The Week Ahead: Prime Day, Latest inflation data, CosmoProf in Vegas

Events

• CosmoProf North America: The beauty community descends on Las Vegas from July 12-14 for a B2B-centered exhibition that takes a two-track focus on finished products and supply chain. The latest goods, technology and packaging will be on view.
• Miami Ecommerce Summit: Miami became a tech destination over the last two years. On July 14, tap into the the city's ecommerce community and learn from speakers representing Perry Ellis, Pitusa, BigCommerce and Walgreens.

Economic indicators

With inflation still under a microscope, it’s a big week for new monthly data on prices and demand. Check out the schedule of releases recapping June from the federal government:

• Consumer Price Index provides the latest reading of the government’s inflation gauge on Wednesday, July 13. May’s year-over-year increase of 8.6% showed prices continuing to tick up in the 40-year-high range, and helped prompt the Fed to make a larger-than-expected rate increase of .75%. Will there be any cooling this month?
• Producer Price Index, which is the measure of what manufacturers pay for goods at their initial sale before they reach retailers, will provide further inflation data on Thursday, July 14.
• Total retail sales for the month will close out the week on Friday, July 15, providing the latest snapshot of how price increases are affecting spending. This measure has held relatively steady in the face of inflation, so it will continue to be closely watched for warning signs that could arise with any significant deviation from recent trends.
• Consumer sentiment also gets its preliminary July reading from the University of Michigan on Friday. Last month found this measure at its record low. The economic picture hasn’t changed much since then.

Stories we’re following:

• Amazon Prime Day is here. The annual deals extravaganza is here on July 12-13. To get ready, check out our primer for sellers and predictions from the experts. Throughout the week, we’ll be watching for reports showing if deal volume remains high at a time of inflation, whether sellers are meeting goals and how influencers are driving interest.
• Earnings season gets underway. Alongside the latest government data, company earnings reports will provide important insights about the health of the economy, and the consumer. PepsiCo and ConAgra Foods are among the companies kicking off the Q2 reporting.
• Profitability over growth: As venture capital firms send signals of a pullback with the economy tightening and layoffs from tech companies follow, one message embedded throughout the cuts is a focus on profitability over growth. The p-word also came up again in a recent Retail TouchPoints article that detailed how ecommerce systems and processes that were expanded over the last two years will now prove their value to businesses. We’ll be looking to tell the stories of how brands, retailers and the software companies that power them are making progress toward that milestone of a healthy business.