Month: May 2016

Weekly Industry Brief: 5.23.2016

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Happy Monday!  Check out the week’s industry news.  Sources can be find in the hyperlinked text after the headline.

Brand and Retailers

  • Sports Authority bankruptcy auction won by trio of liquidators. Link
  • Anthropologie’s new stores are absolutely gigantic. Link
  • Starbucks copies fast food chains with new deal. Link
  • L Group taps former Spanx CEO to lead Victoria’s Secret. Link
  • Amazon adds free restaurant delivery in Manhattan. Link
  • Nike and Olivier Rousteing collaborate on football collection. Link
  • Abercrombie appoints new brand presidents. Link
  • Uniqlo, Theory team up on shirts. Link
  • Apple shows off new retail look in San Francisco. Link
  • Gap mulls selling on Amazon. Link
  • American Eagle wins market share while others fail. Link
  • How Urban Outfitters was a Q1 sleeper success story. Link
  • TJX companies map aggressive store expansion plan. Link
  • Barnes and Noble brings beauty to colleges. Link

Marketing and Social Media

  • This mobile app pays you for your selfies while giving custom data to brands. Link
  • H&M and Bloglovin’ are offering a mentorship with Man Repeller’s Leandra Medine. Link
  • Women are loving Aerie’s ban on retouching. Link
  • How Coca Cola adapted its Olympics campaign for China. Link
  • How custom Snapchat filers have grown into a huge market. Link
  • The top spending retailers on Snapchat. Link

Start Ups

  • This start-up is helping businesses get their products made in the USA. Link

International

  • Old Navy exits Japan as it copes with sales decline. Link
  • Meet Modanisa, the Net-a-porter of Muslim fashion. Link
  • Australia’s Cotton On wants to conquer the US. Link
  • India’s Jabong sheds brands with low margins to focus on premium, lifestyle products. Link
  • Mobile payments heat up in China. Link
  • Amazon, Flipkart or Snapdeal: who will win India’s ecommerce wars? Link
  • Canada is a growth market for WalMart. Link

Mobile and Emerging Tech

  • Google and Levi’s team up on a connected jacket. Link
  • Uber confirms its testing self-driving cars in Pittsburgh. Link
  • Google rolls out messaging apps, Google Assistant and Google Home at I/O. Link
  • Affirm is partnering with Expedia and Eventbrite so you can pay for experiences over time. Link

 

Weekly Industry Brief 5.16.2016

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Thought: One day maybe I should change the title to Weekly Amazon Brief…

Below is your weekly industry brief of headlines I’ve compiled from around the web. Sources can be found in the hyperlinked text after the headline.

Brand/Retailer

  • Retail sales rise most in a year, marking US consumer comeback. Link
  • WalMart steps up attack on Amazon with two-day delivery service. Link
  • How online shopping is cannibalizing mall stores. Link
  • Gap plummets after comeback plan fails to revive sales growth. Link
  • Online marketplaces boost customer loyalty and increased AOV. Link
  • Amazon expands its handmade goods marketplace to compete with Etsy. Link
  • FedEx and eBay team up to make it easier to sell used goods online. Link
  • Plus sized fashion and the potential to increase sales. Link
  • Amazon to launch a meal kit service this fall. Link
  • Target’s Marimekko was no Lilly Pulitzer but still shows signs of success. Link
  • Ugg’s new store format reflects bigger brand. Link

Marketing/Social Media

  • Amazon takes on YouTube with launch of Amazon video direct. Link
  • Everlane opens pop-up shop in Soho to showcase shoe collection. Link
  • Here’s how generation Z girls prefer to shop and socialize online. Link
  • StyleHaul creators bet big on Milennial moms. Link
  • Why WalMart launched its own digital newsroom. Link
  • Under Armour made history with Steph Curry, now what? Link
  • PepsiCo bets big on in-house content creation. Link
  • Lowe’s uses interactive Snapchat stories to make DIY home projects a tap away. Link
  • Facebook now lets brands use video ads in Audience Network to raise awareness. Link

Start Ups

  • Bloomup raises $4M for its beauty marketplace. Link
  • Jack Threads introduces try outs hoping to reengage customers. Link
  • Jet.com enters grocery delivery foray. Link
  • Waze pilots carpooling service in Bay Area. Link

