E-COMM

"Buy This" Challenge

Right now, my “For You” TikTok feed is a power clash of Twilight roasts, disco choreo, and a crowdsourced Ratatouille musical (don’t ask). Soon, it’ll be yet another mobile mall.

TikTok yesterday shared it will enable shoppable video content in a sweeping partnership with Shopify.

• Phase 1: Shopify’s one million+ U.S. merchants can now create shoppable ads through a TikTok for Business integration with their stores. 
• Phase 2: TikTok and Shopify said they’ll continue to develop in-app purchasing tools and experiences, potentially for #notspon organic content. 

Initial reaction: “Brands have already seen great success with existing TikTok tools for retailers, including branded takeovers [...] and sponsored hashtags,” Benjamin Crudo, CEO at Diff Agency, told Retail Brew. “[This] will allow them to further capitalize on the app's popularity with a native integration that smooths out workflow.”

Are we recording? 

Good, because I can recite a sample of the tech platforms entering social commerce in a single take: 

• Google’s testing on-site shopping features for YouTube. 
• Snapchat is piloting virtual branded profiles.
• Between IGTV, Reels, and the OG feed, there’s not a surface on Instagram that isn’t shoppable.

No matter the platform, “these tools democratize the ability for merchants and influencers to bring brand awareness,” Sterling Smith, CEO of Sandbox Commerce, told Retail Brew.

Still, TikTok hits different. “TikTok's potential competitive advantage is its combination of exceptionally high user engagement, creative medium, and algorithmic prowess,” said Andrew Lipsman, principal analyst at eMarketer. 

• TikTok has 100+ million U.S. users, with ~50 million active per day.
• The app's shorthand for Gen Z, so it's a target for Shopify’s DTC brands in particular.

Which brands benefit most? Fashion and beauty’s visual DNA make them prime candidates. But any retailer could hit Ocean Spray status with good lighting and the right throwback jam. “TikTok [...] will favor any brand clever enough to figure out what content works,” Lipsman told me. “I wouldn't be surprised at all to see a blender brand sell well on TikTok.”

Either way...TikTok’s just the latest platform heading home with Shopify green bags. Shopify’s a launch partner for Facebook Shops, it’s powering stores on IG, and it’s amplifying merchants in a Walmart marketplace tie-in.

My takeaway: While TikTok’s gaining ground from rival social platforms, Shopify may have made itself an even more attractive storefront provider.

DELIVERY

One Cleansing Mask, Two Sweatshirts, and a Side of Fries

Los Angeles residents can get their Haunting of Bly Manor marathon starter pack delivered all at once via Postmates’s virtual storefronts, which launched yesterday.

How it works: Just like ordering midnight mozz sticks, but with 50 brands ranging from beauty (Le Labo) to home goods (Parachute) under a new “Shop” tab.

• Participating merchants can choose which in-store items to list on the app and whether to offer delivery or contactless curbside pickup.
• The feature will expand outside of LA in early 2021. 

Postmates isn’t the first food delivery service to partner with a retailer, and it won’t be the last. Packages shipped from warehouses will be delayed during this holiday season as e-comm surges, but delivery apps outpace even Amazon. Plus, another microfulfillment option could help retailers move inventory out of stores lacking foot traffic.

My reminders: Any retailer that joins a same-day store delivery service needs to ensure 1) their staff receives flexible training to pick and pack orders while managing in-store visits and 2) there’s enough inventory to satisfy online and offline shoppers. 

SPONSORED BY ORACLE NETSUITE

Counting Is Boring

Say it with us: Physical inventory counts stink. The problem is, for just about any company that manufactures, distributes, or sells products, they’re a necessary evil.

...but could they be less evil?

Our smart pals at Oracle NetSuite think so, and they’ve assembled all their knowledge on the matter in this here infographic.

While physical inventory counts are critical to business understanding and managing inventory position, good warehouse management systems make physical counts faster, easier, and less frequent.

