Weekly Round Off With HTE! 🎉

Ready to spice up your day with some sizzling industry gossip? 👀

Well, grab a drink and get cozy because we've got a rollercoaster of news coming your way! 🎉

We're serving everything from the hottest trends to the wackiest stories. So please put on your party hats, and let's make this Sunday the ultimate celebration!🔥

Here is what we have for you today!

📱 Oopsie! Facebook Ad Glitch Leaves Advertisers Wondering About Refund

📉 Amazon's Q1 retail sales hit the snooze button, but its services are wide awake and driving growth!

👩🏻‍🍼 Celebrate Mother's Day with Walmart+ and Get a Chance to Win One of 20K Free Memberships!

💄 Get Ready to Glam Up: Metaverse Beauty Week is Coming to Decentraland, Roblox, and Spatial!

👋🏻 Amazon Says Goodbye to Halo

Oopsie! Facebook Ad Glitch Leaves Advertisers Wondering About Refund

Oopsie-daisy! Facebook made a big boo-boo on Sunday, causing a glitch that uprooted digital advertisers.

Advertisers woke up to find that their Facebook ad budget was spent up to 90% by 9 a.m., leaving them with a measly 10% for the rest of the day.

The glitch affected over 3,000 ecommerce and direct-to-consumer companies, causing a bidding war that drove up cost per thousand impressions (CPMs).

What happened?

Facebook's ad system seems to have bundled more ads than usual into the morning hours, leading to a highly inefficient day.

Companies that implemented cost caps, or limits on their advertising campaigns, were not impacted by the glitch. At the same time, bigger brands took advantage of the lack of competition and ran successful Facebook ad campaigns throughout the day.

What about refunds?

The main concern for advertisers now is whether they will receive refunds from Facebook because of the glitch. The company says it's conducting a detailed analysis assessing refund opportunities.

Still, industry experts advise advertisers to make a big stink about it and frequently ask about refunds or risk being ignored.

What's next?

The glitch may have turned a profitable weekend into a big loser for some brands, but in the grand scheme, it's just one of many ad errors that companies occasionally deal with on Facebook.

Nevertheless, it's a reminder that relying solely on Facebook for advertising may not be the best strategy. So, keep your wits about you, and if something seems fishy, speak up!

Amazon's Q1 retail sales hit the snooze button, but its services are wide awake and driving growth!

🎉 Amazon's profits are up, but the e-commerce giant is not immune to the challenges faced by the retail industry. 🛍️

💸 Cost-cutting measures, including layoffs, have helped boost profits, but the company is still susceptible to changes in consumer spending habits.

📈 While sales at its online store have slowed, Amazon's highly profitable cloud services unit, AWS, has been propping up its retail operations. Despite a 21% decline in Q1 operating income, AWS still managed to bring in $5.1 billion. Overall operating income rose by 30.1% to $4.8 billion.

🛒 With its online store growth slowing down, Amazon has had to rely more on its services to drive growth. This includes advertising, which some analysts warn could be damaging customer trust.

🤖 However, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says there are "a lot of upsides still in advertising," citing the company's investment in machine learning to ensure that customers see relevant ads.

📉 As the economy tightens, spending on discretionary items may come under pressure, including advertising. Therefore, Amazon must find other ways to maintain its market share gains.

🧠 According to GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders, Amazon needs to think deeper about how to serve its customers better to eke out market share gains.

💄 Expanding its beauty offerings and focusing more on value from its own-brand products are steps that Amazon has already taken. But, other actions, such as making the website easier to shop and adding more inspiration to Whole Foods, must be addressed in the year ahead.

👀 Fortunately, Amazon has held on to most of its pandemic-related gains in market share, but there is still much work to be done in the current climate.

Celebrate Mother's Day with Walmart+ and Get a Chance to Win One of 20K Free Memberships!

Walmart is giving away 20,000 free memberships to Walmart+ ahead of Mother's Day!

The promotion is in collaboration with the Pampers Hospital gift bag program. If you've recently given birth, you could receive a reusable fabric bag, a sample pack of wipes, and a one-year subscription to Walmart+.

💰The Walmart+ membership is usually $98, but it includes many benefits, such as free shipping on eligible items with no minimum order, fuel discounts, and access to the Paramount+ streaming service. You'll also get early access to online deals, limited-time offers on various services, and the ability to make returns from home.

In a statement, Seth Dallaire, Walmart’s executive vice president and chief revenue officer, said, "Walmart+ brings together benefits that will help save moms precious time."

And that's not all! Walmart also shares motherhood hacks from celebrities like Cardi B, Stephanie Beatriz, Janelle James, and Jenny Slate.

