Moon watch) and several emerging styles (western wear, high-end denim, pastels) based on related keywords.

Previously: “EBay 2024 Recommerce Report highlights growing preference for ‘pre-loved’ goods,” from the June 14, 2024 edition of The Week in Retail.

More brand promotions:

• “Amazon’s Prime Day event returns in July” (Drug Store News)
• “You Can Now Eat Caviar and Drink Champagne at This Wegmans Location” (Food & Wine)
• “Sam’s Club Brings Membership Deals To Roblox” (MediaPost)
• “Ulta Beauty’s one-day immersive experience brings together more than 1K fans” (Drug Store News)

Campaigns and content:

• “Dior Unveils First High Jewelry Campaign Fronted by Charlize Theron” (Women’s Wear Daily)
• “Sephora stakes its claim in skin care with multichannel campaign” (Marketing Dive)
• “Amazon supplies the boxes for handmade gifts in sweet Mother’s Day ad” (Ad Age)
• “Whole Foods Just Announced Its Own Podcast — Here’s What to Expect” (Food & Wine)
• “L.L.Bean takes month-long break from social media — here’s why” (Chain Store Age)