Vidhi Choudhary

1 week ago | retailbrew.com | Vidhi Choudhary

Cason Crane, founder of specialty coffee company Explorer Cold Brew, recently purchased bulk inventory of coffee (from Ethiopia) and glass bottles (from China) in anticipation of tariff-related price increases. Explorer is a DTC brand founded in 2020, which sells a variety of caffeine levels online—including on Amazon and more recently at Whole Foods stores. “I’ve bought the maximum amount that I can feasibly store to get us through the next roughly six months,” Crane told Retail Brew.

2 weeks ago | retailbrew.com | Vidhi Choudhary

Shoppers on Shopify stores stocked up on pet essentials and toddler items in April, potentially driven by fear of tariff-induced price hikes. Items like store-bought dog food, wrap-style baby carriers, and toddler hip seats received massive bumps in orders during April, per the latest data from Shopify shared with Retail Brew. Pawsome: Orders for commercial dog food rose by a crazy 1,121% in April.

2 weeks ago | retailbrew.com | Vidhi Choudhary

Shoppers in the US went on a spending spree last month. Retail sales ticked up 1.4% in March, and if you zoom out, retail sales rose at an even faster clip of 4.2% compared to last year. However, all that spending doesn’t necessarily spell good news for the economy with trade experts calling this a panic buying binge ahead of President Donald Trump’s tariff-driven price increases.

3 weeks ago | retailbrew.com | Vidhi Choudhary

The de minimis party is over on April 25. Both Temu and Shein have separately announced sweeping plans to “adjust” the prices of items sold on their platforms starting then, citing “recent changes in global trade rules and tariffs.” To be sure, both the notices use identical language. The China-linked e-commerce platforms also urged US shoppers to shop right away: “Until April 25, prices will stay the same, so you can shop now at today’s rates.

3 weeks ago | retailbrew.com | Vidhi Choudhary

The de minimis trade loophole will be buried in the Cathedral of Congress on May 2. De minimis, or Section 321(a)(2)(C) of the Tariff Act of 1930, was first cleared by Congress in 1938. The de minimis trade exemption permitted shipments costing less than $800 to enter the US duty-free and with minimal paperwork and verification.