Daily LInks
1. Franchising industry holds its breath as FTC takes a closer look at regulations. The agency’s statement earlier this year on its request for information said it “would begin to unravel how the unequal bargaining power inherent in [franchise] contracts is impacting franchisees, workers, and consumers.” – Read More on CNBC
2. Knockoff luxury items no longer taboo as Gen Z shoppers embrace ‘superfake’ designer bags, shoes. Makers of ‘superfake’ luxury items are known to source leather from the same Italian suppliers as established fashion houses. – Read More on SCMP
3. Bernstein: China’s Offline Luxury Consumption Surpasses Growth Expectations. Apart from luxury retail, Bernstein noted that premium sportswear brands like Lululemon, Arc’teryx and Descente are also “doing well.” In comparison, mass-market players, such as Nike, Adidas, Anta and Fila, are seeing weak demand. – Read More on Yahoo
4. The 2023 Online Retail Report. Consistent with its pre-pandemic rate, e-commerce is estimated to capture 42% of total retail sales growth in 2023. E-commerce sales growth (year-over-year) is expected to moderate to 10% or less in the coming years, and annual online sales growth through 2025 is expected to double the rate of store-based sales growth. – Read More on FTI Consulting
5. How AI image-generators work. Today “generative AI” models put brush to virtual paper: publicly available apps, such as Midjourney and OpenAI’s dall-e, create images in seconds based on text prompts. The final products often dupe humans. – Read More on the Economist
6. Employees want ChatGPT at work. Bosses worry they’ll spill secrets. Corporate leaders are banning ChatGPT to prevent a worst-case scenario where an employee uploads proprietary computer code or sensitive board discussions into the chatbot while seeking help at work, inadvertently putting that information into a database that OpenAI could use to train its chatbot in the future. – Read More on the Washington Post