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While e-commerce startups are still struggling with the fallout from last year’s iOS14 update, it’s been a boom for attribution vendors, who are increasingly finding themselves in demand. In particular, two early-stage attribution startups: TripleWhale and Northbeam have commandeered a lot of interest from younger brands. They, along with more established multitouch attribution vendors like nine-year-old Rockerbox, say that they’ve seen an uptick in new clients last year.
Three-year-old aperitif startup Haus is hoping to sell itself after a recent funding round fell through, underscoring the difficult fundraising environment e-commerce startups face right now. Now, Haus is looking to go through what's called an ABC, or Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors. It's an alternative to bankruptcy, which founder Helena Price Hambrecht hopes will help Haus live on as it puts its business up for sale.
With more direct-to-consumer brands entering retail, they face the challenge of standing out on a shelf instead of social media feeds. That's why DTC brand Omsom, known for its East Asian and Southeast Asian sauces, rethought its packaging and look for its first major retail debut at Whole Foods.
Forerunner Ventures principal Jason Bornstein joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about his background, investing thesis and the area's on which he's focusing right now. "What we're really looking for here are new business models -- innovations -- on the tech side," he said. "So is there technology underpinning the business?"
After years of operating exclusively direct-to-consumer brand, Glossier is branching out into wholesale. As part of this new direction under new CEO Kyle Leahy, the company is also restructuring internally to better support wholesale and retail expansion. This week, Glossier laid off about two dozen employees as it ramps up hiring of new positions that specialize in supply chain and wholesale distribution.
Building a community has long been a holy grail goal, albeit a nebulous one, for DTC startups. Some startups, like Thousand Fell, Mejuri and August, are turning to a new chat tool called Geneva to do so, which just launched out of beta this year, and has a number of ties to the DTC world.
Blueland officially made its entrance into the personal care products in May when it launched a body wash. Now, its new facial cleanser will follow a similar format to other Blueland products by coming with a reusable bottle and dissolvable powder that transforms into a gel once mixed with water.
In its third year in business, DTC underwear brand Parade is rapidly expanding its products and retail footprint. This week, the company announced its new retail partnership with Urban Outfitters, marking its first distribution partnership with a third-party retailer.
Despite Instacart's softening revenue, brands continue to bet on grocery delivery. Several CPG startups spoke about how they're utilizing Instacart Ads and the challenges of gaming the platform's algorithm.
Fishing startup Karl's opened its first brick-and-mortar store to help lure in new fishing participants amid a boom in the sport. According to the company, the brand doubled its sales goal in the first week.
HexClad — a direct-to-consumer company selling products like pots, pans and knives — officially signed celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay as the brand’s lead ambassador last year. Since then, HexClad’s products can now be found all over Ramsay’s Instagram page, TikTok and cooking shows, including Ramsay in 10 on YouTube and Next Level Chef on Fox.
Katie Spies, founder of the DTC pet food brand Maev, joined the Modern Retail Podcast and spoke about the company's growth and the overall premium pet food market. Spies doesn't have a background in pet nutrition, but she did work as a dog walker to learn the ins and outs of what pet owners need.
While fears of a recession are leading some venture-backed tech companies to cut costs, a number of retail startups have been adding to their executive teams over the past few months. Lemon Perfect, a beverage brand backed by Béyonce Knowles-Carter and other celebrity investors, was the latest to announce a significant new executive hire. It brought on former Coca-Cola executive vice president Jim Brennan as president and chief revenue officer on Friday.
DTC baby and toddler brand Lalo is launching a brand-new collaboration with West Elm in a move that aims to win over new parents looking to invest in sophisticated yet functional baby gear. The pairing is an opportunity for both young brands to expand sales while capitalizing on the trend of neutral tones and functional baby gear that doesn't look like something out of a children's playhouse, but fits in with the rest of one's home.
For years, direct-to-consumer brands largely sat out Prime Day. But, as it gets harder for direct-to-consumer brands to acquire customers through their own channels, more DTC startups like Caraway, Brooklinen and Truff are opening Amazon storefronts.
Brands and retailers are retaining their resources and keeping the tech stacks they have. That's according to a recent survey of brands and retailers from Modern Retail and Glossy. The respondents were asked if they've updated their e-commerce platforms in the last year, and many said they hadn't
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