Dollar General says no to price hikes

In today’s leading retail news, U.S. consumers plan to do half of their remaining holiday shopping online, while Dollar General executives say they don’t plan to raise prices commodities unlike its rival Dollar Tree. Additionally, Apple is warning vendors that demand for the new iPhone is slower as customers delay upgrades, and direct-to-consumer brands expand beyond the commodities that made them famous.

U.S. consumers say half of their remaining vacation shopping will be done online

Holiday shoppers say 47 cents out of every dollar they spend during the holiday season will be used online, forcing merchants to provide them with the digital payment and ordering features they want. Additionally, 44% of consumers – 228 million people – plan to do most of their holiday shopping between Black Friday and Christmas, providing plenty of opportunities to expand and improve their digital capabilities to drive sales this year. holiday season.

Dollar General Says He Does Not Plan To Raise Commodity Prices Unlike Dollar Tree Rival

Dollar General plans nearly 3,000 real estate projects for 2022, including 1,110 new stores that will significantly expand the retailer’s Popshelf store concept and see the business expand internationally for the first time. The decision to invest in new store concepts rather than raising prices at its main stores contrasts with rival Dollar Tree, which said last month it would raise prices to $ 1.25 after months of testing on various items at different locations.

Signaling iPhone demand during peak holiday shopping

Apple has alerted its component suppliers that it is seeing slowing demand for its iPhone 13 phone suite, in part because buyers plan to wait to update their smartphones when the company releases the next version of its product. Lighthouse. Despite weaker demand, Apple could still achieve record sales this holiday shopping season, with projections for an increase of 6% to nearly $ 118 billion in the last three months of 2021.

Direct-to-consumer brands are becoming platforms as they expand beyond commodities

Allbirds executives said earlier this week that they plan to create “a global lifestyle brand” focused on sustainability and natural materials. Last year the company launched a clothing line, its first business outside of footwear, which includes shorts, shirts, sweaters and socks, and Tim Brown, co-founder and co-CEO, said that the next two to three years will have “the most exciting product pipeline in company history,” including the launch of new lifestyle and performance products as well as new types of materials.