Rick Watson and Jessica Lesesky break down three stories reshaping the consumer and tech landscape. First, why GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro are expected to unlock $13B in new retail spending — and which brands stand to win as 80% of users size down.<br>Then, Nike&#x27;s latest innovation shake-up: new chief Andy Caine steps in as the stock slides 32%, with Project Amplify, Nike Mind, and Aerofit on the horizon.<br>The Watson Weekly Weekend edition is sponsored by Avalara - the agentic AI platform automating global tax and compliance for leading eCommerce brands. For more details: https://avalaratax.watsonweekly.com/<br>Finally, Amazon&#x27;s $200B and Google&#x27;s $185B infrastructure bets — and why Sundar Pichai spends an hour a week personally rationing compute.<br>Subscribe to the newsletter at watsonweekly.com.

Ozempic Economy, Nike's Reset & the AI Compute Crunch

The Watson Weekly: eCommerce Strategy & News

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** The Watson Weekly: eCommerce Strategy &amp; News

## Transcript

Welcome to the weekend edition of the Watson Weekly. I'm your host Rick Watson. Hey, it's Jessica Lesesky. We're back! You thought you could get rid of us. You can't. I know. We are back with another great show for you. Let me break it down. First of all, we're going to talk about GLP-1. These drugs are expected, according to our recent report, to boost apparel retail spending. Do we believe it?

Second, our friends Nike have changed their innovation leadership again. We'll unpack what that means. And finally, Amazon and Google have both released major updates to their shareholder guidance and strategy. Amazon shareholder letter, we're going to break that down. Before we go any further, just let you know, we do have a newsletter. If you aren't subscribed, what are you doing?

Go to watsonweekly.com, click on subscribe, get in to follow us. That's right. Tell your friends. Don't keep it for yourself. It's too good. Too good. Exactly. Too good to pass up. All right, Rick. Well, I'm going to unpack this first story for us. Yes, GLP-1s have been on a tear. And what we're hearing is they're expected to boost retail spending by $13 billion.

So to catch you up, these GLP weight loss drugs, Wegovy, Ozempic, many others, Manjaro, are now taken by roughly one in eight adults in the US. The pill versions have just hit the market, which is going to make them more accessible than ever. You know, and some home girls are micro dosing. It's not just for taming diabetes or tackling some of those health issues. You know, it's just all to keep like the weight in check so you can get that summer bod ready.

And so about 80% of GLP-1 users are expecting to see some pretty significant size changes. That means they need more new clothing. And the apparel needs this just like a shot in the arm because the industry is only growing at 0.4% this year. So they'll take what they can get. Interesting. Like you're talking about a lot of names I haven't even heard of. And clearly the motivation for this to happen is, I mean, look, there's obviously a changing in the seasons.

We're moving into summer. And so a lot of that stuff is on the shelves. It seems like there couldn't be a better time for this to start happening. Yeah, exactly. And, you know, so this research came from Bernstein. When you talk about $13 billion in annual apparel spending, those are big numbers. It's also items that people need. Apparel's always had challenges with inventory turning. A lot of stuff we know ends up in the sale rack and then it ends up at the off-price retailers and then it ends up in the landfills.

It's like a vicious cycle that goes on and on. That's 700 million new items that we think will be available for purchase. They're utilizing like an $18 ASP, you know, if the basket's closer to 40 to 50, which we know that's not happening with Shein and TJ Maxx and others. But the revenue opportunit...

Ozempic Economy, Nike's Reset & the AI Compute Crunch

Transcript

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Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
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Ozempic Economy, Nike's Reset & the AI Compute Crunch

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.