With the holiday shopping season-fast approaching, big-box retailers like Target and Walmart are trying to drum up publicity with the announcement of new shopping features and exclusive products to win over a greater share of toy shoppers.
Amazon is making cheaper one-off items eligible for free one-day Prime shipping. It's clearly a way to entice more customers, but sellers and brands may feel the costs in the years to come.
Brands, especially venture-backed ones, live and die by a few metrics. Customer lifetime value and retention rates are especially critical in proving to investors that their company is worthy of being valued at five times or ten times revenue.
New and existing sites are increasingly seeing an opportunity in helping both shoppers and industry members make sense of the growing DTC landscape. The founders of these sites say that because it's easier now than ever before to start a new brand, and many of these brands gain traction through a mix of paid Facebook and Instagram ads, influencer partnerships, and affiliate deals, it's hard for even someone who works in the consumer industry to understand which new mattress or razor is best.
Over the last week, there's been a bunch of movement in the online grocery space. Uber bought a grocery delivery service, and FreshDirect is reportedly considering selling itself. The overall space is in the midst of a big transition -- here's where all the players stand right now.
Retail credit card APR has been going up steadily over the last few years. Meanwhile, a bunch of new financing services have been taking the retail industry by storm. Is the store credit card model beginning to wane as it gets more and more predatory?
As retailers are leaning on their stores to do more than ever before without significantly raising labor costs, store associates can get caught in the middle. Over the past few months, big-box retailers, from Target to Home Depot to Kohl's, are encouraging more customers to take advantage of in-store fulfillment options like buy online, pickup in-store or ship-from-store. That in turn requires more investment in their backroom operations. Others, like Kohl's, are now offering more front-facing in-store services.
A midwestern Spice company has a very political message, and spend a lot to share it on Facebook. For the last three years, this has proven to be a good digital strategy -- so much so that its political advertising spending has been rivaling Trump's.
Uniqlo just announced a new promotion, giving away 100,000 free samples. The retailer's US business has been flagging, and this seems like a way to try to regenerate interest. This latest program seems to borrow from some DTC strategy.
Ironing out a solid e-commerce strategy is a necessity for brands of all sizes, but it’s especially crucial for independent, direct-to-consumer businesses.
As Snapchat's created more in-app commerce opportunities over the past year, it's also sought to encourage consumer brands to spend more on the platform by creating more shoppable ad formats, and improving its ad targeting options.
Kroger has been trying to turn its business around, and one of its most anticipated programs is around media and marketing. It's been a while since the grocer first launched its new advertising offerings -- has it made a dent with brands?
Retailers and brands have a lot to gripe about when it comes to Amazon. The e-commerce juggernaut has become in many ways a frenemy for brands.
Join us at the Modern Retail Summit, where retail marketers will discuss everything from the Amazon effect, new infrastructure and the shift in the direct-to-consumer world.
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