Today in Retail: Amazon Ramps Up Fraud Protection Tactics; Home Depot, Adobe Team on Omnichannel Experiences

Today in retail, Uber Eats launches a nationwide food delivery offering, while Ollie’s Bargain Outlet expects to see a retail “trade-down” in the next three to six months. Plus, The RealReal is looking for a new leader after founder Julie Wainwright steps down, and Blue Apron aims to be more accessible through a Walmart partnership.

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Expects Closeout Surge, Says ‘Trade-Down’ Is 3-6 Months Out

Extreme value retailer Ollie’s Bargain Outlet said Wednesday (June 8) that an expected consumer trade-down to deep discount stores had not meaningfully materialized yet, but predicted a change soon due to the impact of record high gasoline prices and swelling inventories at “Big Box” rivals.

The remarks come as the Pennsylvania-based operator of 439 stores in 29 states delivered first quarter earnings results that saw its total sales falling 10% and its same-store sales drop 17%.

Ollie’s comments come just one day after Target laid out an “aggressive cost control” plan that would see that general merchandise retailer cutting prices to clear out inventory, canceling orders and tweaking its logistics and arrangements with suppliers. Ollie’s said it was already seeing an uptick in a so-called deal flow of merchandise being liquidated and was preparing its owner buyers to be ready.

Amazon Increases Customer Brand Protection

Seller and product vetting, increased automated brand protection tools, holding counterfeiters accountable for their misdeeds and educating and supporting customers are the core focus areas for Amazon when it comes to protecting its brand, its sellers and its customers.

That’s the overarching message of the retail behemoth’s second annual Brand Protection Report, according to a blog post Wednesday (June 8) by Amazon’s Dharmesh Mehta, vice president, worldwide selling partner services. He noted that Amazon invested more than $900 million and hired more than 12,000 people last year, including machine learning scientists, software developers and investigators, in order to protect customers and vendors from counterfeit, fraud and other forms of abuse.

What Does RealReal CEO’s Departure Say About the Future of reCommerce?

As the self-titled “largest online marketplace for authenticated, resale luxury goods,” The RealReal (TRR) has spent a decade striving to become profitable as a niche company, catering to a niche clientele, within a niche retail category.

TRR founder, chairperson and CEO Julie Wainwright has stood as an unwavering voice for the company and the broader reCommerce cause, defending both the viability of the business as well as the much-needed sustainability that it offered by giving clothing and accessories a second life until Tuesday (June 7), when the San Francisco-based executive announced she was stepping down, effectively immediately.

As the company embarks on a nationwide search for that permanent next-gen leader, TRR has temporarily been put into the hands of COO Rati Levesque and CFO Robert Julian, who will serve together as co-CEOs, with Wainwright staying on as a paid advisor until the end of the year.

Home Depot, Adobe to Expand Consumers’ Omnichannel Experience

Adobe and Home Depot are deepening their partnership in a bid to add more insights and improve customer service, according to a Tuesday (June 7) press release.

The partnership will see Adobe adding “comprehensive insights” to help refine marketing investments. It’s a continuation of the way Home Depot added digital tools like web analytics and A/B testing with its earlier work with Adobe, along with Creative Cloud applications for designing new tools.

This comes as 72% of customers have said their trust in brands is dented by poor personalization, particularly with the increasing ways society is digitizing, the release said. Anjul Bhambhri, senior vice president of Adobe Experience Cloud, said the priority was to “make the digital economy personal.”

Blue Apron Lowers Barrier Between Meal Kit and Grocery With Marketplace Partnership

In an interview with PYMNTS, Dani Simpson, chief marketing officer at Blue Apron, said the company’s recent launch of single-purchase multi-serving meal kits and ready-made Heat & Eat meals on the Walmart Marketplace offers an easier first entry point into the brand for consumers, encouraging further engagement down the line.

Simpson noted that the best-case scenario for the brand would be for consumers to try the brand’s offerings through this Walmart shop and to be converted into fans, funneled into Blue Apron’s direct to consumer (D2C) subscription offerings, but this would not be the only possible positive outcome of the partnership.

Uber Eats Follows DoorDash Into Cross-Country Food Delivery

Uber Eats on Tuesday (June 7) announced the launch of nationwide shipping, a feature by which consumers can send foods from local favorite food and beverage sellers to people anywhere in the United States.

The announcement comes seven months after DoorDash announced the launch of its nationwide shipping offering, which essentially followed the model pioneered by nationwide shipping food marketplace Goldbelly, which has been operating in the space for nearly a decade. In 2020, the marketplace saw its business grow 300%, according to a company news release.