Short Stories — with Sam Alston of Big Lives
#91. Big Lives brings together emerging designers and showcases them in unique and ephemeral retail experiences. We talk with co-founder Sam Alston about applying the best lessons of customer relations to harness the power of high-touch and…
Kiddie Cup — with Miki Berardelli of Kidbox
#82. Kidbox personalizes shopping for kids. We talk with CEO Miki Berardelli about how the company is improving kids’ and parents’ lives with its try-before-you-buy model, evolving offerings and social mission. The Loose Threads Podcast features…
The Grinds: Ipsy unveils members-only beauty ecommerce site, Boutique and vintage vendors turn to Instagram, Retailers invite brands to advertise with package inserts, MoviePass acquires Moviefone
Ipsy, queen of the beauty subscription box, unveils Shopper, a members-only, direct-to-consumer site. What happened Ipsy, a subscription service that began in 2011, sends members Glam Bags, which include a personalized bounty of five full- and/or…
PrimeTime: Amazon Channels reigns over television subscriptions; Amazon upgrades its beauty shopping experience, will launch the Marketplace Appstore for sellers, is closing customer accounts because of returns; Whole Foods tests a store-in-a-store housewares concept, Acer’s new laptops are integrated with Alexa
The latest news on everything Amazon Amazon Channels continues to take more of the television subscriptions pie from TV networks. The service, which allows Prime customers to purchase streaming subscriptions to television channels is now…
PrimeTime: Amazon Go expands to San Francisco and Chicago; Amazon outfits boxes with scannable codes to repurpose the cardboard, no longer buys product listing ads on Google; Microsoft and Amazon announce first Cortana-Alexa integration, Apple will sell some video subscriptions through its Apple TV app, Sears will provide full-service installation to tire customers on Amazon, Amazon’s return service at Kohl’s is driving foot traffic to the department store
The latest news on everything Amazon Amazon Go is coming to San Francisco and Chicago, four months after debuting in Seattle. The expansion follows a typical Amazon strategy: opening up shop in its home city, testing out the business…
PrimeTime: Amazon is using 3D body scanning to collect data to grow its apparel business, halted its expansion in Seattle, added a children’s book subscription to Prime, launched a new private-label pet brand called Wag
The latest news on everything Amazon As its apparel retail business grows, Amazon’s 3D body scanning department will collect data on how body size and shape changes over time. The company acquired a startup called Body Labs in 2017 that…
PrimeTime: Amazon will sell an Echo Dot for kids, raise its annual Prime membership fee, stream Thursday Night Football, double its credit line, sell Chico’s apparel; Amazon is attempting to win over HQ2 finalists and growing its retail business with profits from AWS and advertising; Private equity firms want to consolidate top Amazon sellers
The latest news on everything Amazon Amazon will begin selling the Echo Dot Kids Edition in May 2018—a smaller device with a protective case, two-year warranty, and a year of the FreeTime Unlimited Family Plan, including child-oriented…
PrimeTime: Amazon Key delivers to cars; Walmart’s online grocery program improvements are paying off; Amazon gives Best Buy exclusive rights to sell Fire TVs, inked live video game deal with the NBA, may surpass Walmart as top U.S. apparel retailer; Home Depot amps up tech team to compete with Amazon
The latest news on everything Amazon Amazon Key now delivers packages to customers’ cars—an additional service to the Key program, which also drops off packages inside of Prime Members’ homes with the help of an internet-connected door…
PrimeTime: Amazon expands Prime Wardrobe, braces itself for new state taxes, outpaces Best Buy as top electronics retailer; Amazon Echo partners with home builders; Amazon Fuse will expand the company’s media ecosystem; Walmart may buy stake in Flipkart
The latest news on everything Amazon Amazon will allow more Prime members to access the Prime Wardrobe program, which lets shoppers try on clothes before paying for them. Prime Wardrobe—which has yet to officially launch and serves…
PrimeTime: Amazon grows its private-label presence; U.S. warehouses unfit for ecommerce fulfillment; Amazon wants Alexa to compete with Venmo; Walmart continues to compete with Amazon via price matching, pickup kiosks and healthcare; Amazon’s R&D expenses surpass those of all other U.S. companies
The latest news on everything Amazon Amazon now has over 70 active private-label brands on its platform. The majority of these brands emerged in 2017, though the company began testing its private-label products in 2009. These brands and…
Playbook: How to embed your company in the experience economy
As consumers increasingly spend on experiences, often at the expense of physical products, brands, retailers and real estate professionals must shift their priorities to stake out new relevance in this economy, whether they supplement an experience,…
The Grinds: Best Buy, other retailers crack down on returns, Duty-free airport retail thrives, ASOS stands out with its product descriptions, West Elm sells experiences with local artists
Best Buy and other retailers are cracking down on the number and frequency of returns, but are risking their customer relationships. To-the-point analysis about one of the four important stories from the week. What happened Best…
Big brands need to unbundle themselves if they want to survive
Gap, Ralph Lauren, Abercrombie and Fitch, J.Crew and Aeropostale have thousands of people on staff, hundreds of retail stores, and complex global supply chains. But having largely failed to deliver shoppers better products, inspiring brands and…
Amazon and Absolutism
I've always been fascinated and perplexed by the rhetoric that brands use when talking about Amazon. It's usually a combination of uncertainty, confusion and absolutism. Most of this, understandably, comes from fear. As every day passes, the saying…