1800Hotline 023 // Prime Day kicks off today with $26B on the line, Stars + Honey hits Target, and Danone is suing Chobani

Hey DTC fam,

Big day.

Prime Day kicks off this morning and Adobe is projecting $26.3B in U.S. ecommerce spending this week across Amazon and the retailer counter-events that have become just as much of the story. Stars + Honey just made its first-ever retail appearance at Target following a $24M raise and 300% growth. And Danone sued Chobani over high-protein yogurt claims, which tells you something about how heated the better-for-you protein category has gotten.

Also, we are hosting Commerce Unfiltered tonight at Shopify NY. If you are in New York, the link is in the Event Radar below.

Connect w/ the 1800DTC Community

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Brand Feature: Stars + Honey

Courtesy of Stars + Honey

Stars + Honey just landed at Target nationwide. First retail placement ever.

The Detroit-based brand has been DTC and Amazon only since launching in 2023. After tripling sales last year, closing a $24M round from VMG Partners, and building out 18 chef-inspired flavors in under 14 months, the team is now on Target shelves with four of their best performers: Dark Chocolate Coconut, Cacao Salt Caramel Peanut, Cherry Chocolate Waffle Cone, and Espresso Vanilla Cinnamon. Individual bars at $2.89, five-packs at $11.49. Target is also the first retailer carrying them in both formats.

The brand was built around a premise that is simple but hard to execute: the protein bar category has been winning on function and losing on taste for years. Founder Daniel Rainey went after both simultaneously, with collagen peptides from grass-fed bovine sources, 15g of protein, under 200 calories, and no gluten, dairy, soy, sugar alcohols, or seed oils. A new 60,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Michigan comes online later this year to support the scale.

Three years old. $50M revenue target this year. Now on shelves at every Target in the country. Worth watching closely.

Check them out

What We’re Seeing

• Prime Day is live and the $26.3B projection is not just an Amazon story. Walmart kicked off its competing event a day early and runs through Sunday. Target Circle Deal Days line up exactly with Amazon’s June 23 to 26 window. Best Buy is in the mix too. Every major retailer has essentially built their own version of this week and consumers are shopping all of them. For brands with Amazon presence, the velocity this week feeds the algorithm for months. For brands running their own sites, consumer spending intent is as high as it gets outside of the holidays. The window is open. → Full story

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• TikTok Shop’s category breakdown is useful context for anyone building in the space. Per Marketplace Pulse data on the top 1,000 U.S. sellers, beauty and personal care captures roughly 30% of platform revenue, health and wellness around 20%, and apparel near 17%. Most top products sit in the $40 range and two-thirds are priced under $50. The really telling number: 1% of sellers account for about 60% of total GMV. The brands that got in early and built consistent creator relationships are running away with it. For everyone else, the gap is widening.

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• Danone just sued Chobani over how high-protein yogurt is being labeled and marketed. Two of the biggest names in the category taking each other to court over protein claims is a sign of how much is at stake in the better-for-you protein space right now. The claims brands make on pack are facing more scrutiny than ever as the category gets more crowded and the stakes get higher. Worth keeping in mind if protein is central to your positioning. → Full story

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Big Story: What Prime Day Actually Means for Brands That Are Not Amazon

Courtesy of Amazon

Amazon built Prime Day. Everyone else figured out how to benefit from it.

Twelve years in, the event has grown from a one-day $7B membership driver into a multi-day $26B+ shopping week that now pulls Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and dozens of other retailers into competing events simultaneously. The summer spending moment Amazon created has become bigger than Amazon itself.

For brands on Amazon, the practical piece is straightforward. Velocity during Prime week feeds the algorithm. Products that move well this week earn higher organic rankings, more traffic, and momentum that compounds well into the back half of the year. Whether you are running price promotions or just letting organic traffic do the work, your performance this week is a signal the platform responds to.

