Amazon launches grocery brand 🛒

Amazon has launched “Amazon Grocery,” a new value-focused private-label brand aimed at budget-conscious shoppers, with most products priced below $5. The brand merges Amazon Fresh and Happy Belly into a single lineup of over 1,000 items, covering categories such as meat, dairy, snacks, and pantry essentials.

✅ Affordable Encore: This isn’t Amazon’s first foray into budget grocery lines — the company launched “Amazon Saver” last year, offering low-cost staples such as canned goods and condiments aimed at price-conscious shoppers.

📈 Private Pop: Amazon’s private-label sales have surged, with shoppers buying 15% more private-brand products in 2024 than the previous year across Amazon.com, Whole Foods, and Amazon Fresh.

📉 Market Reaction: Shares of major grocers fell after the announcement — Albertsons dropped over 2%, while Walmart, Kroger, Costco, and Target slipped around 1%.

Why is Amazon doing this? Amazon is doubling down on budget grocery lines to tap into a growing wave of price-conscious consumers amid inflation and shifting shopping habits. With private-label sales surging, the move strengthens its foothold in everyday essentials, boosts margins, and intensifies competition with traditional grocers.

Nike posted better-than-expected results for the quarter ended August, signaling early progress in its turnaround efforts despite a steep earnings drop driven by U.S. tariffs. Revenue rose 1% year-on-year to $11.7 billion, beating estimates of $11 billion. Net profit fell 31% to $727 million, but was still nearly double analyst forecasts, sending shares up 4% in after-hours trading.

📈 Wholesale Push: Nike’s wholesale business grew 7% YoY as the company rebuilt relationships with retailers like Foot Locker, reversing its overreliance on direct-to-consumer sales.

💰 Tariff Toll: Nike raised its annual tariff cost estimate to $1.5 billion — 3% of last year’s revenue — as higher levies on Vietnamese imports squeeze margins. Gross margin fell to 42.2% from 45.4% a year ago.

🇨🇳 China Stumbles: Revenue in Greater China dropped 10% to $1.5 billion, with operating profit down 25%, as Nike navigates “structural challenges” in the market.

Costco will begin selling Novo Nordisk’s popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy, at a flat rate of $499 per month for customers without insurance, significantly undercutting typical retail prices.

The deal, announced Friday, applies to more than 600 Costco pharmacies nationwide and aims to expand access to authentic, branded medications amid competition from compounding pharmacies and telehealth sellers.

Costco members with a prescription can purchase the injectables at a discounted rate, while executive members and Costco credit card holders will receive cash back rewards. For insured members, costs will depend on individual plans.

Walmart announced it will remove synthetic food dyes and 30 other additives — including preservatives, artificial sweeteners, and fat substitutes — from its private-label food products in the U.S. by January 2027.

The plan will impact roughly 1,000 products across brands, including Great Value, Marketside, and Freshness Guaranteed, representing one of the retailer’s largest clean-label initiatives to date. According to the retail giant, 90% of its private-label food products are already free from synthetic dyes.

The move follows growing consumer demand for natural ingredients and increased regulatory scrutiny under President Trump’s administration, as part of broader efforts to “Make America Healthy Again.”

Walmart joins major packaged food companies, including PepsiCo, Campbell’s, and Conagra Brands, that have made similar commitments in recent months.

Japan’s biggest beer maker, Asahi Group Holdings, was forced to halt production at most of its 30 factories after a cyberattack crippled its ordering and logistics systems, triggering widespread supply disruptions.

Retailers, including 7-Eleven, Lawson, and FamilyMart, have begun warning customers about shortages of Asahi Super Dry, the country’s most popular beer, as well as other beverages such as Mitsuya Cider.

The incident is suspected to be a ransomware attack. Asahi’s shares have fallen 12% this week as the company struggles to restore operations, with no timeline yet announced. Japan has logged 116 ransomware cases in the first half of 2025.

Rite Aid has officially closed all of its remaining stores, marking the end of the 62-year-old pharmacy chain. The company announced the decision on its website, thanking customers for their support.

