Hi! Hope those of you in the US had a great long weekend. As we unofficially close out summer and gear up for holiday, here is a quick recap of industry headlines from the past week. As always, sources can be found in the hyperlinked text after the headline.
P.S. I’ll be on a couple panels at this week’s Global eCommerce Leadership Forum in New York City. Let me know if you’ll be there!
Brands and Retailers
- Best Buy and Amazon bring back the traveling salesman. The Wall Street Journal
- Anthropologie is substantially upping the home furnishings offering. The Robin Report
- Airport to experiment with passes for dining, shopping. Bloomberg
- Macy’s and Best Buy will offer same-day delivery in more markets. TechCrunch
- Marchesa is using Rent the Runway to test new collections of blouses. Glossy
- Lego will cut 1400 jobs by the end of 2017. Fortune
- Lululemon’s strong online and in-stores sales push its revenue and profits up. Fortune
- Prices of some Whole Foods items drop by up to 43% following Amazon purchase. Bloomberg
- Amazon and Microsoft to merge digital assistants. The New York Times
- Ahead of Michael Kors takeover, Jimmy Choo’s profit almost triples. Business of Fashion
Marketing and Social Media
- Levi’s new chatbot helps online shoppers find jeans. The Wall Street Journal
- Westfield launches Uber Lounge to drive up consumer spend. Business of Fashion
- Facebook tests new business features in bid to monetize WhatsApp. Business of Fashion
- Zalando turns festival into three-day ‘live’ marketing event. Business of Fashion
- Google Home partnership with Conde Nast’s Vogue offers new model for publishers. Search Engine Land
- Nike unveils live design that creates a custom pair of sneakers in 90 minutes. FastCompany
Startup and Emerging Tech
- At KFC’s new Chinese concept shop, pay with a face scan. AdAge
- MatchesFashion sells at reported $1B valuation. Business of Fashion
- Chinese internet giant Tencent invests in a flying car startup. FastCompany
- Galleries Lafayette acquires majority stake in La Redoute. Business of Fashion
- Here’s how peer-to-peer Apple Pay payments will work. CNet
- Sneaker startup Allbirds lands $17.5M in new funding. Forbes
International
- Alibaba’s $1B retail experiment. Forbes
- H&M to add 9 new stores, online sales in India. Economic Times
- Hudson’s Bay to open first Dutch store, commites to Europe. Reuters
- Ikea moves ahead with plans to launch massive store in South Korea. CNBC
- Marks & Spencer in talks to offload Hong Kong and Macaus shops. Telegraph
- Starbucks and Alibaba to launch Alipay in the 242 Starbucks stores in Malaysia. Seeking Alpha
- Amazon is struggling to find its place in China. Business Insider
Fashion. Retail. Tech. News. 