For brands building DTC or across multiple channels, the week matters for a different reason. Consumer spending intent during Prime week is as high as it gets outside of November and December. Open rates on email are higher. People are already in buying mode. A targeted offer to your existing list or a modest site-wide promotion can capture spending that is already in motion without requiring you to participate on Amazon at all.

The broader pattern worth understanding: consumers have been conditioned over 12 years to wait for big promotional windows before making purchase decisions on categories like electronics, home goods, and apparel. For brands in those categories, this week is no longer optional. It is part of how your customer plans their spending.

One more thing: Walmart and Best Buy started their events on Monday, a day before Amazon. That is not a coincidence. The competitive posture around Prime Day is maturing and retailers are not waiting to react anymore. For brands, that means the opportunity window extends in both directions and the customer is shopping earlier than you might expect.

Get the full story here

Quick Hits

Courtesy of Glossier, Lemme, Jams, AG1, + Rōz

Glossier just locked in $45M in new financing from Tiger Finance, its first outside capital since 2021.

The structure is a revolving credit line rather than equity, which is the detail worth paying attention to. That means no dilution and no new investors on the cap table. It is operational fuel, not a recapitalization. The brand runs flagships in New York, Los Angeles, and London and has been steadily building its omnichannel presence. The CEO said growth is the aim but did not get specific on where the capital goes. For a brand that once raised at a $1.8B valuation, this is a lean and deliberate next move. → Full story

Lemme just partnered with solidcore for a nationwide class takeover and two new Creatine Gummy flavors: Blue Raspberry and Lemon Lime.

Solidcore has over 100 studios and one of the most loyal workout communities in the country. Putting a supplement brand directly inside a high-intent fitness experience at the moment people are thinking about performance is a smart channel move. More supplement brands should be doing this instead of defaulting to paid social.

Pat McAfee just became a co-owner and investor in Jams.

McAfee has one of the most engaged sports media audiences in the country and is now financially tied to a brand going directly after Uncrustables. Following the NFLPA partnership announced earlier this month, Jams keeps stacking the kind of credibility and distribution infrastructure that changes what a challenger brand can actually do at retail.

AG1 just launched AG1 Pro, adding creatine and expanded muscle and gut support to its existing formula.

The brand has been building beyond its original greens positioning steadily and creatine is a logical move given the current consumer conversation around performance nutrition. AG1 has the subscriber base and the daily habit loop to introduce new SKUs with meaningful conversion rates.

ROZ, an expert-led beauty brand, just brought in L Catterton as a minority investor.

L Catterton keeps writing checks in premium beauty and each one signals something about where they see the category heading. ROZ joins a portfolio built around brands with real product credibility and strong consumer loyalty. Worth keeping an eye on as the brand scales with institutional backing behind it.

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Event Roundup

RSVP — Commerce Unfiltered | 1800DTC x Shopify — TONIGHT | New York City

We are hosting something at Shopify NY tonight and there are still spots available.

The first half of 2026 handed everyone a lot to work through. AI is reshaping how brands reach customers. Acquisition costs are climbing. The retail playbook keeps shifting. And most of the advice out there is more noise than signal.

Commerce Unfiltered is a night built around the conversations that actually matter: what is driving real results right now, how operators are adapting their acquisition strategy, and what the brands that are still growing are actually doing.

Joining us on stage: Ben Sharf from Platter, Arda Bulak from Create, and Taylor Prokes from The Big Ass Calendar.

Tonight. 6 PM. Shopify NY. Come build with us.

RSVP — Earn Your Bite | June 28 | New York, NY | 7:30 - 10 AM EDT

RSVP — Commerce After Dark | June 29 | New York, NY | 8 PM - 12 AM EDT

RSVP — Ecomm Coffee Collective: Fancy Food Edition | June 30 | New York, NY | 9 AM- 12 PM EDT

That is Signals for Issue 023.

Prime Day is live. Are you running deals this week or holding price? Hit reply and let us know what your strategy looks like.

Hope to see some of you tonight at the Shopify event!

— Zach and the 1800Hotline Team

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