Starbucks Coffee Company has finalized its joint venture with private investment firm Boyu Capital, selling control of its China operations, the coffee giant’s second-largest business. Under the terms of the agreement, which was announced in November and has a value of about $4 billion, Boyu and Starbucks will operate a joint venture, with Boyu holding up to 60% interest and operating the approximately 8,000 Starbucks stores in China. Starbucks will retain a 40% interest in the joint venture and will continue to own and license the brand and intellectual property to the new entity.

As inboxes become more cluttered, mailboxes have become prime real estate. In fact, the latest data from the United States Postal Service shows that 73% of all households read their mail daily. Brands can cut through the noise and create memorable and tactile brand experiences by using and investing in technologies that take into account how customers interact with and use mail. Through their 2023 Monthly Mailing Promotions, the USPS is encouraging marketers, printers, and mailers to leverage advances in print and finishing technology to improve how consumers interact and engage with mail to drive customer engagement and response rates. Promotions range from using dynamic color and new print techniques to integrating mobile technology. Participants in these monthly promotions are eligible for significant discounts of up to 5%. This can add up to significant savings for big brands. One promotion to note is the 2023 Tactile, Sensory, Interactive Promotion which enhances how customers interact and engage with mail through multi-sensory experiences from visual effects, sound, scent, touch, and even taste!

Amazon is looking to expand its lucrative ad business by selling the technology that powers it to other retailers. In an email to Chain Store Age, the online giant announced a new program called Amazon Ad Retail Service that lets other retailers use its own tools to showcase ads on their own websites. Built on the hosted Amazon Web Services platform, it enables retailers to show product ads on their search, browse, and product pages to help customers with product discovery and purchase decisions. The ads can incorporate availability and price, in addition to contextual information such as shopper search query, category or product being viewed to help ensure customers see ads for desired and available products.