The Week Ahead: WWDC, inflation, Amazon's next consumer CEO

Events

When it comes to tech, all eyes are on Apple as the week begins. The company’s annual WWDC developers conference runs virtually from Monday-Friday. Among the rumors of new releases at the event are a new version of iOS, which is the operating system for the iPhone. Given how the 2021 update to iOS 14 brought a big shift to attribution on platforms like Facebook, marketers should pay attention, Ad Age reports. Elsewhere, new features for the iPhone and the potential for new mixed reality tools are chief among the developments churning in the always-active rumor mill heading into the event.

Economic data

When it comes to economic indicators, inflation continues to be the main influencer. So all eyes will be on Friday’s release of the Consumer Price Index by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. In April, the rapid rise of inflation eased slightly with an 8.3% increase from March. Economists will be watching closely to see whether the increase continues to tail off.

Friday also brings the preliminary reading of consumer sentiment for the month from the University of Michigan. This index has been declining as inflation has gone up.

Stories we’re following

The post-Memorial Day week brought lots of news in ecommerce. Here’s a look at a few of the narratives we’ll continue to track.

• Change at the top: Amazon Consumer CEO Dave Clark announced Friday that he is resigning after 23 years at the company. CEO Andy Jassy has yet to announce a successor, so we’ll be watching for changes at the top of the largest ecommerce platform.
• Walmart's big weekend: As of Sunday evening, Walmart+ Weekend is in the books. It was the first multi-day sales event under this banner from the retailer, so it will be interesting to see the sales numbers, how many subscribers to the Walmart+ membership service the company gained and whether it proved effective to hold the event in front of Prime Day.
• Quick commerce slowdown?: Recent layoffs at platforms like Gorillas, Getir and Gopuff are leading to questions about the instant delivery model. With pandemic demand and venture capital availability both cooling, how will these companies adjust?
• New this morning: Etsy is launching a purchase protection program for buyers and sellers, Techcrunch reports. This will cover full refunds for items that don’t match descriptions, or run into snafus during the shipping process. This was just launched this morning, so it will be interesting to see how the Etsy community responds, and whether other platforms will take the nod to launch their own similar features.