In today’s top retail news, direct-to-consumer mattress brands Purple Innovation and Casper Sleep are wrestling with demand the supply chain can’t keep up with, while Amazon says it will directly pay customers for injury or damage caused by products sold by third-party merchants. Also, luxury consignment platform The RealReal is struggling to reach profitability despite accelerating sales, and a Shutterfly acquisition is adding to the product creation platform’s offerings.
Casper, Purple Struggle With Capacity To Meet Growing Demand
Purple Innovation and Casper Sleep are losing sleep over supply chain issues amid increasing demand for their products as consumers remain focused on home, health and wellness coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. For Casper, the issues primarily center on a lack of available raw materials and labor shortages. Purple, on the other hand, is attempting to recover from a manufacturing accident in May that caused manufacturing to be halted. Production returned to anticipated levels during the last week of July, Purple said, but a backlog will continue through the end of August.
Amazon To Directly Pay Customers For Injury, Damage From Defective Products
Amazon is expanding its A-to-z Guarantee to better protect customers “in the unlikely event” a product sold through Amazon.com causes property damage or personal injury, whether the product comes directly from Amazon or one of its resellers. Under the expanded A-to-z Guarantee, the retail behemoth will pay customers directly starting Sept. 1 for claims of less than $1,000, which Amazon says is about 80 percent of the cases it encounters.
The RealReal Pauses Retail Rollout Amid Improvements In Business
Sales at The RealReal are growing like crazy as the post-pandemic recovery continues and new and returning customers reach record levels, but the luxury consignment marketplace is still struggling to make a profit and executives say they are unwilling to provide a timeframe for when it may become profitable. The RealReal said it achieved gross merchandise volume (GMV) of $350 million in the second quarter, its highest second quarter GMV to date and a 91 percent year-over-year jump.
Shutterfly’s Spoonflower Acquisition Adds Capabilities Beyond Photos
Photo sharing and personalized products creation company Shutterfly has completed its acquisition of custom fabric, wallpaper and home décor retailer Spoonflower for about $225 million. The deal “will increase the depth and breadth of what people can create, customize and buy on the Shutterfly platform including wallpaper, fabric and home décor,” according to an announcement.
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