Tag: Mean Business

Like the holiday shopping season, which has been steadily creeping back toward October (or even earlier), the back-to-school (BTS) season is stretching, and in both directions — starting earlier and ending later. Part of the explanation for the longer season is that consumers are searching for value, on the alert for promotions and, increasingly, willing to buy secondhand, both to save money and, hopefully, save the planet. A June 2025 Deloitte study indicated that 40% of consumers are showing signs of value-seeking, including more cost-conscious choices, deal-driven purchases and convenience sacrifices.

The threat of tariffs raising prices on key BTS items such as electronics has many shoppers making these big-ticket purchases well before school bells ring. And Amazon Prime Day, which was extended to a full four days alongside multiple competitors’ promotions, gave them plenty of opportunity to buy sooner rather than later.

Many didn’t even wait for the sales: According to the National Retail Federation (NRF)’s back-to-school survey, 67% of shoppers had already begun buying as of early July, and 51% of BTS families were shopping earlier this year specifically out of concern that tariffs will raise prices.

On the other end of the calendar, one in five parents delay BTS clothing purchases until the weather actually shifts, according to consumer data from The Weather Company, which also noted that weather is 2X as likely as social media to drive trial of new school-related products.

And no matter when these purchases take place, the students themselves are increasingly making, or at least influencing, what is bought. A survey by SuperAwesome, which specializes in solutions for safely engaging Gen Alpha and Gen Z, reported that 81% of U.S. parents say purchases are co-decided or led by their kids and teens. Many retailers realize how important it is to woo those that will actually be using the school supplies and wearing the clothes: American Eagle, for example, is leveraging shoppable “Snap Map” listings on youth-friendly Snapchat for the current BTS season.

Tension Between ‘Buy it Now!’ and ‘Wait and See’

Retailers, understandably, like the trend toward earlier purchases: not only does it put money in the till, it also leaves opportunities for additional sales as the season progresses. Additionally, if threatened tariffs and inflation force them to raise prices, retailers could see consumer demand decline even further.

“There’s definitely real tension between retailers wanting to pull demand earlier and consumers taking a measured approach to purchases,” said Rob Garf, SVP, Strategy and Insights at Cordial, a cross-channel marketing platform, in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. Quoting a recent consumer study conducted by Cordial, Garf added that “retailers are pushing for earlier seasonal timing, but 63% of consumers are likely to hold off on major purchases until tariff situations stabilize. With shoppers…becoming more cautious with spending, promotions must break through the wait-and-see mentality.”

The Deloitte 2025 Back-to-School Survey also reveals consumers waiting for the most opportune moment. This year, 61% of spending will occur by the end of July, and while that’s a large number, it’s down from 66% in 2024. More consumers are willing to switch brands if their preferred brand is too expensive this year, 75% versus 67% last year. Deloitte’s per-child spending forecast of $570 is flat year-over-year, with purchasers focused almost entirely on essentials.

NRF forecasts also reflect consumers’ value-seeking mindset. Families with students in elementary through high school are projected to spend an average of $858.07 on clothing, shoes, school supplies and electronics, down from $874.68 in 2024. However, even with families tightening their budgets, slightly more consumers are purchasing apparel and electronics, which is expected to increase total BTS spending from $38.8 billion last year to $39.4 billion in 2025.

Secondhand Loses its Stigma

Consumers buying secondhand products is a trend that goes beyond BTS, but it’s a welcome one for parents counting pennies — and may offer an opportunity for retailers in this sector.

“Secondhand goods definitely create a bright spot for consumers facing price pressures,” said Garf. “Secondhand options give consumers access to what they want without premium pricing, essentially creating a pressure relief valve when retailers have to raise prices. For consumers who might otherwise postpone purchases entirely, this removes previous barriers and keeps them actively shopping.”

If Prices do Rise, Retailers Should Stress Transparency and Education

The tariff and international trade situation is still too volatile to confidently predict whether prices will rise or by how much, but retailers and brands will need to be prepared to communicate this information to customers if/when it happens. “The most effective tariff messaging focuses on transparency and education rather than just announcing price increases,” said Garf. “The tone should emphasize value beyond price — quality, service, reliability — while being honest about external pressures.”

Savvy brands are trying to turn the situation to their advantage, he added: “We are also seeing brands use the tariff uncertainty to create a sense of urgency, with the undertone being ‘buy it now or it may be more expensive or not available.’”

Communication decisions also will depend on the nature of the brand’s relationship to its customers, Garf added, noting that those with strong customer relationships “can absolutely use ‘We’re all in this together’ messaging, especially through channels like email and SMS, where it feels more authentic and personal,” he said. “The goal is maintaining relationships, not just communicating transactions.”

