In April 2022, Chinese ecommerce giant Shein closed a funding round that valued the company at $100 billion. Shein has experienced a meteoric rise in the U.S. fast fashion market, with its sales overtaking established competitors such as H&M and Zara during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using U.S. consumer spending data, we analyzed how Shein sales … Continued

Wholesale clubs experienced a sales boost early in the pandemic, as consumers rushed to stockpile pantry essentials and household goods. But how have wholesale clubs fared two years after the panic-buying rush? We looked at a few of the major wholesale club competitors—Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST), BJ’s Wholesale (NYSE: BJ), and Walmart-owned Sam’s Club—to see … Continued

The era of the true “dollar store” is coming to an end. In late 2021, Dollar Tree announced that it would increase its main price point from $1 to $1.25, ending its pricing model of 35 years and joining other discount chains in providing low-cost—but not exclusively $1—items to customers. Consumer transaction data reveals that … Continued

As many Americans are returning to the office, pet owners are faced with the question of what to do with their pets while at work. That’s potentially good news for pet care companies, which struggled early in the pandemic as more people were staying home. In fact, the dog-walking platform Wag announced in February 2022 … Continued

The COVID-19 pandemic brought disruption to the flower industry—from plummeting demand, forcing nurseries globally to destroy millions of flowers early in the pandemic, to the supply chain issues resulting in the global flower shortage more recently. Despite these issues, transaction data shows that sales among DTC flower upstarts jumped during the pandemic, particularly during holidays … Continued