The Inflection Point, Wild Ways to Shop, 30 < 30 in eCom, Looking to China, Gorpcore, Forgetting 2020, Barkbox IPO, DTC Challenger Opportunities
Covering trends in commerce, media, and marketing daily.
The Inflection Point: What Happens Before Growth?
8 Lessons science can teach us about growth in business
Uber found success in the highly regulated taxi market, instead of trying to adapt to the existing legislation, their innovation ended up pushing forward proposal 22 in California that transformed how employment is viewed in the gig economy.
Areas where agriculture revolutions happened from “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” Cancer, the deadliest sickness of the past century teaches us a valuable lesson: growth is not an absolute good.
The 6 wildest ways we shopped in 2020
The pandemic drove consumers online. Smart brands, like Burberry, American Eagle, and Net-a-Porter, responded with immersive digital experiences that suggest a more vibrant future for e-com.
To launch American Eagle’s holiday collection, which featured a collaboration with Disney, the brand created an augmented reality store on Snapchat that would run from early November till Christmas.
[Screenshots: American Eagle]For people who were nostalgic for shopping in store, this immersive Snapchat experience mimicked the real thing closely, but the added AR elements made it feel distinctly 21st century.
Forbes 30 Under 30 2021: Retail & Ecommerce
Reinventing how we shop, on and offline. As a teenager, Téllez remembers feeling dismayed by Victoria's Secret's skimpy underwear and impossibly thin models. So she cofounded Parade in 2018 to offer an alternative that wasn't so big on sex appeal: a line of fun, colorful underwear that comes in inclusive sizes. "It's a $13 billion category in crisis," says Téllez, the daughter of Colombian immigrants. "We want people to feel celebrated, like they're part of a parade.?
The Gen Z-friendly brand's supersoft underwear is made from 85% recycled plastic and compostable packaging made from corn starch. To date, the New York company has sold 650,000 pairs of underwear and is on track to generate $10 million in revenue in 2020. It has raised $8 million from traditional VC shops and celebrities including Shakira and Karlie Kloss.
How to Survive the Future of Retail
Covid-19 is a once-in-a-century event that will eradicate many retail species and accelerate the growth and evolution of 'apex predators' like Amazon, Alibaba, Walmart and JD.com. Only the fittest will survive.
Today, the affiliate, which last month rebranded as Ant Group amid scrutiny from Chinese regulators, is valued at more than Goldman Sachs with a $150 billion valuation, meaning that if it was stripped out of Alibaba, it would stand as one of the 15 largest banks in the world.
The virtual visits, at first a matter of safety, are now a centerpiece of family doctors’ plans to treat the everyday illnesses and undetected problems that they warn could end up costing additional lives if people do not receive prompt care.”
The retail industry is leading the way as women take over CEO roles
A record 41 female CEOs are soon going to be leading Fortune 500 companies, with Lauren Hobart set to take over Dick's Sporting Goods in February.
When an announcement came in late November that Lauren Hobart would take the reins as chief executive at Dick's Sporting Goods in early 2021, corporate America hit another major milestone for inclusivity that has been driven, in large part, by the retail industry.
With some of the recent CEO appointments, though, companies are simply finding talented women who have been rising up the leadership ranks for years, according to Elizabeth Stephenson, a managing director in the consumer products practice at AlixPartners.
Barkbox to go public through merger with SPAC Northern Star Acquisition, as ticker changes to 'BARK'
Barkbox Inc. said Thursday it will go public after entering into a merger agreement with special purpose acquisition company Northern Star Acquisition Corp....
After the merger is completed, the dog toys, treats and wellness supplements company will list on the NYSE under the new ticker symbol "BARK."
The deal is expected to provide Barkbox with up to $454 million of cash proceeds, which the company plans to invest in accelerating new and existing product lines and for international expansion.
Gorpcore: How Arc’teryx Parkas and Salomon Hiking Boots Became High Fashion
Urban guys are wearing technical outdoor gear from brands like Patagonia, And Wander and the North Face. They look like they could summit Everest—but they’re probably just running to Starbucks.
GORPCORE , named for the trail-mix acronym that’s short for “good ol’ raisins and peanuts,” represents the convergence of outdoorsy gear and more quotidian men’s fashion.
Freshly coveted by young gorpcore fanatics, this group includes seasoned global brands like Helly Hansen (Norway) and Goldwin (Japan), and cultier, trail-rooted labels such as Gramicci, Manastash and La Sportiva.
The Most Memorable Year We All Long to Forget
Amid the relative optimism of a new year ahead, little did any of us know that thousands of miles away, in a city most couldn’t point to on a map, a microscopic entity was about to turn our entire world inside out – and the retail industry with it.
We embarked on writing a new book, recorded new podcasts, and had entirely new sorts of conversations with a wide range of fascinating people – all with their own unique take on what the future holds for our industry, as it rises from the ashes of the crisis.
Why retailers everywhere should look to China
That is where they will see the future of e-commerce
OVER THE past ten months most people in the rich world have participated in the biggest shopping revolution in the West since malls and supermarkets conquered suburbia 50 years ago.
Point and click are passé: online-shopping platforms in China now blend digital payments, group deals, social media, gaming, instant messaging, short-form videos and live-streaming celebrities.