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Retail media is growing in importance. The idea of retailers turning their websites into media platforms isn’t a new one, but over the past few years, has commanded more interest and more attention from brands. For brands specifically, advertising on retail media isn’t an ad problem anymore -- it’s a business problem.
Amazon has a few new features it's testing with brands that look a lot like some Facebook programs. They all seem like ways to promote more content posted to the e-commerce platform -- and it looks like Amazon is beginning to listen to some of the needs of its partners.
More direct-to-consumer brands are experimenting with partnership marketing, in order to further diversify their marketing spend away from Facebook and Google. Although there are inexpensive ways to test out partnership marketing, it can take a lot of trial and error to figure out which brands are actually effective to partner with.
When handbag brand Dagne Dover launched in 2012, its products were only available for sale through its own website. But today, shoppers can find Dagne Dover bags for sale on Nordstrom's website, in Stitch Fix boxes, in select Apple stores, as well as some Equinox gyms. While Dagne Dover started as a direct-to-consumer brand, wholesale now accounts for just under 20% of its revenue. Founder and CEO Melissa Mash wants to keep it that way.
Modern Retail surveyed 206 brands and retailers to ask what is working, and what isn't working for them on Amazon.
Retail leaders attended the Modern Retail Summit to discuss the biggest issues plaguing the industry. Topics included: customer acquisition, retaining talent, sale attribution and, of course, Amazon.
Over the past year, weighted blanket brand Gravity Products has started to partner more with brands on product collaborations in order to lessen its reliance on selling directly to consumers. Today, Gravity announced that it's partnering with DTC mattress brand Purple on a product collaboration. CEO Mike Grillo said that partnerships now make up nearly 18% of Gravity's revenue, up from 2% last year.
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.
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 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.
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.
California's new data privacy regulations are set to be enacted in the coming months. Some retailers are being caught flatfooted in the race to be compliant.
Many malls in the U.S. are about to lose yet another brick-and-mortar tenant, as Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy earlier this week. Forever 21's bankruptcy filing has prompted discussion about whether or not fast-fashion is dying, or just evolving. But there are some lessons that every retailer would be wise to take away from Forever 21's bankruptcy filing.
As Bed Bath & Beyond looks for a turnaround, one of its few bright spots has been its wedding registry business. But, as more couples are adding cash and trips to their registries instead of products, the company could lose its spot as a go-to place for wedding registries.
A growing number of health and beauty brands are turning to cloud-based systems that can handle customer, financial and inventory data across all processes, from production to payment.
In its early days, being direct-to-consumer meant lower prices. Because there was no middleman, so the theory went, companies were offering better quality goods at more competitive prices. But as the industry matures, there has been a shift away from branding DTC products as the most affordable alternative to traditional retail shopping for personal products. The strategy to offer “no markups” was integral for the success of Warby Parker and Everlane, among others when they launched a decade ago. However, that’s no longer the case, as evident from a new crop of luxury DTC brands that are looking to duplicate the model’s biggest success stories, in diamonds, luxury fashion and more.
Read MoreAt the Modern Retail Summit, we’ll bring together hundreds of 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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