Excess waste or valuable resource?
Are you ready for Gen Beta? You might still be figuring out Gen Z—or keeping up with the rising influence of Gen Alpha—but there’s already a new generation on the horizon. Enter Gen Beta: find out what these kids could mean for the future of retail.
Also, take a look at the companies named most innovative in 2025, and find out whether consumer sentiment is still a reliable read on the economy.
Plus, we talk with Aloqia’s Stephanie Benedetto and Phil Derasmo about how their platform helps retailers of all sizes turn excess inventory into a new opportunity.
Flipping the bird. CNN’s four-part series “Twitter: Breaking the Bird” features the founders talking about the humble beginnings of the social media platform and follows the company up to its sale to Elon Musk.
That's one pricey dupe. Actress Kristen Bell is a favorite commercial spokeswoman for a good reason: she’s funny and relatable. As a “chronically awake” mom, Bell discovers Estée Lauder’s $128 Advanced Night Repair Serum is a “dupe” for beauty sleep.
Well, that was weird: BuzzFeed is known for its lengthy, fun-to-read lists that everyone can find something relatable in, and this 2018 post is no exception: 26 of the strangest things that retailers have experienced goes from predictable to cringe-worthy. What would you add to the list?
Tackling excess inventory: “Small companies can do this now”
Stephanie Benedetto, founder and CEO of deadstock textile marketplace Queen of Raw, has evolved that company into Aloqia, a plug-and-play platform that turns excess inventory into opportunity by enabling fashion, CPG, technology and F&B companies to resell, reuse or recycle their surplus, or source goods from other companies.
“I always said fashion was just the beginning,” says Benedetto, whose family has been in the textile business for three generations. She and Aloqia CTO/COO Phil Derasmo share how the company works and how SMB retailers can start to take control of their supply chains. –Marcy Medina
Can you describe how Aloqia works?
Derasmo: We leverage technology to give companies complete visibility into their excess inventory so they can take action, whether they choose to reuse, resell or recycle it. We act as their team on the ground, connecting them with a network to repurpose it and seeing it through with complete accounting so they know what they did with their inventory and where it went.
Why is this important for retailers?
Benedetto: As businesses go through challenging times you need to find places to free up more capital, improve margins, make more revenue and make more out of less. In the present environment, knowing where in the world your inventory sits and what to do with it can massively affect your supply chain. You could avoid tariffs and navigate regulatory risks while maintaining speed to market. We’re not just saving your excess inventory, but also the costs that go into it: people [and] warehouse management. For some companies, it’s up to 15% of their bottom line.
What can retailers do to protect themselves in an unstable economy?
Benedetto: First, know that what you don’t see may be costing you. If you’re looking to save and make money, getting visibility is very important for businesses of any size. Making and buying things close to home is one way to protect yourself, but the availability of skills and resources may be challenging. Try to diversify your portfolio if you are heavily weighted in one part of the world. And leverage the technology that’s out there. You don’t need to build everything from scratch.
What’s one trend you’re excited about?
Benedetto: This movement toward more on-demand, smaller batch production is very powerful, especially for smaller companies. I get excited when I see more companies moving in that direction. It’s a competitive advantage for sure. They don’t need to buy things two years out and 10,000 units at a time.
Above: Phil Derasmo and Stephanie Benedetto. (Courtesy)
What do the most innovative retailers have in common?
Fast Company’s 2025 innovative retailer list rounds up 10 companies—some you’ve heard of, others you haven’t—and tells you exactly why they were chosen. The honorees include J. Crew, Ikea, Amazon, Pandora, Uniqlo parent company Fast Retailing and Coupang, as well as tech and logistics providers Swap, Crisp, Perfect Corp. and Constructor. What ties all these seemingly disparate companies together is their use of technology, either marrying it with old-school marketing (J. Crew) or using it to help customers find what they’re looking for (Amazon). Ikea and Pandora get sustainability points for launching a peer-to-peer resale marketplace that offers sellers money or a store voucher with a 15% bonus, and redesigning its supply chain to use only recycled silver and gold, respectively.
Why this matters: It’s not only interesting to take note of how some companies use generative AI and augmented reality, but to read about companies like Constructor that provide megabrands like Sephora, Under Armour and Petco with sophisticated product discovery tools. Or Swap, which consolidates logistics services for DTC brands. (Fast Company)
Are you ready for Gen Beta?
First it was Millennials, then Gen Z, and finally Gen Alpha who made retailers start paying attention to younger generations and their spending power. Now comes Gen Beta—babies born from between 2025 and 2039—who will be the next big cohort to watch. (Hey, at least they’re giving you ample time to plan.) Their parents are younger Millennials and older Gen Zers, both raised on tech and AI. According to research firm McCrindle, Gen Beta is expected to live into the 22nd century, when AI and automation will be fully woven into daily life.
Why this matters: What this all means is that Gen Beta’s normal will likely include autonomous driving at scale, wearable health devices, immersive virtual environments and always-on digital interactions while connecting socially. They will expect highly personalized virtual shopping environments where they can manipulate and experience products before buying. Not so different from present generations, only they’ll have access to far more sophisticated technology. (Retail Customer Experience)
Amazon shoppers’ average spend in 2024: $2,800
Meanwhile, Americans spent $700 annually on TikTok Shop
Is consumer sentiment a good economic gauge? Experts weigh in
Sports apparel, footwear set to reach $173B in 2025
Best Buy bets on influencers to boost sales
How Evereve scaled without losing its personal touch
Evereve started out as a brick-and-mortar boutique whose value proposition was in-store stylists who could help busy moms and off-duty professionals put together cute outfits from a range of brands in the mid-contemporary price range. It’s scaled to over 100 stores nationwide, and now includes an e-commerce business and a subscription box service. A recent RETHINK Retail podcast welcomed Evereve’s Director of Stores Karrie Helm, who has been with the brand since nearly the beginning, to talk about how they’ve maintained a loyal customer base and how the little touches still haven’t disappeared with the company’s growth.
“We built Evereve TV a few years ago so we have some personalities who work in our stores that have regular shows on EETV. Our CEO even does a show called ‘Styled by the CEO.' It is a constant conversation because our stylists are the heart and soul of our brand." - Karrie Helm, Evereve
Why this matters: Helm describes how Evereve’s stylists create real connections with shoppers, who often buy online and bring their purchases into a store to have them styled. Interestingly, the stylists, who don’t work on commission, don’t take ownership of their customers. Instead, “the customers belong to the store,” says Helm. This exemplifies the community-driven approach the company champions both internally and with its customers. Listen to the podcast here.
Technology is the key to redefining productivity
To rethink what “productivity” means in retail, Forbes points to an old example: Sears. In 1888, its 1,000-page catalog brought hundreds of products into customers’ homes—a breakthrough at the time. But by the 2000s, Sears had fallen behind more agile competitors and ultimately filed for bankruptcy. Its rise and fall show that innovation drives growth, but only if it's sustained.
The old idea of productivity focused on cutting costs. Today, it means investing upfront—in technology and people—to create long-term value.
Why this matters: According to Accenture, the most productive retailers are growing 4.5% annually. For every 1% increase in costs, they’re seeing a 1.3% revenue gain. That edge comes from pairing smart tech with skilled teams who know how to use it—blending innovation with the timeless basics that once made Sears great. (Forbes)
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The SKUpe is curated and written by Marcy Medina and edited by Bianca Prieto