“From a communications perspective, retailers are also leaning from mistakes they made during inflation and making it clear to consumers how and why tariffs are impacting pricing and merchandising decisions,” said Matt Pavich, Senior Director of Strategy and Innovation at pricing solutions provider Revionics in comments supplied to Retail TouchPoints. “Leading retailers with the best data, tools, analytics and communications will gain share in the coming months if they focus on value, transparency and winning customers over.”

Pavich also noted that the unique nature of the BTS season can overcome even the most budget-conscious consumer: “It remains to be seen how tariffs will specifically impact key categories,” he said. “On the one hand, logic dictates that rising costs will negatively impact tariffed products like calculators or apparel; on the other hand, BTS is a unique event with limited substitution and generally lower elasticities. If a parent needs to buy a calculator for their child to be successful, they will find a way to do so even if the price of that calculator is higher due to tariffs.”

Retail media is exploding. U.S. ad spend surpassed $50 billion in 2024 and continues to climb, yet the market’s spoils aren’t evenly distributed. Amazon and Walmart are raking in the lion’s share, commanding about 85% of all retail media ad spend. But that leaves a major opportunity for smaller and mid-sized retail media networks (RMNs) to stand out if they focus on what advertisers care about most.

As a former media buyer, I didn’t need another walled garden with maximized reach. I had plenty of those. I needed a partner who could give me a strategic advantage. For mid-sized RMNs that advantage isn’t scale, it’s the weapon you already own: granular, high-intent, first-party data.

The temptation might be to mimic the giants, but that is a losing strategy. The real opportunity lies in out-thinking and out-maneuvering them.

Just because you’re not one of the giants doesn’t mean you’re out of the game. In fact, many of these emerging and midsize RMNs serve audiences that the big players can’t reach: loyal customers with high purchase intent, people who engage regularly through loyalty programs, mobile apps and at the point of sale.

Forget about playing catch-up. This is the moment to leap ahead.

First-Party Data: Retail’s Undeniable Advantage

Regardless of how third-party cookie policies unfold, the advertising industry’s focus is irrevocably shifting toward higher-quality, more reliable data — and not just for targeting, but for measurement, optimization and building trust. Just having the data is meaningless. Its value is determined based on how easily advertisers can access it and what advantage they can get out of it.

Smaller RMNs already have that: Their first-party data is clean, opt-in and derived directly from customers who choose to engage. Your data — loyalty scans, app behavior, point-of-sale insights — is rooted in actual purchases, not just probabilistic signals. That is your core product. Neglecting to make it accessible and actionable is hurting your business.

Unlike fragmented third-party data, first-party data is coherent, consistent, actionable and compliant with modern data privacy expectations.

So why aren’t more RMNs putting data to work? Nearly 70% of buyers cite a complicated buying process as a barrier to growth. But clarity starts with data, and 90% of marketers agree: first-party data is essential.

That’s a missed opportunity for advertisers who now prioritize:

• Targeting accuracy through first-party data;
• Incrementality measurement tools to prove lift;
• Self-service buying platforms for agile activation;
• Robust documentation and APIs for seamless onboarding; and
• Clear paths to scaling after successful tests.

Put simply, the RMNs that win are the ones that make it easy for advertisers to test, measure and scale.

Smaller Doesn’t Mean Weaker. It Means Sharper.

There’s a growing realization in the ad world: It’s not just about how many people you can reach, it’s about reaching the right people. And that’s where smaller RMNs really shine. Just like a small ship, a smaller RMN can shift and pivot more easily than a freighter.

Their audiences are often more engaged, more loyal and more niche, which makes them incredibly attractive to advertisers hungry for precision. Precision demands strategy, technology and crucial integration.

As a media buyer, I would have loved niche data that captures my target group perfectly. Let’s say you’re selling quality scissors to crafters and teachers: If you have an RMN where primary buyers match that profile, that’s gold to me.

Retail media networks run on data, but too often that data is fragmented. Loyalty insights in one system, ecommerce behavior in another, in-store transactions somewhere else. This disjointed picture weakens full-funnel attribution and slows down decision-making. We see this every day. The average customer uses data from four distinct sources. Stitching those together is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s essential.

With the average company juggling over 2,000 data silos, integration isn’t just a technical task; it’s a strategic imperative. Fragmented data clouds insights and limits performance, while connected data empowers teams to move faster, report smarter and drive more value for advertisers. Bringing it all together isn’t just a cleanup. It’s leverage.

Integrated data can:

• Unlock deep segmentation, letting you target messaging based on individual SKUs, behaviors or even loyalty tiers;
• Deliver unified insights, giving advertisers a clear view of both online and offline performance;
• Speed up optimization, allowing real-time adjustments that keep campaigns agile and effective; and
• Build trust, because advertisers can actually see how their dollars are working.

In a market where every impression counts, integration turns insight into advantage.

