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So again, we expect to see an uplift in grocery sales, there might be a boost to hospitality, and you'll also get some people who'll use that extra day off to visit the shops. And finally, you have all of the patriotic memorabilia and souvenirs for the coronation. Again, it's not everyone's bag, not everyone will buy that kind of memorabilia.

Jennifer King of Stanford University, she had a slide deck that I was looking at and it discusses dark patterns and manipulative design and in it she was outlining manipulative design in the physical world, grocery stores, and points to a few examples.

Grocery retailers such as Aldi and Sainsbury’s are ramping up their efforts in this category, while specialists Boots and Superdrug have launched online marketplaces and are investing in their in-store beauty propositions.

I just think there are still some customer friction points that we just need to solve through, but it's amazing that it's Instacart doing it because they have a much bigger view on different grocery stores versus when Walmart was doing it and they only know what you've bought from them. Sara Lebow (09:28):. Well, New York Times cooking I think is also a key here.

And I would move Lego in, not because of the marketing stuff you're talking about, but more in addition to, I would also say I think they're really leaning into partnering with different types of distribution channels, from grocery stores to the airports. There was a new... They're selling new things at Aldi, which I think is very cool.

When you look at some of the key areas in which inflation was really bothering people like grocery prices, it's been at one point something percent for almost this entire year, and yet consumers have bad vibes about the economy. (15:58):. But again, there's a disconnect between consumers' response to a survey and their behaviors. And so consumers are still spending.

And one touch I've really appreciated, and I'm surprised by how rare it is, is getting a sample in an order like a curbside or home delivery grocery order. It's happened a few times with a little note or coupon. And it does have the ability to surprise and delight and possibly inspire later purchase, even a digital coupon or a QR code that could then spur an online purchase.

DoorDash doesn't have the location data that Lyft does, and Lyft needs the kind of more restaurant, grocery delivery data that DoorDash has. So I think that's just going to really strengthen both of their ad networks. Sarah Marzano (14:35):. Yeah, I completely agree with you.

But in that case, there's probably going to be continued high scrutiny of the mergers, like the Kroger-Albertson's deal, which I think is pretty unlikely to actually happen if she takes office, and the Mars-Kellanova deal as well, because those deals likely would lead to higher grocery prices. Marcus Johnson (20:56):. Well, that's all we've got time for for today's episode.

And it's about how younger consumers are ditching their physical wallets and relying on their digital wallets for everything from going to restaurants and bars to buying groceries and for identification. And the article points out that adoption is much stronger with Gen Z than older generations and also talks about the limitations of relying solely on digital wallets.

Starbucks has not been doing well for a long time, and even though they've tried to do quote, unquote, innovation, their ex-CEO came in from a CPG background and they thought maybe that would help at least with a different sort of sense of products maybe at the grocery store, and even that hasn't really worked in their favor.

As soon as consumers start to tighten their belts because their costs of groceries and other essentials are eating up a bigger share of their wallet, they cut back on basically the expenditures like dining out and going to do things.

The point of the story is that all those creepy weird drones that you see in gigantic suburban supermarkets and big box stores are here to stay and it's only going to get worse. However, I think-. Marcus Johnson:. Oh, good.