Executive Summary

• This week’s note “From the Desk of Deborah Weinswig” discusses Amazon’s inroads into the beauty category.
• Dollar General said it will open 975 new stores in the US this year and remodel 1,000 older stores with new checkout lines to drive last-minute impulse purchases.
• Sainsbury’s and Asda stated they would reduce prices of everyday items by around 10% should the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority approve their merger.
• Fung Retailing and JD.com have collaborated to unveil a new AI-powered checkout system in two Circle K stores in Hong Kong. The system is the first of its kind in Hong Kong and is designed to make checkout an easy, hassle-free process.