Updating private-label offerings, upgrading store interiors and highlighting new national partnerships have helped Target prepare for in-store customers, who are starting to return to brick-and-mortar sites and often buying more than they came for, Target CEO Brian Cornell said at the JPMorgan Virtual Retail Round-Up. As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues, "those that have been shopping with us through order pickup or drive up or Shipt are now celebrating that occasion by physically coming back in our stores," Cornell said.

CVS Health will start selling three over-the-counter COVID-19 tests in stores and online that consumers will be able to use at home, the company said Monday. Shoppers will be able to purchase 15-minute tests from Ellume and Abbott Laboratories and a home collection kit from LabCorp that will provide results in one or two days.

Michal Lagunionek has been named the next CEO of Lidl US, taking over for former chief executive Johannes Fieber, who resigned after three years on the job. Laginionek served in the grocer's division in Poland and for the past six years has supervised Lidl's US operations as a member of the company's board of directors.

Shoppers at some Whole Foods Market stores in the Seattle area will be able to pay by scanning their palms thanks to Amazon One, a system that links credit cards to palm prints. The biometric technology will be offered at one store initially with plans to expand it to seven more sites in the area within the next several months.

L'Oreal is focusing on South Asia Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa, a market that company executives call SAPMENA, where 40% of consumers are under the age of 25. The region is also a hot spot for beauty products for men as more became aware of their appearance during the pandemic.

Amazon will open a hair salon in London near the e-commerce giant's UK headquarters, where it will try its hand at a new line of business and test new technologies including augmented reality hair colours, "point-and-learn" tools and QR codes. The Amazon Salon, which will occupy 1,500 square feet of space across two floors, will be open only to Amazon's employees at first, then will eventually open to the public.

Old Spice partnered with Snap to create seven augmented reality filters on Snapchat inspired by the seven characters epitomizing its "Wild Collection" deodorants. The campaign includes QR codes on in-store displays at retailers including Walmart, H-E-B and Meijer that enable users to virtually explore rooms for each Old Spice line via a unique portal lens.

Beauty spending by Black and Hispanic consumers outpaced category sales growth in 2020, with Hispanic buyers increasing their spending by 6.1% while Black shoppers increased by 5.4% -- compared to the average consumer increase of 3.5% -- according to a NielsenIQ study. Progress still needs to be made with mass retail availability and shade diversity, said Anna Mayo, beauty vertical client director at NielsenIQ.

Following the success of its virtual General Merchandise Conference and Selfcare Summit events last October, GMDC|Retail Tomorrow has announced a series of virtual events for 2021 focused on enhancing business connectivity as the industry continues to navigate the disruption caused by COVID-19. Up next: June 2 through June 11, GMDC|Retail tomorrow will host GM and Selfcare discovery meetings for the industry. Learn more.