Good morning, we hope you had a great Independence Day. Welcome to a new quarter. Having fully settled into summer, here’s what The Current is tracking in ecommerce and the economy over the next four days, and the coming month.
Events
With the short summer week, there's less activity on the ecommerce calendar over the next few days. So here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in July:
- Prime Day: Amazon’s annual deals extravaganza is set for July 12-13. There are plenty of deals leading up to the day itself, and keep an eye out for events seeking to benefit from the halo effect, like Target’s Deal Days. Check out our full primer for sellers.
- Grow NY: Retail brands are gathering at the Knockdown Center in New York on July 19-20 for two days of talks, workshops and networking.
- Digital Food and Beverage: On the CPG side, Austin is the destination for this ecommerce and digital marketing conference on July 25-26.
Jobs week
It’s the first week of the month, so all eyes are on jobs. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is set to release the results of its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey on Wednesday, July 6. Then, on Friday, the BLS drops the monthly jobs report.
Last month showed a relatively strong jobs report, especially in the face of soothsaying about a recession. But retail was one exception, as stores shed 61,000 jobs amid a shift to consumer spending on experiences over shopping for goods. The data for June will offer a look at whether that shift was temporary, or on the way to being more lasting.
Stories we’re following
- Jassy’s Year One: Protocol’s Source Code newsletter notes this morning that today marks one year since Andy Jassy took over as Amazon CEO from Jeff Bezos. That date arrives amid executive shuffling on the company’s vaunted S-team, and as a pivotal Prime Day approaches. What verdict will emerge on his first year in the top role?
- What’s next for Kohl’s? After a long courtship, Kohl’s announced Friday that it won’t be moving ahead with talks for a sale to Vitamin Shoppe owner Franchise Group. So what’s the path ahead for the retailer? Real estate sales could be in the near future, CNBC notes.
- What's happening with TikTok ecommerce?: When it comes to integrating shopping into short-form videos, change seems to be afoot. A report from the Financial Times on Monday says social media darling TikTok is abandoning plans to expand livestream shopping in the US and UK. However, the ByteDance-owned company may not be abandoning social commerce altogether. Social Media Today reports that the company is testing a shopping feed in Indonesia. At a time when brands are seeing growth on TikTok, will such a feature move West, as well?
