Retail Brew // Morning Brew // Update

April 24, 2025

Hello, it’s Thursday. If you were planning on splurging, you might want to hit pause as Louis Vuitton has raised the price of its iconic Neverfull GM bag in the US, signaling the start of a series of potential price hikes impacting European luxury goods to offset tariffs. Oh well, we prefer the LV Speedy bag anyway.

In today’s edition:

—Vidhi Choudhary, Andrew Adam Newman

E-COMMERCE

Numbers are telling

A pink shopping cart with digital analytics like a pie chart and bar chart inside of it

Amelia Kinsinger

At a time when tariffs are tanking consumers’ willingness to spend, retailers can use all the help they can get to figure out what their customers will need or want in the future. Understanding retail data might be one way to navigate this economic uncertainty.

For retailers, customer data can become a catalyst to create personalized shopping experiences, adjust inventory and, in some cases, show what customers want before they do.

Here are some essential questions for retailers to connect the dots between data, personalization, and customer experiences in modern retail.

Retail Brew has compiled emailed responses from research firm Gartner and e-commerce tech provider commercetools. Three Gartner analysts—Kassi Socha, director analyst; Matt Moorut, senior director analyst; and Brad Jashinsky, director analyst—responded to Retail Brew’s questions. In addition, Dirk Hoerig, founder and chief innovation officer of commercetools, also weighed in.

Keep reading here.—VC

From The Crew

Do it for the DIBS

As shopping journeys span both physical and digital touchpoints, data is the key to unlocking personalization that converts. Join us on April 29 for a virtual event on how brands and retailers can harness AI, first-party data, and real-time insights to deliver smarter, more engaging customer experiences—and turn analytics into action.

SUPPLY CHAIN

Cart-mageddon

Shopping carts filled with one hundred dollar bills

Elizabeth Fernandez/Getty Images

Shoppers in the US went on a spending spree last month. Retail sales ticked up 1.4% in March, and if you zoom out, retail sales rose at an even faster clip of 4.2% compared to last year.

However, all that spending doesn’t necessarily spell good news for the economy with trade experts calling this a panic buying binge ahead of President Donald Trump’s tariff-driven price increases.

Headlines with the term “panic buying” have been splashed across media outlets, from the New York Times and CBS to Bloomberg and BBC. Here’s a quick primer on what panic buying is, when it occurs, and what to make of all this anxiety-induced shopping.

Keep reading here.—VC

MARKETING

Higher office

Made in Xiaolin CEO Chris Louie draws on one of his company's cannabis cigars, or cannagars.

Made in Xiaolin CEO Chris Louie. Andrew Adam Newman

While the last presidential election may have found the cannabis business leaning toward Kamala Harris because of her years of advocacy for cannabis reform, the Trump presidency may benefit the industry in another way: His being in office makes people want to get more high.

Among US cannabis users, 50% said they would be consuming more of it during the new presidential administration, according to a Harris poll commissioned by Royal Queen Seeds, a Barcelona-based company that markets cannabis seeds to home growers.

Most likely to increase their intake: women aged 21–34, with nearly 6 in 10 (59%) saying they’ll consume more.

Keep reading here.—AAN

Together With Shopify

Check all your e-commerce boxes. Industry-specific website templates, inventory management, marketing tools, order tracking—these are essentials for all e-comm biz owners. Shopify gives you access to all those tools when you build your business with them. What’s better? Retail Brew readers get 3 days free, then 3 months for just $1.

SWAPPING SKUS

Today’s top retail reads.

Alternate reality: Inside the TikTok world of Chinese manufacturers pushing Americans to buy luxury goods directly from them. (the New York Times)

The return: Big Lots is reopening more than 130 stores next month alone after its sale. (USA Today)

Pep(si) talk: Why PepsiCo foresees an unpredictable near future as tariffs loom. (CNBC)

JOBS

Be part of something bigger than job boards. CollabWORK taps into niche communities and newsletters like Retail Brew to connect you with relevant opportunities. Expand your network and discover roles that are just right for you—click here to see jobs selected for Retail Brew readers.

Manager of Enterprise Analytics at a mid-sized retailer (hybrid)
Store Manager at Optimum (in person)
Director of Merchandising, Buying, and Planning at Coolibar (in person)

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