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AUGUST 15, 2025 |
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American Girl’s latest doll from its “Collector Dolls” series sold out in one week. Which popular Netflix show character was the doll modeled after? |
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A) Eleven (“Stranger Things”) B) Wednesday Addams (“Wednesday”) C) Emily Cooper (“Emily in Paris”) D) Anne Shirley-Cuthbert (“Anne with an E”) |
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TOP STORY |
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Retailers face an atypical holiday season. Instead of the usual end-of-year boom, 2025 is expected to bring a rare deceleration in holiday sales growth. |
“We expect that consumer spending will be more restrained during the 2025 holiday season,” said our analyst Sky Canaves during a recent Meet the Analyst webinar. “Brands and retailers won’t be able to bank on the traditional holiday season to compensate for the rest of the year.” |
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November-December sales will increase by 1.2%, according to our May forecast, below our full-year projection of 1.5% due to slowing consumer spending, inflated prices, and wavering confidence. |
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IN THE NEWS |
Fast-casual chains tap secret menus to build buzz, drive app use, help with R&D. “Secret” is one of the most powerful words in the marketing playbook—it signals exclusivity, discovery, and insider access. Read online |
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Other headlines: |
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Ulta, Target to end shop-in-shop partnership next year. The companies said they mutually agreed not to renew the deal, which launched in 2021. Read online
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Online shoppers value speed and free shipping. But if forced to pick between the two, shoppers will accept slower delivery speeds if it means no extra cost. Read online
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Removing artificial colors could cost brands more than it wins in sales. Natural colors can cost five to 10 times more than artificial dyes. Read online | | | |
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ANALYSIS |
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Meta plans to let brands fully create and target ads using AI by the end of 2026. |
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Companies could upload the products they want to market along with their budgets and have AI generate the entire ad, including visuals, video, and text, per The Wall Street Journal. |
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The AI could also determine which individual users on Facebook and Instagram should be targeted and deliver different versions of the same ad to users based on factors like location. |
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