On Pandemic-Induced Lifestyle Changes in Fashion & Home
A couple of weeks ago, I spoke with journalist Cathaleen Chen about how consumers are living and shopping right now.
Retail Media: The New Ad Tech And The New Mall
While there appears to be little overlap between the smaller brands paying for placement in physical marketplaces and the larger consumer products companies appearing via ad tech on even larger retailers’ sites, the objectives are similar: Retailers need to leverage their real estate and traffic, brands need new opportunities for placement and consumers are on a quest to discover what’s new, or at least what’s new to them.
The New E-Commerce Experiences Driving Results
Whether it’s leveraging marketing expenses with AR tools that go viral, using AR to convert more and reduce returns, deepening engagement to sell more via VR, developing fruitful long-term relationships by connecting 1:1 or livestreaming to connect with the masses, there’s more consumer openness and more business need than ever before for new e-commerce experiences.
Peloton, Mirror And Tonal: 3 Retail Strategies, 3 Lessons
Building a new brand exclusively online is increasingly expensive. And while the promise of free at-home trials of Peloton bikes and treadmills and Mirror’s and Tonal’s wall surfaces may relieve some concern about a purchase in the thousands of dollars, the downside of buying without trying is a lot of inconvenience when one considers scheduling equipment delivery and installation and the hassle of canceling the service and arranging for pickup.
Why TheSkimm’s Foray Into Commerce This Holiday Season Was A Success
TheSkimm, which started as a daily newsletter in 2012, has been crystal clear since inception that its target audience is a female millennial that it refers to as The Skimm Girl. With a broad ambition to make it “easier for you to live smarter” perhaps it shouldn’t have been surprising that theSkimm would introduce a lifestyle commerce play meant to help its audience tackle holiday shopping.
The Rise of the Lifestyle Marketplace
Why am I excited about the idea of brands known for fairly narrow product categories launching curated marketplaces? For three broad reasons.
Why Nike + The Infatuation is a Fantastic Collab
The multi-platform, multi-venue, multi-product program I’ve now seen over several weeks appears to be the result of the proven creativity of The Infatuation team and the risk-taking for which Nike has become admired.
MWC through a Retail Lens
Based on what I saw at MWC (fka Mobile World Congress), the themes, especially as they relate to commerce, can be summed up most succinctly as SPEED.
Retail Surprises at the Cartier Pop-up... and Amazon 4-star
On the way to visit the new Amazon 4-star store in Soho, I stumbled upon a Cartier pop-up at 120 Wooster (open until 11/4/18). Unexpectedly, I found both to be about discovery.
Storytelling through Stores
Hitting so many DNVB stores in quick succession reinforced for me a story. The story is that these brands - unlike retailers before them - are not opening stores for pure distribution strategy reasons.
Beauty Shopping When No Tech is the Best Tech
A new Barneys beauty brand gives customers an effective takeaway.
The Living Room is the New Dressing Room
“The living room is the new dressing room.” - Miki Berardelli, Kidbox CEO
I heard this shortly after telling someone that home is a shopping channel. If a fashion retailer doesn’t have a home strategy, it may be multichannel but I don't think I can say it’s omnichannel.
Why We Build Stores
In the past week, I read two articles that left me thinking about the purpose of physical retail stores
12 Resolutions I Hope Retailers Will Make for 2018
With links to inspiration and #GoodNewsRetail I like.
A Last-Minute Gift Tip for Consumers & Retailers
Based on personal experience, I recommend GiftNow for consumers and retailers alike.
When New Marketing Becomes Old & Gets New Again
Four brands took an Instagram marketing tactic that’s become stale and created a cross-brand customer experience in Soho
2 Facts About 11.11 That Are More Exciting Than the Sales Figures
By now, we know Alibaba's 11.11 Global Shopping Festival broke all sales records this year. But there are two lesser-discussed parts of 11.11 that are reflective of Alibaba's broader strategy and the company's - and China's - growing influence on global brands.
Media + Product Discovery = New Retail Experience
At the Brit + Co #CreateGood pop-up in Soho, worlds converge as the media company for women advertises its own platform, while bringing other brands to life inside its "5-day experience of all things good". Truth be told, #CreateGood uses these brands to round out Brit + Co IRL by providing visitors with sustenance and entertainment.
Closing The Mobile Marketing Gap
I attended TAP 2017 last week and I'm excited about how Button is addressing the gap between affiliate marketing effectiveness on desktop vs. on mobile.
