July 15, 2026

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It’s Wednesday, and it’s National Hot Dog Day. Among the many brands and retailers celebrating is condiment brand Smash Kitchen, which, alongside cookware and knife seller Hexclad, will be handing out free hot dogs outside The Met with the New York Hot Dog King in Manhattan today. Unfortunately, no word if Smash Kitchen’s co-founder, actor Glen Powell, will be the one handing them out.

In today’s edition:

—Andrew Adam Newman, Brianna Monsanto, Erin Cabrey

E-COMMERCE

Returns engagement

Woman shopper affixes a barcode sticker to a cardboard box, marking it for return.

Olga Demina/Getty Images

Perhaps no problem is more migraine-inducing for the retail industry than returns. An estimated 15.8% of retailers’ sales valued at $849.9 billion were expected to be returned in 2025, according to a report from the National Retail Federation and Happy Returns. Online sales boomerang even more, with an estimated 19.3% returned.

Chances are those returns are not fetching full price the second go-round. Only 47% of returned items are subsequently sold for full price, according to a 2023 survey of US and UK apparel retail executives by SML RFID, which makes labels and tags to track products from manufacturers to stores. Another 42% are sold at a reduced price, with an average markdown of about 38%. As for returns that are damaged or with damaged packaging, or whose seasonal window has closed, they’re often thrown on a pallet and sold at drastic discounts.

A recent examination by Retail Brew of B-Stock, an online marketplace where retailers and brands sell returned and excess merchandise in bulk, found many returns are drawing bids for a fraction of their original prices.

But these days, some retailers are finding a way to recover more value from their less-than-pristine returns. With the rapid growth of the resale industry, some brands are beginning to route returned merchandise into their own resale channels.

Keep reading here.—AAN

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TECH

IT couldn’t hurt

A collage of different steps of the Walmart supply chain process: a crane loading goods onto a truck, the facade of the Walmart office building in Silicon Valley, and a person looking at logistics on an iPad.

Illustration: Morning Brew Design, Photos: Adobe Stock

You don’t need to be a tech-savvy retail giant to act like one, at least when it comes to IT.

At this year’s Walmart Associates Week in Northwest Arkansas, tech took center stage. IT Brew’s walkthrough of a working Walmart Supercenter during the conference not only peeled back the curtain on the tech enabling Walmart associates to serve customers more efficiently, but also highlighted lessons small retailers can borrow from the retail giant’s IT playbook.

Keep reading here on IT Brew.—BM

COMMUNITY

Coworking with Tim Murphy

Tim Murphy

On Wednesdays, we ~~wear pink~~ spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Tim Murphy is CEO of cleaning products brand Branch Basics.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? At Branch Basics, our No. 1 mission is to create healthier homes for everyone with our human-safe cleaning products. As CEO, it’s my job to make sure we stay true to that mission while continuing to build a company that makes it easier for families to choose safer, more effective cleaning solutions without compromising on performance. That means ensuring our vision for the future always aligns with our mission, while also developing innovative and accessible products made for everyone. Most recently, we expanded our product line in Targets nationwide, making human-safe cleaning more accessible than ever, while also meeting shoppers where they already are with formulas they already love. In the end, my role is not only about growing a business that can drive meaningful change in the cleaning industry, but also ensuring we’re creating products and experiences that genuinely improve people’s lives.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? A big part of my job that doesn’t show up on LinkedIn is fostering a culture of innovation by encouraging risk-taking. I’m always challenging our team to test ideas and question assumptions, even if it means some things don’t pan out. We don’t view failure as a setback, but as a critical step toward building something better.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? Our recent Target expansion has been one of my favorite projects I’ve worked on thus far. Launching into Target in April 2025 as our first-ever retail expansion beyond DTC was a major milestone for the brand.

Keep reading here.—EC

swapping skus

Today’s top retail reads.

Tough to stomach: Health officials are reportedly investigating Taco Bell as a potential contributor to the cyclosporiasis outbreak. (the Washington Post)

Putting the bite on: Consumers’ shifting snacking habits are hurting PepsiCo’s snack sales. (Reuters)

Hanging 10: Inflation has made maintaining the coveted $9.99 retail price point more challenging for brands and retailers. (the Wall Street Journal)

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Spotlight: Customer data

Metal shopping cart filled with retail bags, bag imagery obscures into pixelation

Anna Kim

Retail Brew spoke with experts from research firm Gartner and e-commerce tech provider commercetools to answer some essential questions for retailers on how to connect the dots between data, personalization, and customer experiences in modern retail.

Check it out

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Written by Andrew Adam Newman, Brianna Monsanto, and Erin Cabrey

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