Hey there!

Long time no talk, huh?

Well, I'm trying to change that. This might look a little familiar and a little different at the same time.

What's the same?

The look is the same. I'll still share news you might have missed. I'll share interesting pieces that I think might help or inform you. I will still try to get a chuckle out of you with a meme.

What's different?

It will be shorter! There won't be long-winded think pieces starting them off.

If it's shorter, I'm thinking they should come out more regularly.

I enjoy writing longer pieces, but honestly that was the bottleneck for me. There was so much more stuff I wanted to tell you, but didn't get a chance to because I couldn't get around to finishing the main article.

I'll still write longer pieces, but I'm not going to put a deadline on them. You may see them in an occasional Forever Saturday issue or I'll post them on Medium.

I'll let you know if there's something new to read in case you enjoyed them.

For now, let's talk about what's going on:

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What's the Matter?

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📰 Ecommerce sales Break Q1 Record

In Q1 2024, U.S. ecommerce sales hit a record high of 22.2% ($268.12 billion) of total sales.

Why it matters: ecommerce growth outpaced total retail growth. This is huge and further evidence of a shift towards online shopping habits.

The 22.2% is also the 3rd highest quarter since the data started being tracked in 2000. The top two quarters are understandably Q4's, when spending spikes. The fact that a Q1 put up these numbers is a great sign moving forward.

📢 We covered this in last week's Live News and Q&A show. You can catch the replay here.

And tune in live every Wednesday at 5pm est on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook to get some recent updates and have your questions answered.

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📰 Price Cut Peer Pressure? All the Cool Kids are Doing It.

Inflation headlines have more staying power than the Fast & Furious franchise. Rising prices are a hurt that nearly everyone feels.

Recently though, several major retailers have announced large-scale price cuts.

Why it matters: obviously, lower prices = lower buy costs.

But it's also important to note the impact of the headlines. Announcing price cuts will win some brownie points with the public and put pressure on competitors to do likewise.

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📰 Pulling Back the Curtain on Hustle Bros

This is an older article, but I reread it recently and thought it was interesting.

Why it matters: Because we see some of this in the Amazon space.

I have a love/hate relationship with hustle culture. I love the opportunities that exist, but have no desire to work every second of every day.

As with anything, there's a line that can be crossed between a true educator and a profiteer posing as a teacher.

The biggest crime that can be committed is portraying this business as easy or profits as quick. This is a good reminder that we need to pick our mentors carefully.

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📰 Amazon Makes Prime More Appetizing

Amazon made GrubHub+ a permanent perk of Prime membership. Prime members get zero delivery fees and lower service fees. It works out to a $120 value annually.

Does it matter? Yes, I think so. Amazon Prime members spend an average of $1400 compared to $600 per year from non-Prime members.

Extra perks make Prime membership more valuable. More Prime members means more money spent in the marketplace.

What's the Latest on the Clear The Shelf with Chris & Chris Podcast?

A few days ago, we released our interview with Kenn Yeomans. He gave us some insights into the world of Lego investing.

Lego seems to have its own economy and retired sets can go for serious money. I thought it was fascinating to learn and I hope you do too.

Follow the links below to get caught up on the pod:

​ Listen to Clear the Shelf with Chris & Chris on your favorite podcast player: ​YouTube​ ​Apple​ ​Spotify​

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Alpha Weekend Lead List

If you missed your chance to sign up for the Alpha Weekend List, we had a couple of spots open up recently.

This is a subscription that sends you fresh leads every Saturday & Sunday.

You can check availability here. But the cart will close once the spots are filled.

Sometimes I Think I'm Funny

Don't assume your lead list provider found the biggest discount. If the 10% off code gets the lead within their parameters, there's little motivation to dig for the 20% off code, right?

Always check your own coupon code resources.

Have a great week! Talk to you soon.

Chris