2PM - No 676: The Economy of One

Capstone / The Economist Showfields is a landlord, not a retailer. It represents a niche solution to what Melina Cordero of CBRE, a property specialist, says is a dilemma in the retail-property industry: “credit versus cool”. Landlords used to insist that malls and shopping centres recruited tenants with strong brands and creditworthiness. But some venerable names have gone bust. Instead landlords need “cool”, youthful brands to attract shoppers. Showfields offers that. Property barons as arbiters of what is cool or not? That is one of many incongruities in a renaissance that is blurring boundaries between customers and retailers. Mr Zwickel calls it “c-commerce” for its customer-centricity. Retailers, landlords, brands, advertisers and manufacturers are in the service of consumers, whom they know better than ever because of their data trail.

By 2PM: A redefining of "anchor" from size to measure of cool has long been in the works. Consider this paragraph from 2PM's strategy for neo-traditional retail development. "Developers like Simon, Macerich, and Brookfield Properties have drawn inspiration from these media ecosystems and it has begun to impact leasing partnerships. How does that practically translate? Peppered in with emerging DTC brands like Rhone, Peloton, or Goop will be 5,000 – 10,000 square foot premium centers tailored to accomplish three objectives for mall retailers.  What were anchor stores will become community-driven, experiential areas that should provide a positive, second-order funnel for traditional retailers."

Why digital pioneers Allbirds and Shopify are investing in physical retail

B. Retail / U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Shopify surveys have found “that 50% of consumers would like to be able to schedule time for in-store shopping,” Podduturi said. Appointments let shoppers share information about their preferences and sizes before they get to a store, allow store staff to choose specific products for them, have information about their purchase history and give more shoppers the VIP store treatment.

With Shopify, small businesses strike back at Amazon

eCommerce / Wall Street Journal: This approach gives merchants access to cloud-based third-party services such as payments and fulfillment, but lets them maintain more control of their branding and customer relationships than the biggest marketplaces offer. Shoppers might not even know they’re buying something from a Shopify-powered retailer, and that’s the point.

Performance apparel gets a modern makeover

Brands / Thingtesting: Smart. "To ensure the clothes would protect the exact areas where the barbell might land, cofounders (and sisters) Lamorna and Tamara Short gathered a group of female athletes together, gave them all-white workout gear, and asked them to lift barbells covered in red dye. When they observed the red splotches on the clothing, the pair could see which parts of the body needed the most protection."

For creators, everything is for sale

The Creator Economy / New York Times: For example, a creator can use NewNew to post a poll asking which sweater they should wear today, or who they should hang out with and where they should go. Fans purchase voting power on NewNew’s platform to participate in the polls, and with enough voting power, they get to watch their favorite influencer live out their wishes, like a real life choose-your-own-adventure game.

By 2PM: Here's a crib sheet for new creator monetization platforms.

NewNew, a “human stock market”, lets creators build polls and ask followers questions. Followers then pay for the ability to vote on the outcomes. Founder Courtne Smith likens the app’s popularity to the acceleration of the “attention economy”, which marks a new chapter in influencer world. She also has pointed out that there will not be new versions of Instagram or Snapchat or TikTok, but new startups can own a vertical and win. For example, Instagram has a polling feature already, but NewNew is the first to build a concept around it that monetizes it. Andreesen Horowitz, Founders Fund and Will Smith have invested.

PearPop lets fans bid on screen time with their favorite creators from TikTok. It’s a play on a TikTok feature that lets users post split-screen “duet” videos, except with PearPop, the creator sets a price for fans to pay to then post the video. The shared spotlight will then boost the follower’s own audience count and visibility. PearPop has raised a seed round from Rocket One Capital.

Rally has launched crypto for creators, called Creator Coin, as well as Taki, an influencer crypto platform. The virtual economy lets creators reward loyal fans and charge for engagement and extra features; for instance, a follower might be rewarded for watching 10 videos in the form of a certain amount of Creator Coin, which can then be spent on virtual items. Creator crypto removes multiple middlemen from the business of influencing.

Clout Market is people in the form of NFTs. Created by a YouTube prankster, Clout Market turns high-profile and scandal-laden creators into nonfungible tokens, which people can buy and trade through Rarible. The idea is that the more high-profile or more scandalous a creator becomes, the more valuable their NFTs will be.

A year of the pandemic added another Christmas for eCommerce sales

Data / Axios: Adobe is predicting 2021's total eCommerce sales to land between $850 billion and $930 billion, with the figure topping a trillion for the first time in 2022. That's compared to $813 billion in 2020, which was a big leap up from $573 billion in 2019, the last pre-pandemic calendar year.

Is this the year of the suburb?

Retail Real Estate / Vogue Business: The types of high-end homes people are buying right now in typical second-home locations like Aspen, the European Alps and the South of France have spaces for at-home offices and good Wi-Fi coverage, suggesting that the plan is to stay around longer than peak season. For luxury brands that open pop-ups to cater for temporary demand, It might be the moment for a rethink — maybe it’s time to open a permanent store?

Editor's Note: has HENRY grown up? 

Barstool Sports launched America's fastest-growing flavored vodka

Linear Commerce / The Hustle: Leading eCommerce analyst Web Smith coined the term “linear commerce” to describe how the lines between content and commerce companies are blurring. Instead of creating products looking for end customers, organizations with built-in audiences (e.g., media ventures) can leverage this relationship to sell an assortment of products.

Inside the 'black market' where artists can pay for millions of streams

Streaming Economy / Rolling Stones: A salesman operating in an industry that treats hype as standard operating procedure, Mack claims to Blueprint that his “network” can generate “200 million streams a month” spread across its various music clients, a group that he alleges has included nearly a dozen well-known acts and prominent labels. The recording offers a rare glimpse into the shadowy world of third-party companies in the music industry attempting to seduce artists, managers, or labels by promising to manufacture millions of streams.

Standing in Harvard Hall of New York’s eponymous Club years ago, I was privileged to overhear a conversation among Vernon Davis, Arian Foster, and John Elway. Together, the Hall of Famer and two NFL greats were promoting a new venture called Fantex, which, months later, would be written up by the New York Times.

Through Fantex, fans could buy stock in star athletes they supported, granting them rights to their share of the athlete’s future earnings. As contract values increase, so do endorsement deals, and the stockholder would be paid a greater dividend in step with that growth. They could also sell their holdings in the secondary market to another potential shareholder and profit. The value proposition was said to be the first of its kind.

Not everyone was convinced. One older gentlemen in the room argued that the value proposition wasn’t, in fact, the first of its kind. He witnessed the internet’s role in the demise of Fantex’s predecessor, the Bowie bond. In 1997, famed musician David Bowie and banker David Pullman marketed and sold asset-backed securities that gave investors a 10-year stake in future royalties.

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