A wave of cost-cutting measures, including layoffs and job freezes, is hitting the retail sector, according to eMarketer analyst at Insider Intelligence Zak Stambor. The announcements are coming amid signs of softening consumer demand. April U.S. general merchandise unit sales were 7 percent lower than a year ago, creating a 1 percent decline in sales revenue, according to The NPD Group. The situation has driven retail companies—including GoPuff, Peloton, Thrasio, and Reef—and other tech companies to rethink their staffing levels as the changing economic conditions force them to shift focus to turning a profit.

With consumers flush with cash thanks to fewer ways to spend their money and an influx of stimulus cash, many retail and tech companies experienced a huge boom earlier in the pandemic that drove them to rapidly add staff to keep up with demand. 

When it comes to direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-commerce, where there’s a sharp dichotomy between established brands such as Nike and digitally native brands such as Peloton, Warby Parker, and the retail brands that Amazon aggregators like Thrasio purchase. While digitally native brands used cheap capital to build their businesses, they’re having trouble adapting to the new landscape. 

That helps explain why D2C e-commerce sales of established brands are now growing faster than those of digitally native vertical brands (DNVBs), per eMarketer’s estimate. Last year, established brands grew their D2C e-commerce sales 27.2 percent, significantly outpacing the DNVBs’ 19.8 percent growth rate despite larger baseline comparisons, and that trend is expected to continue in 2022.

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