Smart Beats Scale

Let’s be clear: The goal isn’t to beat Amazon or Walmart, but to play smarter. Instead of trying to build another version of Amazon Ads, mid-sized RMNs should look outside their own market to the hyper-competitive markets in APAC for inspiration. Players like Rakuten in Japan or Grab in Southeast Asia didn’t win by copying Western models. They won by building deeply integrated ecosystems around their unique first-party data, from ride-sharing and food delivery to ecommerce and financial services. They made their data their undeniable advantage and built their platforms to cater to their advertisers’ needs.

The lesson is clear: Your technology stack is your product. Invest in infrastructure that connects your data and makes it actionable — an advertiser will see the value of an automated, customizable dashboard, not hunt for a 10-page PowerPoint.

With 46% of marketers already using AI for optimization, the message is clear: The faster you can apply insights, the more attractive you’ll be to advertisers. By surfacing patterns faster, predicting shopper behavior and recommending next steps, AI can take good data and make it smarter, faster and more scalable. Done right, data becomes your differentiator, not just in what you know, but in how fast you can apply it.

Smaller RMNs cannot afford complacency. They’ve got to take the offensive: own their data and optimize their tech stack by investing in modern data infrastructure; that is, systems built to integrate, automate and scale. By unifying disparate data sources and streamlining delivery into analytics environments, they lay the foundation for the strategic sophistication today’s advertisers expect.

The retail media landscape is littered with thousands of potential media sources. To a media buyer, a mid-sized RMN is just one more line item on a sprawling plan. You will not win on scale. You will not win by being a little bit cheaper. You will win by being smarter, more precise and radically easier to work with. This starts and ends with your data infrastructure.

The potential, the audience and the data are there. The missing piece is the infrastructure to bring it all together: the modern data stack built to integrate disparate sources, automate reporting and stream insights directly into the analytics environments where decisions are made. Waiting isn’t a strategy; it’s a delay that equals lost ground in this fast-moving space.

The future of retail media will be built on precision, trust and performance. This is a future where smaller players compete not by sheer size, but by leveraging superior insights, agility and a truly connected strategy to secure their undeniable seat at the table.

Outi Karppanen is the Lead Marketing Industry Strategist at Supermetrics, where she brings over a decade of experience in digital marketing and data strategy. She thrives in collaborative environments, working closely with sales, marketing and product teams to tackle complex marketing challenges. Karppanen specializes in developing compelling industry narratives, forging strategic partnerships and empowering internal teams with the insights and tools they need to drive impact.

Rent the Runway has reportedly increased its subscription prices by approximately $2 per item, effective Aug. 1, according to Glossy. Subscribers currently paying $119 to rent five styles per month will now pay $129, with the cost of a 10-style subscription rising from $144 to $164.

An email sent to the retailer’s subscribers and quoted by Glossy said, “Over the last several years, we’ve watched steep price increases unfurl across the board in fashion due to inflationary pressures and tariffs. We believe that this change allows us to keep delivering the most exceptional experience possible while remaining the best deal in fashion.”

The letter also noted that Rent the Runway last raised its prices in 2022, when the 10-item subscription price rose nearly $10 to the current $144. The email also contained links to a page where subscribers could cancel or pause their memberships, with the proviso that canceling would also cancel their RTR Rewards membership status. The loyalty program was introduced last month, with perks including surprise gifts, early access to sales and community events.

Rent the Runway’s financial results for its Q1 2025, which ended April 30, 2025, showed a 1% increase in the number of active subscribers, to 147,157, compared to the same period the previous year. Q1 revenue was $69.6 million, a 7.2% decrease year-over-year from the same period in FY 2024.

In the June 5, 2025 financial results release, the company noted that it was “in the midst of a multi-year corporate strategy transformation, and we believe that the changes we’ve introduced in the first quarter of 2025 have started driving meaningful improvement. By implementing an aggressive inventory acquisition strategy, innovating to enhance the product experience, and restoring our relationship with our customers, we have seen a reignition of subscriber growth and the strongest quarterly customer retention in four years.

“I have conviction that this quarter’s results prove that our focus on transforming our inventory and getting back to our customer-obsessed roots is working,” said Jennifer Hyman, Co-founder, CEO and Chair of Rent the Runway in the statement. “We made a big bet on new inventory and we’ve already seen higher customer engagement and retention. I believe that Rent the Runway’s momentum and customer loyalty is back.”

In event marketing, the giveaway has long served as a reminder of a brand after the event is over. As consumer expectations evolve, so must the strategy behind the branded giveaway. The era of mass-produced pens, tote bags and plastic trinkets is over. Today’s attendees are looking for more than just freebies; they are seeking meaningful, personalized experiences.

This transformation isn’t just a trend. It signals a fundamental shift in how brands engage with audiences in real life. Personalization and sustainability have emerged as priorities among consumers, reshaping the way merchandise is developed and delivered. With these new priorities in mind, real-time customization offers both a more engaging audience experience and a more effective approach to brand storytelling through retail products.

