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 A. eCommerce / New York Times: The world’s largest retailer aims to add 1,200 Shopify sellers this year, Walmart executive Jeff Clementz said in an interview. The company’s marketplace site, which already offers more than 75 million products, grew at a faster pace than Walmart’s overall web business in the first quarter, and third-party sales are typically more profitable as the sellers pay a fee to list items and often shoulder the delivery costs.
Editor's note: The above image is from report no. 345: The Arming of the Rebels. In it, 2PM discussed the lack of demand generation within the Shopify ecosystem and how that deficiency diminished CEO Tobi LĂĽtke's "we arm the rebels" rallying cry. Shopify management has been on a tear lately, releasing new products to include Shop. When I last spoke with LĂĽtke, he explained the importance of building for Shopify's merchants "without making kings." The brilliance of the team's management is that they seem to accomplish objectives without compromising their beliefs. In this case, the need was marketplace demand generation; they've achieved it in a creative way. This is an extraordinary win-win for both retailers. The conclusion of report no. 345 was as follows:
When you arm the rebels, do whatever you can to make sure that they win. They’re fighting for their supplier as much as they’re fighting for their own well-being. After all, their war is now your war.
2PM Data: eCommerce platform market share | Source: Datanyze
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B. eCommerce / The Guardian: With the launch of Shop, Shopify’s new consumer shopping app, the company is stepping into the limelight. The new app saves stores from having to build their own and serves up product recommendations to users about brands that they’ve already shown interest in – there are no ads. “The way to think about Shop is that it’s really a personal shopping assistant,” says Harley Finkelstein, Shopify’s chief operating officer. “It’s an app that allows for a more intuitive online shopping experience.” The app is already operational in the US; a British launch has not yet been set.
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A. Digital Publishing / New York Times: New York’s media business appears to be in endless decline, but it is still one of America’s most visible stages for cultural conflict, drama and change. Top figures at Bon Appétit, Refinery 29, Variety, ABC News and The New York Times have been forced to resign or take leave this month, as were lower-profile executives, like the editor of Indy Week in North Carolina.
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B. Digital Publishing / New York Times: Tumult has hit Condé Nast, a company built partly on selling a glossy brand of elitism to the masses, at a time when its financial outlook is grim. Last year, the U.S. division lost approximately $100 million on about $900 million in revenue, said several people with knowledge of the company, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The European arm also had losses.
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Brand Equity / Ana Andjelic: In the past decade, there has been an economic reorientation towards social, cultural, and environmental value of goods. A product like cookware or a plant is never just a cookware or a plant: it’s a conduit for creativity, community, aesthetic pleasure, or a way to minimize environmental impact. When they buy a plate or a dress, consumers signal a lifestyle. When they sell a plate or a dress, sellers signal their worldview. Both sides are looking to impart value signaling into the exchange of goods. A two-track consumption pattern emerged: a) mass consumption of standardized products, and b) considered consumption of signaling products.
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Streaming Economy / WSJ: Now, the at-times uneasy partnership between Mr. Katzenberg and Ms. Whitman faces its biggest test, as Quibi Holdings LLC, which launched its streaming app in April, fights for relevance in a crowded field with its formula of movies and shows in short chapters. Its success hinges, in part, on whether the duo at the top can overcome their sometimes clashing styles and leverage their more than 80 years of combined business experience.
Editor's Note: Welp.
From the archives: Quibi and VC-Subsidized Media
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eCommerce / Financial Times: The coronavirus lockdowns have sparked broad changes to how women discover and shop for beauty products by pushing more activity online, especially among older demographics who were previously wary, according to L'Oréal's chief digital officer. "The crisis has profoundly accelerated the digital transformation of the beauty sector," said Lubomira Rochet in an interview.
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Retail Real Estate / Globe St: Don't miss crucial news and insights you need to make informed commercial real estate decisions. Join GlobeSt.com now! Free unlimited access to GlobeSt.com's trusted and independent team of experts who provide commercial real estate owners, investors, developers, brokers and finance professionals with comprehensive coverage, analysis and best practices necessary to innovate and build business.
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eCommerce / Modern Retail: For now, it’s hard to know how sustainable the model is, particularly with such unanswerable questions as whether coronavirus-induced germaphobia will keep diners at home, or how much the economic downturn will prevent people from splurging on fancy meals. Many restaurants have begun reopening for takeout or outdoor service, but they still don’t have a good sense of how many customers they’ll be able to seat by the year’s end.
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Digital Media / Newsweek: Gen Z and millennials are at war with each other on social media after a TikTok user asked boomers to stop saying the younger generations are the same. The video that kicked off an inter-generational social media battle was made by TikTok user mayalepa, who said: "Tired of boomers bunching gen z and millennials together?
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Physical Retail / Business Insider Prime: During the lockdown, many fitness centers and gyms have started to offer digital classes to keep customers engaged with their brand and to generate income as their doors remain closed. While this has been a short-term fix, one industry experts says offering an omnichannel experience will be crucial to their survival long-term.
Editor's Note: this report is behind a paywall but it is worth your resources. If not, 2PM has published on this topic here.
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Unlocked For all: The DTC Fitness Conundrum
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Countless health and wellness professionals depend on the leadership and the brand equity of the company founded by Glassman in 2001. It’s a community of “Type A” leaders, trainers, and entrepreneurs. In just the last ten years, the cohort has produced consumer brands like: RXBar, Whole 30, Siete Foods, NOBULL, and Rogue. But despite the history of exceptional growth and inspired business, nothing about CrossFit’s present troubles are unexpected.
Read the report.
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