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Hey, hey, it’s the long weekend. And, also, less than 50 days until Black Friday. It’s all hands on deck as retailers prep for a shorter holiday season. If recent Prime Day data is any indication, it’s going to be a dog fight as shoppers get into down-to-the-wire price comparison.

In today’s edition:

—Andrew Adam Newman, Vidhi Choudhary, Jeena Sharma

STORES

Best case scenario

A sign in a CVS describes how to unlock the locked display case using the CVS app..

Andrew Adam Newman

Locked-display cases, the theft-prevention measure that puts so much of retailers’ inventory behind glass that stores are beginning to resemble claw machine arcades, are not exactly crowd pleasers.

Upon discovering something that they want to purchase is locked, fewer than one in three shoppers (32%) summon an employee to unlock the case, according to a reader survey from Consumer World, a consumer advocacy website. More than half (55%) decide that instead of seeking a similar unlocked product, they’ll try to find it in another store.

But CVS is testing something that could make the locked cases less onerous, a system that enables shoppers to unlock the cases with their phones rather than having to wait for store employees.

For those about to lock: In a LinkedIn post in September, Zachary Dennett, VP of merchandising at CVS, shared a short video revealing what he called a “big milestone for convenience at CVS,” namely that “customers can now unlock products with the app!”

The video showed a locked CVS case filled with vitamins, and an iPhone with the CVS app open being used to unlock it.

Intrigued by the post, which at the time of publication had been reposted 60 times, liked 1,628 times, and drawn 158 comments, I messaged Dennett on LinkedIn and requested an interview. Dennett never responded, but a day later Amy Thibault, lead director of external communications at CVS, emailed that my inquiry had been forwarded to her and that it was “a very small pilot” about which the company was “not ready to share any information.”

Asked over email how many stores were involved in the pilot, their locations, whether a vendor was supplying this technology or the retailer had developed it internally, and why if this was under wraps a CVS executive was posting about it to LinkedIn, Thibault declined to respond to the questions but offered a statement.

“We’re always looking at ways to improve the customer experience,” Thibault wrote. “This pilot is an example of how we’re applying technology as a possible solution and we’re eager to learn more about how it works and is received.”

Upon closer examination, in the short demo that Dennett posted to LinkedIn, when the CVS app was opened it showed the store’s street address. It was in Manhattan.

It was time to go shopping.

Keep reading here.—AAN

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MARKETING

The Reels thing

Meta

E-commerce advertisers, the largest contributor to Meta’s ad growth, will now have the ability to create more video ads that can be adjusted to look like Reels with two new generative AI ad tools. The tech giant introduced the tools, called Video Expansion and Image Animation, on Tuesday at Advertising Week New York.

Meta is giving priority to video elements in ads across both Instagram and Facebook as video usage on the platforms grows. Video now accounts for 60% of time spent on Instagram and Facebook, Meta said.

Keep reading here.—VC

LABOR

RB fashion dispatch

Anjelika Gretskaia/Getty Images

This week in fashion news: A top luxury retailer gets a new CEO, while another exits a major brand.

Gucci brings on new CEO

Gucci has a new CEO: Stefano Cantino. The former deputy chief executive is taking over from interim CEO Jean-François Palus, who was assigned to the position after Marco Bizzarri’s departure in 2023. The new appointment comes as the retailer struggles to recover from a recent decline in sales.

Why this matters: New CEOs and executives seem to be the hottest trend in fashion. Earlier this month, French luxury retailer Céline announced a new artistic director. Meanwhile, Tom Ford named Haider Ackermann as the creative director in September taking over from Peter Hawkings. Brands like Alberta Ferretti and Burberry have also seen executive changes.

Keep reading here.—JS

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SWAPPING SKUS

Today’s top retail reads.

Fall from grace: Once a promising healthy-bagel startup, BetterBrand has reportedly fallen behind on payments to suppliers, according to a report in the Information. (the Information)

Chicken dinner: McDonald’s is introducing a Chicken Big Mac at US restaurants amid a broader shift in the fast-food industry to offer more chicken on the menu. (the Wall Street Journal)

Grim outlook: Aritzia trimmed its revenue forecast for the full year on soft consumer demand despite strong August performance. (Bloomberg)

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