Retail Brew // Morning Brew // Update

April 08, 2025

It’s Tuesday, and markets got a boost yesterday when a bogus rumor spread that President Trump was considering putting a pause on tariffs. The confusion only lasted a half hour or so, but the response should give you an idea of how jittery everyone is feeling this week.

In today’s edition:

—Erin Cabrey, Jeena Sharma, Holly Van Leuven

MARKETING

Cutting layers

Olaplex

After a streak of dull sales, hair care brand Olaplex is hoping an effort to go back to the roots—literally—will help revitalize it.

Olaplex was founded in 2014, starting in the professional channel at salons before expanding into retail. The company launched on DTC and into specialty retailers like Sephora in 2018, and went public and expanded into Ulta stores in 2021.

The brand has had its struggles since going public, including a since-denied class action lawsuit and slipping sales, particularly in the professional channel. Former Supergoop CEO Amanda Baldwin took over as chief exec in December 2023 to begin a turnaround. In its most recent earnings reported in March, net sales dropped 9.8%, with professional sales down 27.1%, though specialty retail rose 5.7%. On that earnings call, Baldwin introduced the brand’s new “Bonds and Beyond strategic vision,” comprising three pillars: shifting its products and messaging beyond treating damage to “foundational hair health,” fostering its professional business, and creating an “emotional connection” with consumers.

A multi-pronged brand refresh is a core part of this. While Olaplex’s products were designed and marketed to treat damage from hair coloring, CMO Katie Gohman told Retail Brew, lately the company has found that “the visual identity wasn’t really representing everything that the brand could do for both stylists as well as consumers.”

“A great brand has an emotional territory in a world that consumers aspire to be a part of,” Gohman said.

Keep reading here.—EC

From The Crew

Your burning questions about work, answered

Is it okay to ask your coworker how much they make? Is Gen Z set up for failure in the workplace? Should you really bring your whole self to work? Each week on Per My Last Email, Morning Brew’s resident career experts Kaila and Kyle—whose careers have collectively spanned the corporate, government, nonprofit, and startup sectors—debate the trickiest challenges in work life and share insightful (and sometimes hilarious) tactics on how to overcome them. Listen now.

PAYMENTS

Credit (is) history

A man is cutting his credit card with a pair of scissors.

Getty Images

If there’s one thing that we’ve learned over the past few years, it’s that the economy is unpredictable and nearly every average American has had a tough time in some respect at some point.

In fact, the latest Morning Consult’s Cash App Afterpay survey found that about half of Americans can’t afford an emergency expense equal to or greater than $500, and 83% said that overspending—understandably—caused them stress.

While the study surveyed 5,412 American adults across generations, the younger crowd has had a harder time dealing with savings and paying off bills at a time when costs keep rising.

But instead of letting bills pile up, both Gen Z and millennials are ditching the old credit card and opting for debit cards instead in order to stay more financially responsible.

In fact, 63% of Gen Z surveyed said they had already abandoned credit cards in favor of other payment methods such as debit cards and even plain old cash, while more than half stated that credit cards gave them the “ick.”

Keep reading here.—JS

E-COMMERCE

The least you can do

Jakub Porzycki/Getty Images

If you’ve been nervous about your mother’s Temu addiction, she will soon be over it: The tariff loophole that powered Shein and Temu to massive sales in the US is getting closed up soon.

The popular de minimis exemption has allowed goods worth less than $800 to enter the US tariff-free as long as they are shipped directly to the consumer, but that perk ends for shipments from China and Hong Kong on May 2.

Now, those packages will be “subject to a duty rate of either 30% of their value or $25 per item,” which will increase to $50 per item after June 1, according to the White House.

Keep reading here on Morning Brew.—HVL

Together With Hightouch

Rules of engagement. Generic customer journeys + calendars probably won’t engage a diverse, unique audience. The solve? Hightouch AI Decisioning can help you leverage AI agents to connect with customers 1:1 at scale. WHOOP implemented Hightouch AI Decisioning and saw a 22% boost in cross-sold products compared to manual processes. Will your biz be next?

Loyalty so strong, it’s giving BFF

Morning Brew

In a crowded marketplace, price alone won’t win customer loyalty—engagement will. Join us on April 15 to explore how AI-driven personalization, gamification, and strategic loyalty programs can turn one-time buyers into lifelong brand advocates. Register now..

SWAPPING SKUS

Today’s top retail reads.

Bitter sweets: High cocoa prices and new US tariffs are putting a damper on the Easter sales season for a Swiss chocolate maker. (the Associated Press)

Nationwide ‘Blackout’: In response to a nationwide boycott that began Monday, Walmart is arguing that it’s a boon to the US economy.. (Newsweek)

False advertising: Texas is opening probe into WK Kellogg over claims that its breakfast cereals are “healthy.” (Reuters)

JOBS

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Market Development Manager at Sazerac Company (in person)
Shipping & Logistics Lead at Nurture Life (in person)
Head of Customer Service at AKIRA (in person)

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