Weekly Industry Brief: 11.14.2016

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

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

Fashion. Retail. Tech. News.