The Value of Personalization in an Oversaturated Environment

The expectations of event attendees have changed significantly. With algorithm-driven online product recommendations becoming the norm, the world has become more personalized. Social media gives greater visibility into event activations and exclusive experiences, raising consumers’ expectations of curated experiences. As these expectations extend into physical spaces, retailers creating event merchandise are under pressure to deliver similarly tailored interactions.

Personalized merchandise taps into this cultural shift. Rather than handing out identical items to attendees, brands can now offer products that attendees can have a hand in designing, creating a sense of ownership and emotional connection to the item, and therefore the brand. Customization turns a passive freebie into an engaging experience, inviting people to participate in a brand story while allowing them to take home something uniquely theirs.

Beyond emotional value, personalization also improves practical relevance. Attendees are more likely to keep, wear and share customized items, increasing the longevity and reach of a brand’s presence far beyond the event itself.

From Quantity to Quality: Trends Shaping Expectations

The move toward personalized, high-quality merchandise reflects larger consumer and societal sentiment. As an example, today’s consumer is willing to pay a 9.7% sustainability premium on purchased goods. There is also a growing cultural emphasis on minimalism and conscious consumption. People are seeking fewer, higher-quality products with purpose, longevity and personal relevance.

This has direct implications for experiential event activations. Instead of measuring impact by the volume of items distributed, brands are beginning to evaluate the depth of the experience and the ripple effect through social sharing.

Environmental concerns also are influencing these shifting mindsets. Current consumer consumption habits show that globally, we are projected to exceed 200 billion tons of material goods consumption annually by mid-century – an amount four times more than the ecological boundary, or the  maximum sustainable limit of natural resource use that the Earth can support without causing irreversible environmental damage.

As awareness of the environmental cost of overproduction grows, brands and consumers are reassessing the value of traditional event swag. One-size-fits-all giveaways, often produced overseas in bulk and discarded quickly, are increasingly seen as wasteful and not aligned with modern sustainability goals.

Aligning with ESG Goals

More than half (52%) of companies have cut both carbon emissions and emissions intensity since 2016. As organizations put greater emphasis on environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments, every aspect of brand activity must be scrutinized, including how events are executed. Traditional swag giveaways often fall short of ESG goals. Overproduction, use of non-recyclable materials and short product lifecycles make them a weak point for brands.

On-demand customization addresses several of these challenges. Because items are produced on demand, there’s little to no surplus inventory. Brands also can choose to work with responsibly sourced materials and low-impact production methods, aligning merchandise strategies with broader sustainability targets. Using on-demand production provides opportunities to show that engagement can be both high-impact and low-waste, while remaining creative and ESG-conscious.

Technology for Cutting-Edge Event Experiences

Delivering personalized merchandise to a large audience depends on technology. Advances in software, user experience design and on-site hardware from printing industry leaders like Roland DGA have made it possible to execute customization in real time at onsite events, without compromising quality.

Digital printing solutions, interactive design interfaces and cloud-based asset management tools allow for a seamless customer journey from initial interaction to finished product. These systems reduce the challenges typically associated with customization, making the experience intuitive and accessible for attendees of all ages and backgrounds.

On-demand production also offers several benefits. It minimizes waste by producing only what is needed, when it is needed. It also reduces logistics costs by eliminating the need for shipping pre-printed inventory to the event location. From a marketing standpoint, it allows for more customizable campaigns that can adapt designs based on event themes, audience demographics or live feedback.

Where to Begin

For retailers looking to evolve their event strategies, the shift toward personalization and sustainability presents a valuable opportunity. A few key areas to start:

• Prioritize quality over quantity. Fewer thoughtfully designed and executed items often deliver more value than high-volume giveaways.
• Make customization easy. Use onsite interfaces that are easy to navigate, with clear prompts and helpful guidance to ensure a smooth user experience.
• Understand the audience. Know what they value, use and share, and tailor product options accordingly.

By focusing on these areas, brands can create more meaningful experiences that are remembered long after the event is over.

The New Standard

In today’s event landscape, personalization and sustainability are no longer optional, they are expected. Attendees want to feel seen, and they want their participation in events to align with the values they hold in other areas of their lives.

Brands that respond to shifting mindsets will stand out in crowded event environments and strengthen their long-term relevance and credibility. Offering fewer, more meaningful brand merchandise options is not just more effective, it is more responsible – a balance that is the key to the future of branded merchandise.

Tim Williams is CEO and Founder of YR, a global leader in providing software solutions for on-demand, product customization and real-time visualization. YR is a true omnichannel platform for product customization specializing in in-store retail, brand activations and ecom. YR’s technology empowers brands and consumers to create unique products quickly and easily, driving engagement and enhancing customer experience.