Today In Retail News: Spiceology Shakes Up D2C; SMBs Face Choices As Prime Day Looms; Big Lot Raises Forecast

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In today’s top retail news, Spiceology aims to shake up the D2C realm, and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) face decisions of how — or whether — to compete with Amazon’s October Prime Day event. Also, Big Lot anticipates positive sales growth and GoDaddy unveils a Facebook feature.

Spiceology Shakes Up The D2C Status Quo

It’s said that variety is the spice of life. Spiceology wants spices to have variety. The 7-year-old D2C hybrid brand has just received $4.7 million in funding and is on a mission to get chefs and consumers to experiment with flavor, as home cooking is in vogue and restaurants are starting to come back from the pandemic. “We’ve all been that person who, when asked to go pick up some cumin or chili powder or something simple, goes to the supermarket spice aisle and feels like they’re never getting out alive,” CEO Chip Overstreet told PYMNTS. “There’s either too many spices to choose from, or not enough of a selection to really experiment. Spiceology aims to fix both problems.”

SMBs Face Urgent Choices As Prime Day Looms

There is no Black Friday. There is now Black Tuesday. That’s one way to look at Oct. 13 and 14 in this year of unpredictable and unprecedented retail happenings. Just one week after Amazon officially announced its Prime Day would start Tuesday, Oct. 13, Target and Walmart have  countered with their own events. While the bigger retailers can draft some momentum from the event, the issue of how small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) can compete has never been more urgent. Unless a retailer is part of the Big Six (Amazon, Walmart, Lowe’s, The Home Depot, Target and Costco) or on the cusp (Best Buy, TJX) the choices are simple: compete or don’t compete. There are several schools of thought on this and they involve two of retailing’s toughest strategies: how to compete with Amazon and how to compete with the deep discounts that will mark what is fast becoming a midweek kickoff to the most important holiday selling season since the financial crisis.

Big Lots Forecasts Comparable Sales Rise In The ‘Mid-Teens’

Big Lots, Inc. said on Wednesday (Sept. 30) that it expects comparable sales will rise in the “mid-teens” for Q3 fiscal 2020. The discount retailer forecasts diluted earnings per share (EPS) between 50 cents and 70 cents, according to an announcement. By contrast, Big Lots registered an adjusted net loss per share of 18 cents in Q3 fiscal 2019. The company said in the announcement that the guidance “incorporates expected share repurchase activity for the quarter. “I am delighted with our continued strong sales performance, which puts us on track to deliver another excellent quarter, and gives us strong momentum coming into the critical holiday season,” Big Lots President and CEO Bruce Thorn said in the announcement. “Our assortment remains well positioned against customer demand, our Operation North Star initiatives continue to gain traction, and early reads on Christmas are very encouraging.”

GoDaddy Unveils eCommerce Feature For Facebook, Instagram

In a move that expands the opportunity to locate new shoppers and increase sales, GoDaddy Inc. said its customers can now sell merchandise through Facebook and Instagram with Websites + Marketing Ecommerce. The firm is among the “early adopters” of Facebook’s Business Extension as an official Facebook Marketing Partner, according to an announcement. “Our goal is to help entrepreneurs grow online, so it’s critical for them to sell where they will get the most engagement,” GoDaddy VP of Products Greg Goldfarb said in the announcement. “By integrating Instagram and Facebook commerce, sellers can easily showcase products to audiences that are the most likely to buy and to spread the word.” Websites + Marketing Ecommerce lets clients make shoppable posts and create shops on Facebook in addition to Instagram. They can add products to their eCommerce stores that will sync to their accounts on both social media platforms.