Here is your weekly scan of industry news to keep you relevant in your meetings. Sources can be found in the hyperlinked text after the headline. Cheers!
Brands and Retailers
- How Adidas is using apps to fuel its commerce ambitions. Digiday
- A Manhattan landlord connects with online retail upstarts. The Wall Street Journal
- Warby Parker raises $75M. New York Times
- Toy makers stare at $11B hole with death of Toys R Us. The Wall Street Journal
- Linkedin’s $27B challenge: get people to use it more. The Wall Street Journal
- Tinder owner Match is suing Bumble over patents. TechCrunch
- Retail’s middle ground is a dangerous place. Bloomberg
- Blue Apron will start selling its meal kits in stores. TechCrunch
- L’oreal enters next phase of digital evolution strategy with acquisition of ModiFace. Glossy
- Why data is the most important currency used in commerce today. Forbes
- Glossier CEO: Brands of the future will be co-created. CNN Money
- Nike president to leave as company reviews improper conduct. AdAge
- Chanel’s beauty line is coming to Ulta. Racked
- Claire’s files for bankruptcy. New York Times
Marketing and Social Media
- Uncovering Instagram bots with a new kind of detective work. New York Times
- Google makes new push to turn retailers’ product searches into cash. CNBC
- Pinterest expands shopping ads for retailers. AdAge
- Rivals chip away at Google’s and Facebook’s U.S. digital ad dominance. The Wall Street Journal
- Twitter is working on a camera-first feature that could threaten Snap. CNBC
- Amazon preps new attribution tools and courts ad buyers. Digiday
- Macy’s launches TV and Instagram in push for women. AdWeek
- Adidas designed the silhouette of its latest show with Instagram in mind. Quartz
- How a beauty brand raised an army of 30,000 political activists. Fast Company
- Rihanna tells fans to throw Snapchat away; shares fall. The Wall Street Journal
- Leaked Amazon figures show TV drives millions of Prime signups. Engadget
- How Fitbit is trying to reboot its smartwatch effort to appeal to more women. Fortune
- The Urban Outfitters guide to winning social media. Glossy
Startup + Emerging Tech + Acquisitions
- Zara to lure millennials with augmented reality displays. Reuters
- Outdoor Voices raises $34M in latest funding round. CNBC
- Say hello to Cora, the new flying taxi from a secretive startup funded by Google’s Larry Page. Fortune
- The Skimm raises $12M for its newsletter. TechCrunch
- LL Bean cancels Internet of Things project. The Wall Street Journal
- VW just gave Tesla a $25B battery shock. Bloomberg
- Made.com raises $56M. TechCrunch
International
- China’s social and commerce sites are merging. Jing Daily
- Misguided pens franchise deal for Middle East expansion. Retail Gazette
- H&M launches online stores in India. The Times of India