Once the third-largest standalone pharmacy chain in the U.S. with over 5,000 locations, Rite Aid was down to fewer than 100 stores — roughly 89 — by the time of the closure.

The retailer filed for bankruptcy twice in less than two years — first in October 2023 and again in May 2025 — amid heavy debt, declining sales, and mounting opioid-related lawsuits. The Justice Department had accused the company of filling unlawful painkiller prescriptions, leading to a $7.5 million settlement in 2024.

DoorDash and The Kroger Co. have expanded their partnership to offer full grocery delivery from all of Kroger’s 2,700 U.S. stores, marking a major milestone for the food delivery platform. Beginning October 1, customers can order Kroger’s entire grocery assortment through the DoorDash app.

Previously, the partnership was limited to select items. The move makes Kroger the largest grocer on DoorDash’s platform, thereby strengthening its competitive position against rivals such as Instacart and Amazon. DoorDash, which launched grocery delivery in 2020, had previously partnered with Walmart before that deal ended in 2022.

The UK’s new packaging tax, which took effect at the start of October under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, is expected to push higher costs onto consumers, according to new figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

The levy requires retailers and manufacturers to cover the full cost of household packaging waste, including collection and recycling. BRC estimates that more than 80% of these additional costs will ultimately be passed through to shoppers.

The Bank of England has projected that the policy could add 0.5 percentage points to food inflation. The EPR rules also introduce heavier reporting requirements. Companies must submit detailed data on packaging composition, recyclability, and material use. Although some enforcement has been temporarily paused, 85% of retailers report that their administrative workloads have increased “significantly” since the scheme’s launch.

Hillshire Brands, a subsidiary of Tyson Foods, has voluntarily recalled about 58 million pounds of its State Fair Corn Dogs and Jimmy Dean Pancakes & Sausage on a Stick after pieces of wood were found in the batter, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The issue was discovered following consumer complaints, including at least five reported incidents of injury. Investigators found that “wooden sticks entered the production process before battering.”

The affected products were packaged between March 17 and Sept. 26 at a facility in Haltom City, Texas, and distributed nationwide to retailers, schools, and even Department of Defense facilities. Packages are marked with “EST-582” or “P-894.” Consumers are advised to discard or return the recalled items.

Hertz announced on Tuesday that it is rolling out a new e-commerce platform, which will enable customers to complete the entire car-buying process online — from browsing and financing to trade-ins and final purchase.

The upgrade to HertzCarSales.com marks a significant shift in the rental company’s retail strategy. Until now, the website has only listed available vehicles, with most transactions taking place at its 45 U.S. retail outlets.

“Our new e-commerce platform marks a major step forward in modernizing how we serve our customers with a seamless journey from browsing to ownership,” said CEO Gil West. The move comes shortly after Hertz partnered with Amazon Autos in September to sell pre-owned vehicles, signaling a broader e-commerce strategy.

Amazon Shipping will implement higher peak season surcharges from Oct. 26, 2025, to Jan. 17, 2026, to cover additional operating costs during the holiday rush.

Per-package demand fees will increase to $0.60 between November 23 and December 27, with handling surcharges rising to $10.80 per package. Large and extra-heavy packages will incur surcharges of $107 and $540, respectively, during peak periods.

The new rates are higher than in 2024, though Amazon has dropped its volume-based fee. The company stated that the charges are necessary to maintain service reliability amid expected increases in shipments. The move comes as Amazon’s logistics arm continues to expand, with U.S. parcel volumes rising 7.3% year-over-year in 2024, outpacing those of FedEx, UPS, and USPS.

Walmart will roll out Bluetooth-enabled sensors to track the location and condition of 90 million pallets of groceries shipped annually across its 4,600 U.S. stores by the end of 2026, in partnership with Wiliot, the San Diego–based tech firm.

The sensors, embedded in shipping labels, will monitor factors such as temperature and dwell time, particularly for perishable goods. The move aims to eliminate manual scanning and routine tasks, thereby boosting operational efficiency.

Walmart has already implemented the technology in 500 locations and 40 distribution centers, following its initial deployment in Texas in 2023. The new real-time data streams will feed directly into Walmart’s AI systems, enabling more precise inventory management.