Modern Retail
Authority and honesty on the reinvention of retail, by Digiday Media
Publisher1 story / day
‘Systemic issue’: The customer acquisition challenges DTC brands face go beyond cost
It’s become one of the most talked-about subjects in the DTC world: one of the biggest challenges brands face today is the rising cost of customer acquisition, particularly on digital channels like…
‘Tons of fear’: How DTC companies are dealing with Trump’s tariffs
As Trump’s increased China tariffs continue to take a toll on the US economy, many smaller DTC businesses are faced with some tough choices. But for most, it’s not simply as easy as moving…
‘Complementary to our physical stores’: Why TJ Maxx has been able to…
TJ Maxx has been slow to invest in its website and e-commerce offerings, even as other retailers get into the off-price game and threaten to take away some of its market share. Its parent company…
As digital sales increase, Target is looking for ways to ensure its…
Target’s strategy of using its stores to fulfill orders placed online continue to drive an increase in both digital sales and foot traffic. Now, as Target has remodeled the majority of its stores to…
In effort to scale, ThredUp pitches services business to retailers
ThredUp just raised a $175 million, and has big plans to scale. One of its strategies focuses on partnerships with big retailers. While the online clothing resale company describes this as a new…
Why Target’s new private label brand represents a grocery strategy shift
Target just announced a new private label grocery brand, Green & Gather. While the company offers numerous private labels, this marks Target’s attempt to retool its overall grocery strategy.
SmileDirectClub’s IPO filing highlights promises, pitfalls for DTC health care industry
SmileDirectClub will soon be one of the few companies that started as an online-only, direct-to-consumer startup to make it to the public markets, setting the bar for what it will take for other DTC…
As Shopify grows, app developers are forced to adapt
As Shopify has grown, it’s expanded its services to new areas – some of which its third party developers already had their hands in. This creates for a difficult tension; The platform needs to scale…
As brand purpose becomes mainstream, some brands choose to go the other…
Younger brands that built social responsibility into their businesses from the beginning are establishing new brand-purpose playbooks that demonstrate how a cause or mission can penetrate a company –…
How Pinterest is pitching DTC companies through a new ‘disruptor brands’ sales…
In January, Pinterest created a new sales team that was tasked with figuring out how they can get younger startups, particularly direct-to-consumer brands, to spend more money on the platform.
Walmart’s e-commerce business grows thanks to store fulfillment
Walmart’s earnings report showed a legacy retailer growing, despite digital competitors like Amazon looming. Though Walmart has had trouble executing its overall e-commerce program…
Amazon offered vendors 'Amazon's Choice' labels in return for ad spending and…
Amazon has previously offered vendors the ability to "bid" for an Amazon’s Choice badge by lowering prices and spending more money on advertising.
Why Washington wants to break up Amazon, explained
More lawmakers are cracking down on Amazon’s allegedly anticompetitive practices. But it’s important to understand what these politicians and advocates are claiming, in order to surmise the best…
An online wine company is using customer data to develop products and…
After gathering customer insight from subscribers around the types of wines they prefer over Vinebox’s past three-and-a-half years, and seeing users buying more cases of the individual pours outside…
Big-box retailers are pushing curated product assortments to reach new shoppers
As big-box retailers like Target, Walmart and Kohl’s are grappling with how to defend their business against Amazon’s endless aisles, they are finding that in order to gain sales traction in certain…
‘A slippery slope’: Amazon wants to control third-party sellers’ product pricing
Amazon has rolled out a new selling format for brands in its third-party marketplace: Sold by Amazon, a program that lets sellers submit products to be priced by Amazon’s algorithm.
Blue Apron parts with Jet as meal kits’ retail strategies show mixed…
Blue Apron, in its latest earnings report, announced that it was no longer partnering with Jet.com. Announced last year, this alliance was one of the most highly-anticipated programs for the meal kit…
‘Shot themselves in the foot’: Macy’s struggles to wean itself off of…
As Macy’s struggles to par down its inventory, it is turning to steep discounts in order to make way for new seasonal product. The company has said that it believes investing more in data analytics…
Amazon’s ambitions in the alcohol category could boost competitive e-commerce companies
Amazon reportedly obtained a liquor license in San Francisco. This is likely part of the company’s slow expansion into the alcohol delivery business. As a whole, alcohol e-commerce has been…
How DTC brands are navigating multi-touch attribution, explained
As direct-to-consumer brands grow up and spend more money on traditional marketing channels, figuring out how effective each of these marketing channels are becomes a much more challenging process.