For Hallmark Channel viewers, Christmas in July is a thing.  And at least some of us are beginning to think that Christmas shopping in July should be a thing too. Import logistics issues have dogged the U.S. for months now. It started with shipping capacity shortages for goods sourced from Asia, which has resulted in […]

The past year has been extremely challenging for certain sectors of the consumer economy, including physical retail and the apparel industry. However, as overall clothing sales struggled last year, the resale market for clothing saw strong growth. Thredup, a resale platform that allows consumers to buy and sell secondhand apparel and footwear, estimated in its […]

With COVID-19 driving interest in outdoor activities, consumer preferences have shifted. Concerns for safety and shutdowns of many indoor fitness and recreation outlets during the pandemic led people outside. This has resulted in higher participation on two fronts – consumers who were not participants before COVID are now trying new activities, and consumer who were […]

E-grocery and restaurant delivery experienced an unprecedented spike in adoption with the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and startups sprang up and partnered with retailers to facilitate getting food to consumers stuck at home. As the economy reopens, however, some are beginning to ask if all the investment in food delivery has created a bubble […]

Many of us have watched with awe as Amazon’s Prime Day has gone from a new holiday conjured from thin air in 2015 to one of the largest annual ecommerce shopping events in the U.S. This year’s 48-hour Prime Day, which wrapped up last Tuesday, generated over $11 billion in total U.S. ecommerce sales (including […]