US Retail Sales Beat Expectations 📈

Kroger has launched nationwide online grocery shopping through Uber’s platforms, enabling ordering at roughly 2,700 stores across the U.S. Customers can now shop through Uber, Uber Eats, and Postmates across major Kroger banners, including Ralphs, King Soopers, Mariano’s, and Harris Teeter. The move gives Kroger full national coverage across all three major delivery platforms.

✅ The Pivot: The rollout reflects Kroger’s strategic pivot toward store-based fulfillment after pulling back from automated warehouses. Over the past year, the grocer has expanded delivery partnerships with DoorDash and Instacart, positioning its physical stores as the core engine for e-commerce picking while relying on third parties for last-mile delivery

🤝 Partners with Benefits: For Uber, the deal deepens its push into everyday grocery delivery. For Kroger, the Uber tie-up broadens its digital reach without heavy capital spending and sharpens its competitive position.

CrossDock Insights: International expansion isn’t a marketing move — it’s a supply-chain and compliance commitment. Companies burn six figures by entering new markets with weak logistics models, misaligned regulations, and fragile demand assumptions. The Trade Readiness Scorecard by Six Catalysts gives you a fast, fixed-fee gut check for the U.S., Canada, UK, or EU — no bloated consulting, no slide decks, just clarity before you commit.

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U.S. retail sales rose 0.6% month over month in November and 3.3% year over year, beating expectations and outpacing inflation, according to data from the U.S. Commerce Department. The figures suggest consumers remain resilient despite mounting economic pressures, with broad-based gains heading into the holiday season.

📈 Growing Sales: Ten of 13 retail categories posted year-over-year growth, led by apparel (+7.5%), sporting goods and hobby stores (+7.8%), and nonstore retailers (+7.2%). Discounts pulled spending forward and boosted discretionary categories.

🌏 Global News: Zooming out globally, holiday spending was uneven. EU retail sales exceeded expectations in November, while the UK saw softer December growth as shoppers waited for deeper discounts. In China, Singles Day growth slowed despite an extended sales window.

Amazon has warned it may pursue “drastic remedies” in Saks Global’s Chapter 11 case, telling a federal judge that its $475 million investment in the luxury retailer has been effectively wiped out. The tech giant says Saks burned through hundreds of millions of dollars in cash, missed budgets, and piled up unpaid bills less than a year after acquiring Neiman Marcus.

Amazon, which owns just over 23% of Saks Global, is now openly challenging the retailer’s Chapter 11 process. It argues Saks improperly pledged the Manhattan flagship’s equity — once touted as an “equity cushion” — to secure roughly $2.6 billion in bankruptcy financing without Amazon’s consent.

A bankruptcy judge has already approved debtor-in-possession financing over Amazon’s objections, setting the stage for a prolonged and combative restructuring. Retail experts warn that the case is shaping up to be a multi-front legal battle, with lenders, vendors, and strategic partners unlikely to agree on a clean resolution.

Aldi plans to open more than 180 new stores in the United States this year, doubling down on an aggressive expansion strategy as inflation-weary shoppers increasingly prioritize value.

The German retailer expects to operate nearly 2,800 U.S. locations by the end of 2026 and has set a longer-term target of about 3,200 stores by 2028. Growth this year will include entry into Maine, its 40th state, along with deeper pushes into markets such as Phoenix and the Southeast, where Aldi continues to convert former Southeastern Grocers locations to its own format.

Beyond bricks and mortar, Aldi is pairing store growth with investments in infrastructure and digital capabilities. The company plans to add new distribution centers in Florida, Arizona, and Colorado over the next few years and roll out a redesigned website in 2026 to support curbside pickup, delivery, and meal planning.

Amazon is pushing suppliers to cut prices as it seeks to roll back concessions made last year to cushion the impact of U.S. tariffs under President Donald Trump. According to the Financial Times, the company has asked vendors for discounts ranging from low single digits to as much as 30%.

