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Sezzle’s strategy to grow its physical presence is a mix of launching new products and payment options. Before the end of the year, the company plans to launch a physical card, dubbed Sezzle Flex, in addition to the virtual card it already has. Sezzle also plans to offer various payment options through the card such as pay now and pay in four installments.
Later this year, Amazon will open its first brick-and-mortar fashion store, Amazon Style, while at the same time shutting down its bookshops, pop-ups and four-star stores. Analysts interviewed by Modern Retail think a brick-and-mortar effort makes sense for a category reliant both on fit and, often, in-person inspiration. However, as Amazon's previous investments in improving fashion discoverability show, the e-commerce giant is still in experimentation mode.
The grocery delivery wars are in full force, and platforms like Gopuff are trying to differentiate themselves with both customers and brands. With that, Gopuff has been trying to businesses to include the delivery platform in more of their marketing campaigns. A Gopuff pitch deck sent to brands last year, which Modern Retail recently obtained, showcases these efforts.
Founded in 2012, Affirm was one of the pioneer BNPL solutions in the country. Now partnered with nearly 170,000 active merchants, Geoff Kott, Affirm's chief revenue officer, said Affirm plans to not only continue to add more merchants to its roster, but also expand its relationship with existing partners.
As the world continues to reopen, resale platforms like Poshmark are thinking of ways to reach users offline. After a couple of years of major digital user growth, Poshmark is bringing back in-person events and out-of-home campaigns to complement its digital marketing efforts.
In the last six months alone, players like Wish, Goldbelly, Instacart and The List all launched their own forms of shoppable videos on their apps and websites. For a company like Wish, shoppable videos are the next iteration of the platform's focus on in-app discovery. Goldbelly, meanwhile, is hoping to build out a full entertainment arm and connect food media to instant e-commerce purchases.
Shopify became an e-commerce juggernaut thanks in part to the wave of direct-to-consumer brands in the early 2010s that were able to acquire tens of thousands of customers through cheap Facebook ads. Now, Shopify is betting on influencers – whether that’s a professional athlete or a TikTok chef – to fuel its next wave of growth. Shopify is trying to do this in a variety of ways, most notably with the acquisition of influencer marketing startup Dovetale, announced today.
Thousands of Etsy sellers are going on strike this week, demanding lower transaction fees and less pressure from the company to offer free shipping and fast customer service. However, the strike has also highlighted the dominance Etsy has had over handmade and artisan goods sellers, who've attempted to move to other platforms.
In a bid to stand out from competitors, Instacart has been making inroads in categories outside of its primary delivery business. The company recently introduced a suite of services and technology for retailers, which includes data tools, e-commerce development and in-store technology like smart carts.
Last Friday, Starbucks’ flagship Manhattan store and roastery voted yes on unionization, the tenth store to do so in the last four months. That same day, workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island also voted to unionize, the first warehouse in Amazon’s history to do so. Labor experts point to a shared worker-led structure and similar public sentiment as key points of overlap. In turn, the successes – and challenges – that Starbucks organizers have faced may serve as a guide for what’s to come at Amazon.
In the space of a year, L’Oréal has gone from letting fans purchase certain products from brand pages to sponsoring one of the biggest trends on the app: #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt.
Delivery workers are finding it more and more challenging to work shifts for platforms like UberEats and Grubhub. With gas prices at an all time high, many workers are either pleading for higher pay or holding off on driving altogether.
According to new data from Marketplace Pulse, U.S.-based sellers made up 55% of the most popular Amazon brands in the U.S. this month, compared to 48% in November 2020. It's been a slow but steady increase over that period of time, and it hints at some major global dynamic shifts.
Over the past two years, live commerce has become a bigger part of many brands and retailers' marketing playbook. TalkShopLive, which has an ongoing partnership with Walmart and Shopify, is tapping into the trend by courting DTC founders to appear on their shows.
The new features indicate the platform’s plans to play a bigger role in the customers’ shopping journey. By equipping merchants with free insights, Google aims to give merchants the ability to stand out against other online competitors.
Earlier this month, resale platform Rebelstork – which buys back and sells refurbished baby gear – launched in the U.S. The Canadian startup, founded in 2019, is positioning itself as a white-glove and sustainable shopping service for parents. As resale continues to become more popular, more companies like Rebelstork are trying to corner the secondhand market in niche product categories.
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