Cheapskates

Image source: Anton Brehov - Shutterstock

What's going on?

Data out on Thursday showed that European retail sales didnt grow as fast as expected in February, but those pennies arent exactly going to pinch themselves.

What does this mean?

Retail sales in Europe rose just 0.3% in February from the month before short of the 0.6% economists were expecting. And this is before the effects of war in Ukraine really came to a head, which is a problem: European consumer confidence has only been falling and inflation only rising ever since. And given that consumer spending makes up a huge chunk of the regions economy, economists think the slowdown will play a major part in dragging down economic growth this quarter.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Be more direct.
With retailers making fewer sales, theyre looking for ways to profit more from those they are making. So theyve been veering away from wholesalers and third-party marketplaces, which take a cut of the profits and hoard data on shopping habits for themselves. Levis knows whats up: direct sales those that cut out the middleman made up around 40% of its total sales last quarter, helping the denim giant grow its profit by a better-than-expected 37% (tweet this).

Zooming out: Crypto has you covered.
We know what youre thinking: couldnt European businesses just let shoppers pay with bitcoin to boost business? That same question mightve crossed Bolt Financials mind: the US company which specializes in online checkout operating systems announced on Thursday that its buying crypto infrastructure provider Wyre Payments for a reported $1.5 billion. Bolt which counts major retailers like Forever 21 and Juicy Couture as customers is looking to incorporate digital currency payments onto its platform, in a bid to make paying for Ben & Jerrys with bitcoin the norm.

Originally posted as part of the Finimize daily email.

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