Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for November are currently in limbo due to the government shutdown, which will likely impact both SNAP recipients and the grocery or big-box stores where they shop. It’s still unclear when SNAP recipients will receive their full SNAP payments for November, according to CNN, which reported that this depends on the approval of a short-term spending package to temporarily fund federal agencies, which will still need to go through Congress and President Trump. About 12% of U.S. residents received SNAP benefits in fiscal year 2024, according to the USDA. The maximum allotment for a single person in the contiguous U.S. is $298 per month for fiscal year 2026 (which began in October), according to the USDA. A good portion of SNAP funds go to Walmart, according to third-party data, so any cuts or delays to the program could show up in the retailer’s fourth-quarter results. This is on top of an already challenging consumer environment, with consumers worried about rising prices and inflation and the government shutdown leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers without paychecks. “One of the problems here has been the uncertainty — the on-again, off-again. Is [SNAP funding] going to be released? Is it not going to be released?” George Davis, professor of agricultural and applied economics at Virginia Tech, told Modern Retail. A USDA official said it could take weeks or months to release money to recipients. “People with lower income don’t have the resources to absorb that type of shock,” Davis said.

In the last two blogs written by Michelle Houston, she covered the importance of using Contribution Per Order (CPO), instead of ROAS when evaluating the performance of marketing programs. At the end of one of those blogs, she talked about the importance of also assessing and understanding the significance of lifetime value (LTV) as part of the equation. I wanted to continue that thread and take it a step further by incorporating LTV as the last step of the proper analysis into the equation. As covered in past discussions, LTV is an important metric to track as it will vary widely by acquisition source. When applied to the first order for a new customer, CPO is the equivalent to cost or profit per customer acquired. This will vary by acquisition source as well. When CPO is combined with LTV, those metrics are a powerful tool in driving your company in the right direction (or wrong direction if you’re not careful). In the analysis below, we can evaluate the total effect that CPO and LTV have on the current and future business.

The holidays bring higher foot traffic, longer hours, and more pressure on already strained frontline teams. But despite being the public face of retail brands, frontline employees are often the last to hear about critical updates, receive recognition, or get even basic communications from leadership.  This disconnect isn’t just an annoyance, but a strategic vulnerability for retail brands. I just went into a store and had the owner apologize for the slow service and add, “As I’m sure you know, we just can’t get help.” With turnover still stubbornly high and seasonal hiring well underway, companies need to reevaluate how they engage, motivate, and retain their frontline teams. Employee turnover in retail settings remains a costly and disruptive challenge. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the retail sector saw a 60.9% turnover rate in 2024, among the highest of any industry. This turnover has two major impacts. First, it requires constant onboarding and training of new staff, which reduces operational efficiency. Second, it erodes morale among long-term employees, making retention of this talent even more challenging. Even the owner of that store I mentioned looked ready to quit and go home!