Last year, Walmart cut the price of an annual Walmart+ membership in half for a three-day promotion ahead of the holiday season. The company also gave Walmart+ memberships to its employees for free in March of 2021.

According to the National Retail Federation, Mother’s Day spending was expected to hit a record high of $31.7 billion in 2022. Last year, greeting cards, flowers, and special outings were the top gift categories. Additionally, 27% of Mother’s Day shoppers planned to give experience gifts like a concert or sporting event tickets, the highest percentage since the NRF began tracking the category in 2016.

So new moms, don't miss out on this chance to snag a free Walmart+ membership and enjoy some sweet benefits!

Get Ready to Glam Up: Metaverse Beauty Week is Coming to Decentraland, Roblox, and Spatial!

Get ready for the most glamorous event of the summer! Metaverse Beauty Week is finally here, combining a lineup of beauty brands for a five-day festival. 🎉

🌍 Three Platforms, One Incredible Event

This exciting festival is set to take place from June 12-16 across three virtual platforms: Roblox, Decentraland, and Spatial. There will be in-person events and virtual activations to immerse you in the metaverse experience fully.

💄 Beauty Taking Over the Web3 Landscape

The creative agency Cult founded the festival, which has worked in the beauty, luxury, and fashion sectors for over a decade. They aim to establish the beauty category's role in the emerging Web3 landscape.

“We want consumers to experience beauty in a way like never before,” said Daisy Haywood, creative brand manager at Cult. “The premise of our messaging is that it’s time for beauty to have a reset.”

👗 Inspired by Metaverse Fashion Week

Metaverse Beauty Week was inspired by Metaverse Fashion Week, a fashion-forward event hosted by Decentraland. In its first year, the event attracted over 60 brands, including Estée Lauder, which was brought on as the exclusive beauty partner.

🎁 Gamified Experiences and NFT Wearables

The festival will feature a main plaza connecting attendees with various participating brands on each platform. Many experiences will be gamified, including treasure hunts, try-ons, and NFT wearables. Non-player characters will be active in the spaces to assist.

🌐 Accessibility for All

The event is designed to be accessible to as many people as possible. The agency realizes that Decentraland may be easier to access for some than others, while 3D social platform Spatial provides an advantage for being accessible by web browser. Roblox could help attract younger consumers, namely Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who are more likely drawn to gamified experiences.

🌟 An Event for Everyone

Metaverse Beauty Week is an event that is not to be missed. With so much excitement and innovation in the metaverse space, it's the perfect opportunity to explore the potential of beauty in a new world.

Amazon Says Goodbye to Halo

In a move that surprised many, Amazon announced it would discontinue support for its Halo line of health wearables. This decision has left customers, employees, and investors wondering about the future of the company's health initiatives. But what led to this sudden departure, and what does it mean for Amazon's overall strategy?

The End of an Era: Amazon Pulls the Plug on Halo

According to a company statement, Amazon will no longer support its Halo devices effective July 31. This decision comes just one year after its wearable fitness band and compatible app launch. The Halo band was designed to help users track their physical activity, sleep, and other health metrics. The Halo Rise, a bedside clock that monitored sleep patterns, was also introduced last year.

The Impact on Employees and Customers

Impacted employees across the U.S. and Canada have been notified and are receiving a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits, and external job placement support. Customers who made purchases related to Halo in the preceding 12 months will be fully refunded.

The Future of Amazon's Health Initiatives

Amazon's decision to discontinue support for the Halo line of products comes amid a larger shift in priorities for the company. In March, the e-commerce giant announced it would cut 9,000 roles by the end of April, mostly in its AWS, Twitch, advertising, and PXT teams. The move came just a few months after Amazon said it would eliminate 18,000 positions.

Despite this setback, Amazon has not abandoned its commitment to health and wellness. The company recently launched a new wearable device, the Amazon Halo View, which features an Alexa-enabled display and focuses on health and fitness tracking.

Academy Sports + Outdoors Shakes Up Executive Leadership

In other news, Academy Sports + Outdoors has announced several executive leadership changes. Ken Hicks, Academy’s chairman, president, and CEO, will step aside to become executive chairman of the board of directors. Steve Lawrence, the company’s executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, will become CEO. And Michael Mullican, the executive vice president and CFO, will become the company’s president.

Under Hicks' leadership, the company opened 28 new stores and grew net sales to $6.4 billion in 2022 from $4.8 billion in 2018. Lawrence, who joined the company in February 2019, has over 30 years of retail leadership experience at various retailers, including J.C. Penney.

What This Means for Academy Sports + Outdoors

Academy Sports + Outdoors' leadership shakeup occurs when the company is experiencing rapid growth. With Lawrence at the helm, the company is well-positioned to continue its expansion and capitalize on the growing demand for sporting goods.