The e-commerce giant has also accelerated negotiations, in some cases pulling talks forward by several weeks and setting early deadlines. These moves come as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to rule on the legality of Trump’s sweeping tariffs, a decision that could reshape cost structures across global supply chains.

Last year, Amazon had agreed to pay higher prices for certain tariff-hit goods in exchange for guaranteed minimum margins for suppliers. With tariff risks now appearing less severe, Amazon is seeking to reclaim those concessions, even as third-party sellers — which make up more than 60% of its sales — remain central to its business model.

Temu has rapidly emerged as a dominant force in global cross-border ecommerce, now matching Amazon in recent international purchase share. According to the International Post Corporation Cross-Border E-Commerce Shopper Survey 2025, 24% of consumers made their most recent cross-border purchase on Temu, the same share as Amazon.

Just three years ago, Temu’s share stood at 1%, highlighting the platform’s unprecedented rise. The report also underscores China’s dominance as a cross-border sourcing hub, ranking first in 26 of 30 European countries surveyed.

However, Temu’s growth in Europe is beginning to moderate, with user growth rising 12.5% to 115.7 million in the first half of last year. To sustain momentum, Temu is shifting toward local European warehouses and partnerships with regional sellers

Keurig Dr Pepper has formally launched an all-cash €18 billion takeover bid for JDE Peet's, aiming to create a global coffee heavyweight capable of challenging Nestlé. Keurig is offering €31.85 per share, with JDE Peet’s board and shareholders representing 69% of the company already committed to accept the offer. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

The acquisition, first announced in August 2025, would be one of Europe’s largest recent buyouts and comes as global coffee prices sit at record highs. Keurig raised $7 billion in private equity financing in October to fund the transaction, easing concerns over leverage.

Post-acquisition, Keurig plans to split the combined business into two publicly listed companies, separating its global coffee operations from its broader beverage portfolio

Wayfair has partnered with Google to enable shoppers to discover and purchase products directly within Google’s AI-powered search experience, without leaving the platform. At the center of the collaboration is the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard co-developed by the two companies to allow AI agents to securely connect discovery, checkout, and payment across retail platforms.

UCP will power a new checkout option on eligible Wayfair product listings shown in Google Search’s AI Mode and the Gemini app. Shoppers researching furniture and home goods can complete transactions directly on Google, while Wayfair remains the merchant of record.

According to Wayfair, this ensures control over fulfillment, service quality, and the overall customer experience, even as purchasing shifts closer to the point of discovery.

Abercrombie & Fitch has slightly trimmed its outlook for fiscal 2025, now guiding for net sales growth of at least 6%, narrowing its earlier 6%–7% range. Operating margin expectations were modestly adjusted to around 13%, while earnings per share are forecast between $10.30 and $10.40, broadly in line with prior guidance.

At the same time, the company raised capital expenditure guidance to $245 million, up from about $225 million, signaling continued investment despite a more cautious sales outlook.

Real estate plans remain unchanged, with around 40 net new stores, including 60 openings and 20 closures, alongside remodels and right-sizing projects. The updated guidance also factors in the impact of U.S. tariffs, with $90 million in tariff-related costs expected for the full year after mitigation, equal to roughly 170 basis points of net sales.

U.S. business inventories rose for a second straight month in October, increasing 0.3%, as sales weakened, according to Commerce Department data. The gain exceeded economists’ expectations and lifted inventories 1.4% from a year earlier, reinforcing the likelihood that stockpiling will contribute positively to fourth-quarter GDP after dragging growth in prior quarters.

The buildup was led by retailers, where inventories climbed 0.6%, driven largely by a 1.3% jump in motor vehicle stocks. Retail inventories excluding autos — the component used in GDP calculations — rose 0.3%. Wholesale inventories increased modestly by 0.2%, while inventories at manufacturers were flat, signaling uneven stock accumulation across sectors.

At the same time, business sales fell 0.2% in October, extending September’s decline and pushing the inventory-to-sales ratio up to 1.38 months.