Month: November 2016

Weekly Industry Brief: 11.29.2016

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As you recover from Cyber Monday, browse through some of the industry news over the last week.  Sources are in the hyperlinked text after the headline.

Brand/Retailer

  • Cyber Monday sales surge but not all websites were ready. Link
  • Workers at Topshop’s distribution depot to potentially strike on Cyber Monday. Link
  • This Black Friday, Americans broke records online and on mobile. Link
  • Target CEO says online sales help stores on Black Friday. Link
  • Bed, Bath & Beyond buys PersonalizationMall.com. Link
  • Amazon is already boasting its best Cyber Monday ever. Link
  • Apple iPhone is most coveted holiday buy this year. Link
  • Why Amazon’s shares are slipping despite record Cyber Monday sales. Link
  • AT&T unveils its TV streaming service DirecTV Now. Link
  • Amazon expands its online gift shop and adds human curation. Link
  • Bargain hunters roil retailers looking for Black Friday lift. Link
  • See Herman Miller’s first retail store in North America. Link
  • Macy’s website suffers disruptions during critical shopping day. Link
  • Urban Outfitters misses their third quarter forecasts. Link
  • Crew’s net loss n arrows to $7.9M. Link
  • Zara’s recipe for success: more data, fewer bosses. Link
  • Abercrombie & Fitch quarterly sales miss estimates, shares skid. Link
  • Cyber Monday was the biggest online sales day in history. Link
  • Gucci surpasses Burberry as most digitally savvy luxury brand. Link
  • Inside Scotch & Soda, the under-the-radar brand that’s everywhere. Link
  • Another Cyber Monday, another online sales record. Link
  • Sarah Jessica Parker is opening her first stand-alone store and it’s not in NYC. Link
  • Patagonia donated all revenues from Black Friday. Link
  • Tiffany’s sales rebound, just as Trump traffic jam hits flagship. Link
  • H&M plans Hudson Yards flagship with elevated materials. Link

Marketing/Social

  • Facebook turned to TV to boost Facebook Live. Link
  • How this quirky clothing brand is using Snapchat to sell more shorts. Link
  • To snag Snapchat’s spectacles in New York, a long, cold wait. Link
  • Spotify’s biggest out-of-home push yet. Link

Startup/Emerging Tech

  • Facebook’s drone crash prompts safety investigation. Link
  • The 15 hottest NYC startups to follow right now. Link
  • The subscription box that knows more about you than you do. Link
  • Mon Purse, a customizable handbag line with over 6 billion options, launches in US. Link

International

  • Yoox Net-a-Porter group to launch in Middle East. Link
  • Apple iOS is losing to a homegrown competitor in China. Link
  • Lane Crawford sees Hong Kong sales perk up. Link
  • Ford to begin testing self-driving cars in Europe. Link
  • UK retailer, Hobbs, opens first US stand-alone store. Link
  • Black Friday still on the rise in Brazil, no Thanksgiving required. Link
  • Amazon in talks to buy Souq.com. Link
  • China’s ecommerce trends offer consumer insights. Link
  • Sephora opens 200th store in China. Link

Weekly Industry Brief: 11.21.2016

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Happy official kick-off to the holiday shopping season!  Here is industry news from the last week with sources found in the hyperlinked text after the headline.

Brand/Retailer

  • Neiman Marcus turns to Rent-the-Runway to lure younger shoppers. Link
  • Sources say J.Crew considering carving out Madewell. Link
  • Amazon files first lawsuit against counterfeit sellers. Link
  • This Black Friday, Everlane wants to buy 8,000 helmets for Vietnamese workers. Link
  • Anthropologie’s new Anthropologie & Co. in Palo Alto includes a Terrain café with menu by Vetri. Link
  • Amazon’s marketplace concept spreads to other retailers. Link
  • Target ships online orders from 1,000 of its stores. Link
  • NastyGal’s bankruptcy: What went wrong? Link
  • Coach, Kors and Kate: The handbag wars. Link
  • Target planning hundreds of small stores. Link
  • Gap to shut more stores as demand remains sluggish. Link
  • Nordstrom takes a big writedown on Trunk Club. Link
  • More people than ever will shop online over the holidays, spending to rise by 18%. Link
  • Patagonia to donate all Black Friday proceeds to environmental groups. Link
  • Fifth Avenue security disruptions will be permanent. Link
  • Amazon just turned Black Friday into a month-long event. Link
  • Starbucks is selling a $150 smart mug that lets you control the temperature of your coffee. Link
  • Fast Retailing CEO not interested in J.Crew, other acquisitions. Link
  • Amazon aims for double-digit Christmas growth while WalMart and Target hope for flat sales. Link

