The future of Dibs Beauty is all about retail expansion.

Founded in September 2021, the brand famous for its two-in-one blush and bronzer sticks, has grown through influencer marketing and social shopping strategies. It has also received funding from consumer-focused private equity firm L Catterton. Ask Dibs’s co-founder and CEO, Jeff Lee, why everyone wants to sell beauty online and he has a deep answer: “People have an emotional attachment to it.”

We caught up with Lee recently on the sidelines of Retail Brew’s Rewiring Retail: Mastering Data, Inventory, and the Online Customer Experience in New York City about tariffs, AI, and the holiday season.

What can you tell us about changes that you’ve made at Dibs Beauty because of tariffs?
You control the panic. That’s the first thing. It’s emotional more than anything. When the tariffs are changing constantly, all you can do is the best, which is—first of all, plan. Get as much inventory as you can and just scenario-plan. That’s all you can do.

Keep reading here.—VC

As online grocery sales continue to soar, Amazon this week announced its latest bid to become a digital grocery powerhouse and compete with Walmart. Consumers can now purchase perishable grocery items through its same-day delivery service.

The service is now available to shoppers in 1,000 locations across the US, and the e-comm giant said that’ll expand to 2,300 by the end of the year. Perishable items include produce, dairy, meat, baked goods, and frozen offerings, which can also be ordered alongside any other Amazon products in the same cart.

The move could help Amazon, which has found muted success in the fresh grocery space, compete with its biggest same-day delivery rival, Walmart, which is the top digital grocery retailer in the US, per eMarketer.

Keep reading here.—EC

When Party City and Joann Fabrics shuttered their stores earlier this year, Michaels found itself in an enviable position: Two major competitors had cleared the field, and the markets for products such as party balloons and fabrics were wide open.

However, turning this moment into an opportunity required some effort on the part of Michaels, Heather Bennett, president of marketing, e-commerce, and innovation at the arts and craft chain, explained during a session at eTail Boston this week.

For balloons, it was a matter of expanding its assortment and updating its merchandising.

Keep reading here.—AV