US consumers are spending more on holiday home decor this year, fueling shortages and empty shelves at some Walmart, Costco and At Home Group stores. The trend is likely to shore up profits for retailers, who typically order seasonal decorations almost a year in advance, because they won't need to discount seasonal products after the holidays.

The number of small businesses applying to pitch to Walmart during the retailer's annual Open Call day last week grew 44% and buyers for Walmart and Sam's Club were able to schedule 67% more meetings by virtue of holding the event virtually, CEO Doug McMillon said. More than 175 of the approximately 850 companies that pitched were chosen to move on to the next round in the process that could put their products on Walmart shelves.

Beauty brands and retailers including Ulta Beauty have had to change many of their practices to adhere to safe distancing requirements. Ulta has focused more on digital sales and its GLAMlab tool lets beauty fans virtually try on more than 4,000 products, while sibling mulitchannel retailers QVC and HSN have boosted beauty sales with social media events.

The 2021 NRF Foundation Student Challenge will offer undergrads a way to shore up their skills and beef up their resumes as the pandemic has forced the cancelation of many summer internships, NRF Foundation Scholarships and University Relations Coordinator Annalea Soudry-Maurer said. Students form teams and act as entrepreneurs, creating small business ventures and product lines to pitch to Target, Home Depot, Nordstrom and HSN and QVC parent Qurate Retail Group.

RangeMe has rolled out a premium service for its product discovery platform called RangeMe Verified brands, which is designed to raise visibility for suppliers and help buyers identify market-ready brands. "Getting a product on store shelves can be a challenging task for both the buyer and the supplier, but it doesn't have to be," said RangeMe CEO Nicky Jackson.