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Walmart’s addition of more ad units reflects the increasing priority that the company is placing on selling marketplace ads -- and it underscores the rise of paid search ads across all online marketplaces, which have become essential tools for brand discovery, as well as lucrative sources of extra income for those marketplaces.
The rise of the "niche online grocery store" is in full effect. The newly-launched Umamicart, which focuses on Asian-inspired ingredients and products, joins other specialty marketplaces looking to reach home cooks via curation and convenience.
With concerns about wasteful packaging increasing, brands are looking for more sustainable and cost-effective options to ship orders. The issue is prompting a slew of startups to create reusable packaging that attracts retail partners. To incentivize brands, these solutions promise environmentally friendly options that offer a better return per-use on cost.
A year ago, essential retailers ruled the roost. Big-box retailers like Home Depot and Target, hardware stores, grocery stores and drug stores were some of the only places where people in the U.S. could still shop in-person, after the first wave of stay-at-home measures. As a result, they reported unprecedented sales growth through the spring. None of these retailers are expecting to match that same sales growth last year, but they are investing in different initiatives to avoid losing market share.
Virtual Dining Concepts is a ghost kitchen company -- meaning it connects industrial kitchens with restaurants that only distribute through dining apps like DoorDash. But there's a Planet Hollywood-esque spin: instead of simply ginning up a dark restaurant that will live on the various dining apps, he's aligning his businesses with celebrities and influencers. It's a growing online commerce trend, and hints at some business model hurdles.
Earlier this week, Taco Bell parent company Yum announced the acquisition of Tictuk Technologies, a software company that facilitates orders on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. The acquisition gives a major boost to what has been, until lately, a relatively quiet corner of the food world: delivery storefronts operating on messaging apps -- also called conversational commerce
Spring has historically been the biggest sales season for home improvement retailers like Lowe’s. This year, Lowe's is rethinking its approach to its annual spring sale, in order to market the home improvement retailer as more of a destination for home decor. Rather than just being the place that customers go to to learn how to say, sand a deck, Lowe's also wants customers to think of it as a place to look for inspiration when designing their bedroom or backyard.
For the first time since the coronavirus first hit the U.S., store openings are outpacing closures, according to the latest data by Coresight Research. As vaccination rates increase and the weather warms up, some retailers are finding it the perfect time to delve back into their brick and mortar plans.
Owning the supply chain has become a growing trend among digitally-native brands in recent years. Unlike the first generation of DTC players, emerging companies like Rothys and Caraa are choosing to own their production over partnering with manufacturers. But, as apparel brand Duer came to find during the pandemic, there are limits to what you can realistically own.
Nearly two decades after launching, Yelp is getting into the reservations game. After years of courting businesses to buy ads on the platform, the company is building tools to regain attraction among businesses, especially hard-hit restaurants and bars. Among the new features are a revamped waitlist, a POS management system and customer-facing iOS widget.
Twitter is one of the latest -- and perhaps the last -- major social platform to test out in-app buy buttons. Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp all have in-app stores; Pinterest and Snapchat have shoppable AR filters; and TikTok has been testing its own in-app shops. Twitter’s entrance into the space is especially notable because Twitter has never been a significant driver of commerce -- and, if anything, Twitter’s arrival shows that social commerce is the inevitable future for all major social apps.
Fabletics is the latest fitness apparel brand to get into the virtual workouts space. The athletic apparel company recently launched Fabletics FIT, available free to subscribers and for a monthly fee to outside customers. The move is part of a growing trend of retailers looking to offer services beyond their products.
As the private label boom continues, Dick's Sporting Goods is continuing to invest in its in-house brands. This week, the company announced a new men's athletic apparel brand, called VRST, as its next label within its in-house brand portfolio. The launch arrives following the category's contribution of $1.3 billion to the retailer’s sales during 2020.
Target is betting that the arts and crafts boom will continue even after the pandemic is over. Earlier this week, the big-box retailer announced the launch of a new private label line called Mondo Llama, under which Target will sell crafting supplies aimed at both kids and adults. The retailer's approach indicate that may start to change, especially in light of the fact that people have been spending more on crafting supplies during the pandemic.
Companies have updated packaging and sourced new product ideas after reading through the comments on TikTok. Combing through the comments can be labor-intensive on both organic and paid posts. Yet brands have found that customers’ comments can lead to easy product improvements if they can become comfortable with the tone of the app and put in the man-hours of listening to their customers there.
A California court just deemed Amazon liable for a faulty product sold by a third-party seller. The ruling, if nothing else, solidifies that Amazon has a real liability risk in California. “It’s going to carry a lot of weight in California,” one lawyer said.
Read MoreAt the Modern Retail Virtual Forum, we’ll bring together senior retail marketers to discuss the challenges they’re facing and the solutions they’re seeking in the era of smarter retail.
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