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