Happy Monday! Below find a recap of industry news from the week.  All sources can be found in the hyper-linked text after the headline.

Retailer + Brand News:

• Sephora bets big on digital growth with disruptive experiences. Link
• Urban Outfitters earnings beat estimates. Link
• Ikea takes global expansion one market at a time. Link
• Target culls special offering for Men. Link
• Amazon launches Exclusives to surface “up-and-coming” brands. Link
• More details emerge on Amazon rival Jet.com. Link
• Google opens its first Google-branded store-in-a-store in London. Link
• Google says Millennial influence on the rise in B2B buying. Link
• LL Bean putting boots on the ground, expanding to at least 100 stores. Link
• Reed Krakoff halts production. Link
• Sorel to enter outerwear. Link
• Diesel reinventing its stores. Link
• Rent-the-Runway CEO says the future of ecommerce depends on delivery start-ups. Link
• Target lays off 13% of its corporate HQ staff to cut costs. Link
• ASOS adding budget-friendly bridesmaid dresses to the mix. Link
• TopShop opens first Atlanta store. Link
• Glamour Magazine eyeing ecommerce. Link 

Social Media + Marketing:

• H&M Home unveils its first-ever AirBnB for SXSW. Link
• Alibaba said to be investing $200M in SnapChat. Link
• Facebook acquires social shopping app The Find. Link
• Buzzfeed’s videos reach 1 Billion monthly views. Link
• HBO Now will stream on Apple devices. Link
• BeautyCon launches its own media site to connect social media stars with fans and brands. Link
• Brands now posting more to Instagram than Facebook. Link
• L’Oreal moves to make all types of ads “shoppable.” Link
• Why Neiman Marcus is a fan of SXSW. Link
• Old Navy tries Tumblr for Gen Y’s Spring push. Link
• Facebook, Occulus and the future of virtual reality. Link

Start-ups:

• Bento wants to be your app matchmaker. Link
• Online only start-up targets women who do their makeup on the go. Link
• Rocket Internet invests in Indonesia’s Bridestory. Link
• Xiaomi becomes the world’s most valuable tech start-up. Link

International:

• [APAC]
  • China’s upper middle class women are driving ecommerce and social media in China. Link
  • Taiwan-based Foxconn launches ecommerce platform in China. Link
  • Tapping into the growth of India’s emerging mobile markets. Link 
• [AU]
  • Thousands flock to New Zealand’s TopShop opening. Link
  • ASOS gets its mojo back in Australia after cutting prices. Link
• [EU]
  • Alibaba to boost UK trade on its platform. Link
  • Selfridges launches ‘genderless’ shopping in Manchester. Link

Mobile, Tablet, + Wearables:

• Look to Whole Foods to see how the Apple Watch could change retail. Link
• Meerkat tests our desire to share live video. Link
• Apple’s ResearchKit a big hit at SXSW. Link
• Beacons are moving out of the pilot phase and helping retailers and marketers revolutionize in-store shopping. Link
• Google accidentally reveals its own mobile events app. Link
• Apple’s iTunes suffers unusually long outage. Link
• Mizuno bets on smart eyewear despite Google’s troubles Link
• For SXSW marketers, smartphone apps are yesterday’s news, wearables are what matter. Link
• Starbucks to expand mobile ordering to three more states. Link
• Beacons, live-streaming and indie radio apps guide SXSW experience this year. Link

Other

• Generation Z’s data obsession: bits and bytes are the new commodity. Link
• Disney’s $1B bet on a magical wristband. Link