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In the first quarter of 2021, online-only retailer Overstock’s revenue rose 94% year-over-year and active customers nearly doubled. In 2020, the retailers' full-year revenue rose 75%, to$ 2.5 billion. Overstock CEO Jonathan Johnson talked to Modern Retail about Overstock’s unique ability to navigate furniture supply chain issues, the company's expansion to Canada and the longevity of the patio furniture boom.
Thanks to consumers' changing tastes and eating habits, the plant-based trend has been growing for years. The success of brands like Oatly and Beyond Meat helped prove the trend's staying power. Seth Goldman, founder of Honest Tea and new plant-based jerky brand Eat the Change, explains why the pandemic helped further popularize the category.
Brick-and-mortar retail has transformed over the past decade, with less emphasis on in-store sales and more focus on customer experience. Todd Sachse, the founder of retail construction company Sachse Construction, explains how retailers are rethinking how they build out their physical footprint.
While other footwear brands struggled in 2021, Hoka One One managed to grow sales. Hoka (which ended its fiscal year in March 2021) reported a full-year revenue increase of 62% to $571 million, outpacing performance footwear peers like Nike or Adidas. Now, the brand is continuing global expansion, partnering with fashion brands and driving sales on and offline.
After a record-year of sales for its merchants, Shopify is overhauling its merchant platform, dubbing it Online Store 2.0. In an interview, Vanessa Lee, Shopify’s director of product for storefronts, spoke to Modern Retail about the e-commerce company's updated storefront tools and how it hopes to give brands more room for customization.
After taking a stab at standalone cafes and boutiques, Godiva has pivoted to growing its CPG and e-commerce businesses. In the past year, the chocolate maker has closed all its North America shops and launched new partnerships with retailers, including Target and Walgreens. In an interview with Modern Retail, Godiva’s president of the Americas, Caroline Le Roch discussed how these changes are paying off.
Auction house Christie’s says its pre-pandemic investment in digital marketing as well as a willingness to experiment with high-production livestream auctions and virtual reality product merchandizing during the pandemic helped it navigate uncertainty. Over 90% of Christie's tradition client base started "engaging with us digitally" over the past year, Christie’s global head of corporate and digital marketing, Matt Rubinger, told Modern Retail.
Hodinkee launched in 2008 as a watch-focused blog, but has since grown into a full-fledged e-commerce site. To further its growth, the brand named a new CEO, Toby Bateman at the end of 2020. Bateman spoke with Modern Retail about the company's plans.
Like other DTC brands, Warby Parker relied on its e-commerce channel while its stores were shut down during the pandemic. However, the company also found the period to be an opportunity to build out its telemedicine services, including optometrist appointments and prescription renewals. In an interview, Warby Parker co-founder and co-CEO Dave Gilboa spoke to Modern Retail about the brand's latest services and future role of the stores.
Jason Karp is quickly becoming the driving force behind a lot of brands trying to create a healthier spin on CPG staples. Along with his wife Jessica and brother Jordan, Jason launched Hu Kitchens in 2012. Karp spoke with Modern Retail about why he's getting into the frozen foods space, and how he thinks "greenwashing" is overtaking the health foods category.
As competition among DTC brands grows, so does the need to stand out with unique and legacy-building products. It's why the approach to design is changing, explains Bret Recor, founder of Clever Box -- the design studio behind Away and Caraway.
As more beauty sales are moving online, retailers like Sephora have had to up their e-commerce game. Carolyn Bojanowski, senior vice president and general manager of e-commerce at Sephora, said that a big focus for the retailer over the past year has been adding more e-commerce services, like a same-day delivery partnership with Instacart, as well as more ways for customers to chat with Sephora employees online. Bojanowski spoke more with Modern Retail about how Sephora's e-commerce experiences have evolved over the past year.
Like many traditional retailers, Bed Bath & Beyond has been forced to adapt to consumers' needs with a robust digital strategy. Now, Bed Bath & Beyond is turning its attention to overhauling merchandise with the help of private labels -- or "owned brands" -- as the company calls them. Chief merchandising officer Joe Hartsig spoke to Modern Retail about the launch of these in-house brands, modernizing stores and the importance of understanding today’s consumer.
Venture capital firm Forerunner Ventures is well-known for funding the first generation of direct-to-consumer startups like Bonobos and Dollar Shave Club. But the firm has also been taking a more broader approach to consumer, with recent investments. Senior Associate KJ Sidberry spoke with Modern Retail about his investment thesis.
Since launching more than 20 years ago, Simplehuman has become known for its high-end kitchen and bath products, such as the brand's flagship line of trashcans. The company had historically focused more on wholesale distribution and physical retail partnerships. However, founder Frank Yang explained that the pandemic proved an e-commerce DTC strategy is a must for long term growth.
Every interaction a customer has with a brand is an opportunity to nurture the customer-brand relationship. This report highlights tactics that top brands are using to improve the customer experience.
While other states have had conflicting rulings over Amazon's liability risk -- a court in Texas last month said Amazon wasn’t on the hook for a battery sold by a third party, for instance -- the growing number of legal authorities who are holding Amazon accountable is a concerning sign for the company. The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission lawsuit is only the latest.
Read MoreAt Modern Retail’s Livestream Commerce Trends, we’ll explore how the growth of livestream and video shopping trends are transforming how retailers, brands and marketing teams are engaging with consumers in-stream and live across social and owned-and-operated websites.
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