Marketing/Social

  • How Alibaba turns wealthy shopaholics into marketing squad. Link
  • Facebook considering ways to combat fake news. Link
  • Snapchat parent files for $25B IPO. Link
  • Instagram enters live video fray (and takes on Snapchat). Link
  • Facebook says it found more miscalculated metrics. Link
  • Forget filling ad breaks; some marketers make the podcasts. Link
  • Spectacles finally arrive in NYC with a Central Park Snapbot store. Link
  • Acne Studios founder is not down with our celebrity fashion obsession. Link
  • Google can now tell you how busy a place is before you arrive. Link
  • NBCUniversal invested another $200M in Buzzfeed. Link
  • Pinterest debuts Explore, a feature that surfaces trending pins and native videos. Link

Startup/Emerging Tech

  • You rarely livestream but 1M people livechill on Houseparty. Link
  • Alexa will soon be able to send text messages through AT&T. Link
  • McDonald’s plans tech push with heavy focus on mobile. Link
  • Virtual reality lets Chinese customers shop Macy’s famed New York store. Link
  • Google buys shopping search startup to make images more lucrative. Link
  • Sources say Apple abandons development of wireless router. Link
  • How predictive AI will change shopping. Link
  • Analysts say Playstation VR will be top-selling VR system in 2016. Link

International

  • Why Abercrombie is pulling out of Hong Kong. Link
  • What US retailers can learn from Alibaba’s record-setting Singles Day. Link
  • China’s fashionistas flock to online luxury rentals. Link
  • Jeff Bezos invests billions to be top ecommerce player in India. Link
  • Alibaba buys a third of Chinese grocery chain. Link
  • Facebook to hire 500 new staff in major UK expansion. Link

Weekly Industry Brief: 11.14.2016

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Here is your industry news from the past two weeks! Sources are in the hyperlinked text after the headline.

Brand/Retailer

  • 5 rules for a retail town square: What Apple and Whole Foods can teach us. Link
  • IBM buys expert personal shopper from Fluid to build out Watson’s conversation skills. Link
  • American Apparel returns to bankruptcy with deal to sell brand. Link
  • Samsung to buy Harman to $8B in cashin bold auto gambit. Link
  • Superdry owner surges as label leaves retail rivals trailing. Link
  • What President Trump means for retailers. Link
  • Kohl’s introduces its own millennial-focused answer to fast fashion. Link
  • Kenneth Cole to shut down almost all its brick-and-mortar stores. Link
  • Estee Lauder to acquire Too Faced for $1.45B. Link
  • Amazon expands Home Services to 20 more cities. Link
  • Marks & Spencer to close 60 clothing and home stores. Link
  • eCommerce is growing but customers still prefer to shop in stores. Link
  • Amazon files lawsuit to keep counterfeit goods off site. Link
  • California style is back and making bank. Link
  • Fossil is closing stores. Link
  • Net-a-porter reveals Reformation collaboration. Link
  • Crew is discontinuing its bridal collection. Link
  • Lord & Taylor looks to modernize with renovations. Link
  • Primark steps up expansion in US. Link
  • Burberry profit down 40% as costs rise. Link
  • NastyGal petitions to file for bankruptcy. Link
  • Wal-Mart boosts online holiday inventory for Black Friday. Link

Marketing/Social

  • Instagram introduces shoppable product tags. Link
  • Pinterest is adding 15 ad tech companies to beef up its data and measurement game. Link
  • Inside Lululemon’s unconventional influencer network. Link
  • YouTube is helping to sell a lot of makeup. Link
  • What happens when big data meets high fashion. Link
  • H&M trades David Beckham for Weekend in push for younger shoppers. Link
  • Vogue launches Vogue Arabia, it’s first foray into the 22 countries of the Arab League. Link
  • Snapchat’s latest update reveals it grand strategy. Link
  • Crowd-sourced products sell better when they’re marketed that way. Link
  • CoverGirl adds Muslim beauty blogger as ambassador. Link
  • Gap harnesses optimism in holiday ads. Link
  • Snapchat delivers mysterious vending bot to sell its spectacles. Link

Startup/Emerging Tech

  • Beware, iPhone users: Fake retail apps are surging before holidays. Link
  • Fashion startup Farfetch said to plan IPO as soon as 2017. Link
  • Online startup Harry’s Razor jumps into Gillette’s turf. Link
  • Wayfair expands virtual reality universe with IdeaSpace. Link
  • Apple considers wearables expansion with digital glasses. Link

International

  • Alibaba doubles down on entertainment with $1.5B fund. Link
  • How Alibaba turned China’s Singles’ Day into the world’s biggest shopping bonanza. Link
  • Amazon plans to enter Southeast Asia with Singapore launch in Q1 2017. Link
  • Julep, Little Red Book partner on China launch. Link
  • Alibaba rival JD envisions its own delivery drone fleet by 2017. Link
  • Chinese shoppers’ share of global luxury purchases drops 30%. Link
  • Alabbar, Saudi PIF to set up $1B ecommerce firm. Link
  • Study: Chinese millennials spend big on shopping because they live with their parents. Link
  • American Apparel’s UK business goes into administration. Link
  • Alibaba shatters Singles’ Day records. Link