1. Amazon
Amazon’s first-ever Big Spring Sale, open to all customers including non-Prime members, took place March 20-25, in an effort to boost sales on seasonal items and fuel its ad business.
What’s interesting:
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Amazon’s new shopping event goes head-to-head with similar Lowe’s and Home Depot promotions, which align with their busiest season for home improvement and furnishing sales.
- Prime Days have been huge in driving retail media ad spend, and its Big Spring Sale will be no different. Amazon’s flagship shopping events will help bolster $41.95 billion in US ad revenues this year, according to our March 2024 forecast.
2. Aldi
Aldi plans to open 800 new US stores by 2028, as part of a $9 billion investment. The grocer also completed its acquisition of Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket brands, many of which will be switched over to Aldi stores.
What’s interesting:
- Aldi’s success in building a cult following rivals that of Trader Joe’s. Aldi’s holiday merch, released last March and September, sold out in days.
- Our analysts were divided on Aldi’s ability to put a dent in Walmart’s grocery business, with analyst Suzy Davidkhanian saying Aldi doesn’t have the footprint or variety to compete with Walmart. “It's like a one-trip-wonder kind of activity versus Aldi, which only has groceries,” she said.
3. Wayfair
In May, Wayfair will open doors to its first large-format store, boasting more than 150,000 square feet and a restaurant in Illinois. This comes amid a brand refresh and a new "Welcome to The Wayborhood" campaign that included celeb-studded ads spots during the Academy Awards and a Pinterest Creator Tour.
What’s interesting:
- “[Wayfair] is doing a lot to rebrand, reposition themselves, and to try to come out of a little bit of a slump,” said our analyst Becky Schilling.
- The retailer cut 4,270 jobs from August 2022 to January 2024, while revenue remained flat YoY at $3.11 billion.
4. Target: For announcing a paid membership to rival Walmart+ and Amazon Prime and rolling out a new in-house ad buying program for its retail media network.
5. Kohl’s: For enlarging its home assortment by 40% to better meet consumer needs.
6. Lowe's: For beta testing Google’s new retail media product and experimenting with Apple’s Vision Pro.
7. Walmart: For making its AI delivery optimization tool available to other companies and announcing early morning delivery.
8. Michaels: For launching a new online marketplace and in-store experiences.
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