International

  • China’s VIPShop’s active customers close to 20M at the end of 2015. Link
  • Is Alibaba the real winner of this multi-million online celebrity ad auction? Link
  • Anti-counterfeiting group in China suspends Alibaba’s membership. Link
  • Mall landlords go for novelty in China. Link
  • Flipkart building mapping platform to help mark customer addresses more accurately. Link
  • Abercrombie to expand brand in Middle East. Link
  • Apple invests $1BB in Chinese ride-hailing app. Link
  • China cosmetics maker branches out into baby gear as two-child policy takes effect. Link
  • Tesco to sell British favorites through El Corte Ingles. Link
  • UK Economy set for slow growth. Link

Emerging Tech/Mobile

  • WeChat payment reached over 300K retail stores. Link
  • WayFair devotes a tech team to virtual reality. Link
  • Google working on Amazon Echo rival, Chirp. Link
  • Touchscreen mirror can hail a cab while you get ready. Link
  • McDonald’s uses virtual reality to give customers a behind-the-scenes look at food production. Link

Weekly Industry Brief: 5.9.2016

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I’m back! I’ve been traveling (China and Hong Kong! So, lots of headlines about China…) and super busy but I’m so glad to be back and catching up on industry news. I’ve been gone for a bit so here is a recap of news over the last few weeks.  Sources can be found in the hyperlinked text after the headline.

Brand/Retailer

  • Net-a-porter and Tiffany’s ecommerce exclusive. Link
  • Gilt Groupe’s founder launches new shopping app. Link
  • Why the future of ecommerce depends on better roads. Link
  • What Nordstrom’s festival tour means for retail. Link
  • Amazon challenges Netflix by opening Prime to monthly subscribers. Link
  • Amazon updates wedding registry, adds new features. Link
  • Target’s Marimekko collection opens to muted response. Link
  • Nordstrom’s new bottom-line focus results in job cuts. Link
  • Amazon shuttering Myhabit.com. Link
  • Amazon teams up with luxury merchants to sell $7,000 ball gowns. Link
  • Gap to open design studio in Brooklyn industrial complex. Link
  • Amazon reports better than expected profits in first quarter. Link
  • Amazon pledges same-day delivery to all urban areas. Link
  • Coach announces that its cutting 300 jobs. Link
  • Gap bets on basics for growth. Link
  • Aeropostale seeks bankruptcy protection, closing all Canadian stores. Link
  • Walmart is looking for new retail tech from startups. Link
  • Macy’s woos millennials with ramped-up wedding business. Link
  • The greening of Adidas. Link
  • ASOS and Wayra launch fashion tech accelerator. Link

Marketing/Social Media

  • How Snapchat killed the homepage. Link
  • Starbucks launches controversial rewards program. Link
  • Promoted tweets with hashtags have higher CPAs, lower CTRs. Link
  • Amazon has begun labeling some of its products as Prime-exclusive. Link
  • Why Land’s End is introducing an Amazon Prime-like subscription. Link
  • A commitment to unretouched images landed model Iskra Lawrence the career of her dreams. Link

Start Ups

  • Zalora, Rocket Internet’s unprofitable Asian fashion portal is selling off business units. Link
  • Amazon eyed up Everland, Le Tote and more for acquisition in a wider fashion push. Link
  • Pepsi launches emoji pop up store at Story. Link
  • This new tool wants to make the off-price clothing business easier. Link
  • Farfetch raises $110M towards global omni-channel domination. Link

International

  • China’s cult of the ordinary commands big influence. Link
  • Alibaba to buy controlling stake in Lazada for about $1B. Link
  • Abercrombie & Fitch expands Middle East presence. Link
  • Chinese economic growth last quarter will be slowest in years. Link
  • Foreign products get more expensive for Chinese shoppers. Link
  • China regulator to launch campaign to clean up ecommerce online ads. Link
  • Levi’s applies to add retail operations in India. Link
  • Flipkart eyes on becoming India’s largest furniture retailer by year end. Link
  • Myntra launches Mizuno in India. Link
  • Apple asks India to waive local sourcing requirement. Link
  • Alibaba sales surge as Chinese consumers defy economic gloom. Link
  • Gucci departs IACC following Alibaba membership. Link

Emerging Tech/Mobile

  • Shoppers flock to apps shaking up retail. Link
  • Shopping app Spring launches one of the first bots on Facebook Messenger. Link
  • Inside the making of Taco Bell’s artificially intelligent, drunk-tolerant TacoBot. Link
  • Dunkin’ Donuts to launch delivery in Boston via app. Link
  • TopShop looking for the next big thing in wearable tech. Link
  • Bots, Messenger and the future of customer service. Link
  • Toms drives home the impact of its donations through VR. Link