When you download this infographic, you’ll learn more key stuff that will have your company keeping less inventory on hand, confidently relying on a demand-based production model, and decreasing overhead costs associated with storage.

Make physical inventory counts less evil. Download Oracle Netsuite’s infographic.

LUXURY

Bushwick Birkins > Birkin Birkins

Traditional luxury brands may be rebounding, but most shoppers would rather secure a more affordable bag.

Global fashion search engine Lyst decreed Telfar’s $150 shopping bag the “hottest product” of Q3, a ranking calculated by social media mentions, search volume, and sales across eight million+ listed products. 

• Telfar brand searches rose 61% last quarter, and demand for its totes increased 270%, per Lyst.

Telfar’s hero product first hit the market back in 2014. So what made 2020 the year of the “Bushwick Birkin”? 

Brand values. Telfar says its bags are “for everyone” (and prices them accordingly). 

For example...when new drops sold out before most customers could participate, Telfar launched its first made-to-order sales event, the Bag Security Program, in August.

• In one day, the event generated 10x the sales Telfar had logged in all of 2019, per the FT.
• Telfar is on track to earn eight figures this year, up from $2 million last year.

Owning its channel. “Limited wholesale distribution with a focus on direct sales seems to be part of the strategy—a smart move, as this is the aspiration for many long-established luxury brands,” Lyst Data Editor Morgane LeCaer told Retail Brew. 

Social plays. When bag drops are announced, impressions follow. LeCaer said that Telfar’s Instagram following has more than tripled this year...and its account generates 11x the engagement of Hermès. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Bed Bath & Beyond's turnaround plan: remodeled stores, updated tech, better supply chain ops.
• Tapestry has a new CEO: former Abercrombie & Fitch exec Joanne Crevoiserat.
• Amazon is hiring 100,000 holiday workers.
• Crocs expects to grow another 20%-30% in Q4. 
• Chewy is launching a virtual veterinary service.
• Tiffany & Co. and LVMH are nearing a renegotiated takeover deal—for a lower price.

SPONSORED BY ITERABLE

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FROM THE CREW

My brain says time stopped on March 15, but my calendar says another year is nearing its close. And oh, what a year it’s been. *Eye twitch* 

Let’s take stock. We’re launching the inaugural Retail Brew trends survey to evaluate the retail developments that filled the newsletter this year. You can vote for…

• The most overhyped retail trends this year
• The most overlooked retail trends this year

Whether you thought this year could’ve used more Crocs collabs, or you never want to hear the words “e-comm acceleration” again, it’s your time to shine. Take our quick 2020 trends survey here. P.S. Your hot takes are 100% anonymous.

COMMUNITY

It’s time for Coworking, our segment highlighting the best part of Retail Brew: you, the readers. Want to see your name here? Fill out our quick nomination form, or share it with a friend who reads Retail Brew.

Give a warm Retail Brew welcome to Sean Gleeson, senior manager of partner acquisition at Target. 

How would you describe your job on a date? I get to find cool brands and products to list on Target.com in pet supplies, vitamins, sporting goods, and toys.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn: I love and miss trade shows! Nothing like the smell of newly laid carpet and fresh coffee.

A brand you’re obsessed with (that isn’t your employer): Filson or Bonobos. 

SWAPPING SKUS

Home Depot and Lowe’s are the biggest retailers to benefit from our sudden urges to renovate and redecorate, but they’re not the only ones. Here’s your syllabus for 2020’s home edit movement. 

• Everyone I know who hasn’t bought a pet has bought a plant. The sudden interest in at-home greenery has left at least one small business in a welcome game of catch-up. (The Bottom Line)
• Netflix’s new show Get Organized had a not-so-subtle commerce tie-in. Almost all the organizing products used on the home makeover series came from The Container Store—and the retailer’s enjoying the PR. (Modern Retail)

ICYMI

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• How DTC Brands Built Competitive Referral Programs
• Model No. Wants to Become the First Zero-Waste Furniture Brand
• Apple and Target Are Taking a Fast Pass Approach to Holiday Shopping