Stay in Touch
After months of stocking up on essentials, summer is proving to be a bright spot for struggling industries like apparel. Swimwear is an example in which brands with a dedicated following are reframing what their merchandise is used for. It can also mark a turning point for other stunted travel-related categories.
Platforms like Google and Amazon have made new moves to crack down on fake product listings. This isn't a new problem, but that both are taking it on now show that they're trying better foster brand trust. The question remains whether or not these moves are enough for companies to feel protected from bad actors.
Stitch Fix has long maintained that its business model is a blend of art and data science, with its stylists, who represent the artistic side of the company, ultimately deciding which clothes to send to clients. But 11 current and former stylists Modern Retail spoke with said they felt like the artistic side of the company has been devalued, following the announcement earlier this month that Stitch Fix was laying of 1,400 of its California stylists between now and the fall.
Resale platform Mercari is letting sellers offer two-hour courier service via Postmates. Mercari Now, which it developed before the pandemic, allows users to accept local orders without packing and shipping them via parcel, said CEO John Lagerling. Mercari joins other companies investing in new same-day delivery services -- and Postmates has remained a popular business partner.
Walmart just announced a new integration with Shopify allowing merchants to easily upload products to the big box store's online marketplace. It's clearly a way for Walmart to more directly compete with Amazon. While Amazon remains the biggest player in e-commerce, the smaller players are figuring out ways they can differentiate themselves and grow their online presences.
After a number of companies reported their first quarter performance, we got a glimpse into how prepared some of the most prominent retail giants were for the post-coronavirus digitally accelerated world. When the pandemic first hit, the United States shut down leaving retailers relying solely on their e-commerce business. Now, we can begin to see which companies were ready for this transition.
Pernell Cezar and Rod Johnson, who co-founded the coffee brand in 2018, spoke to Modern Retail about running a growing coffee brand. Their strategy helped Blk & Bold become the top selling coffee on Amazon during the pandemic, along with national distribution at Target and Whole Foods. While other coffee companies focus on placements in shops, Blk & Bold went a different route and went all in on retail.
Instacart just announced a deal with C&S Wholesale Grocers that represents 3,000 smaller stores. It's part of the delivery apps strategy to focus less on the bigger grocery players and more on the independent mom and pop ones that don't have the capital to build out their own e-commerce program. Instacart isn't the only platform vying for this piece of the grocery pie, and it remains to be seen whether these businesses are enough for the digital services to become sustainable.
Stitch Fix’s decision to lay off the majority of its California-based stylists is something that the company has been discussing for over a year, the company told impacted stylists on Monday. In a recording obtained by Modern Retail, the company explained its reasoning behind the layoffs. Stylists spoke about the ordeal and the lack of transparency.
Both businesses and consumers are seeking out more flexible payments options. E-commerce platforms like Shopify and Alibaba are building out their own features -- granting both consumers and merchants more flexible payments options. Shoppers utilize these services to finance purchases without the use of credit cards; small online retailers are increasingly being offered the ability to procure or produce inventory without fronting large sums of money.
Alibaba unveiled new features for its U.S B-to-B platform, including flexible payments terms and expanded shipping options. It's a small move in a growing SMB war. Platforms like Alibaba, Amazon, Shopify and even Google and Facebook are all trying to woo more small businesses on their platforms. There's no clear winner yet, but all are unveiling new offers to bring in more customers.
Off-price retailers have historically ignored e-commerce, because their shoppers have proven that they still prefer visiting a store to search through piles of inventory in order to find a good deal. However, the coronavirus crisis has highlighted the shortcomings of that approach. Nordstrom's latest earnings highlights this strategic misstep.
King Arthur's flour has been flying off the shelves -- both in grocery stores and digitally. The company has seen record website traffic and its DTC sales have doubled. To deal with this influx, the centuries-old flour brand has had to quickly adapt. Modern Retail spoke with its vp of marketing about how King Arthur's digital strategy has shifted and what the future of flour sales will look like.
JCPenney was once an e-commerce leader. Then the department store made a series of strategic missteps. During its most recent quarterly earnings report, the company posted $3.4 billion in sales, an 8% decrease from the same period a year earlier. Meanwhile, the company owes $4 billion in debt. Now, it's filing for bankruptcy. How did JCPenney get here? Looking at its failed digital strategy helps illuminate some bigger systemic problems.
Branch Basics normally signs up about 900 new customers a week. In March and April, that number sometimes jumped to 1,400. But Branch Basics isn't the only subscription startup that saw a bump in new subscribers over the past month or two. This uptick in new customers for subscription services correlates with stay-at-home orders being issued across the U.S.
Advertisers, in a marketplace transformed by creativity gone remote, how much of your campaign content is still in-house versus UGC? How are you using data to make choices and effectively target your campaign content? Take this survey and get the full results plus a $5 Starbucks gift card.
To help restaurants get back on their feet, a host of US states have permitted restricted reopening, making use of outdoor space. While it may be easy for some, it's impossible for others. And while such limited reopenings are a good start, they won’t suffice to keep many eateries afloat,
Read MoreThe Amazon Advertising Strategies Virtual Forum is a series of presentations, workshops and talks taking place over three mornings that’ll help you navigate and survive our current crisis and the acceleration of e-commerce that has come with it.
Register Now
