In today’s top retail news, Chewy is preparing to roll out a marketplace for veterinarians in an expansion of its health offerings, while Five Below continues to grow its retail footprint with nearly half of all consumers living paycheck to paycheck. Also, Amazon and Walmart have seen their shares of clothing sales drop for two quarters in a row, and Walgreens is launching a bank account and debit card program at its drugstores.
Chewy to Launch Marketplace for Vets in Expansion of Health Offerings
Online pet supply retailer Chewy is currently testing a new marketplace for veterinarians to help them grow clinic revenues and improve experiences for pet owners, with the goal of rolling out the service to more providers later this year. Through Practice Hub, vets will be able to choose items to list on Chewy’s website, set prices, create pre-approved prescriptions and earn revenue when customers place an order in-clinic or via Chewy.
Five Below Continues Store Count Growth as Sales Rise
Five Below added 34 new stores across 19 states in the second quarter amid growth in sales, as millennials and bridge millennials struggle to pay bills despite healthy paychecks. According to PYMNTS research conducted in collaboration with LendingClub, 60% of millennials in the U.S. live paycheck to paycheck, compared to an average of 49% of consumers of all generational groups reporting such issues.
Amazon, Walmart See Sliding Shares of Apparel as Style Returns to the Forefront
Both Amazon and Walmart have seen their shares of the clothing and apparel category slowly slip for two quarters in a row, as consumers have begun returning to more stylish and trendy retailers that they favored prior to the pandemic in order to refresh their social wardrobes. This follows a year in which both retail giants saw spikes in their share of apparel sales as consumers, faced with shuttered stores and an everything-from-home lifestyle, chose comfort and ease over fashion.
Walgreens Promotes Financial Health With Scarlet Card
Walgreens has joined forces with the payments technology company InComm Payments to launch Scarlet, a bank account and debit card available exclusively at its drugstores. The launch of the Scarlet card follows last month’s rollout of the myWalgreens Mastercard, a branded credit card issued by Synchrony Bank aimed at incentivizing customers’ healthy living choices such as doctors’ appointments and gym memberships.
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