2PM - No 680: The book on Bezos' desk.

eCommerce / Amazon in focus:   In a 2018 member report at 2PM,  I noted that: "Amazon is growing their average gross margin by adding an average of 11 new private label brands per year (or 74 total private label brands)." And that, "Amazon’s private label sales are succeeding in electronics, grocery, and essentials. They are not yet succeeding in fashion retail." A lot has changed since then and Amazon's private label strategy is working so well that it is now under scrutiny as antitrust interest grows. Ben Evans isn't having it (and frankly neither am I). Nearly every retailer, from Target to Walmart to Costco, employs a similar strategy. This essay explains the hypocrisy of the anti-Amazon private label argument.

Benedict Evans: "Indeed, like many of today’s retail innovations, private label really goes back to department stores in the mid-19th century, which were the disruptive, dynamic, innovative, capitalist juggernauts of their day, crushing small shopkeepers as they went. In Zola’s Au Bonheur des Dames, a lightly disguised description of the creation of Bon Marché in the 1860s, the entrepreneur at the centre of the story sells ‘Paris Delight’, a private label fabric, as a loss-leader to drive footfall. (He also pioneers ‘returns’, which were apparently ‘a masterpiece of Jesuitical seduction’.) I have a theory that Jeff Bezos has a copy of this book in a safe behind his desk, filled with PostIt notes." (Read More)

Where QVC is still way ahead of Amazon

A. Linear Commerce / Forbes: While most livestreamers are still fumbling for footing, QVC is a well-oiled machine that has already won over millions of bargain-hunting, middle-aged women, who buy an average of 26 items every year at a cost of $1,335, an enviable advantage. Big tech is still in the trial-and-error phase.

HGTV is getting a renovation

B. Linear Commerce / The New Yorker: In the streaming era, does the network need to be more than wallpaper? One morning last June, a dozen executives at HGTV, the popular home-renovation television network, which for twenty-six years has offered content that is cheering and conflict-free — or "safe, tied in a bow, like a warm hug," as Jane Latman, the network's president, recently put it — met on Zoom to share transgressive thoughts.

Influencers are infiltrating ghost kitchens

eCommerce / Modern Retail: Instead of simply ginning up a dark restaurant that will live on the various dining apps, he’s aligning his businesses with celebrities and influencers. Beloved chanteuse Carey is one such example, but there are other online establishments, including the rapper Tyga’s Tyga Bites, reality TV star Pauly D’s Italian sub joint as well as Guy Fieri’s newly announced digital-only Flavortown Kitchen.

From the archives: Enter MrBeast

Google aims to be the anti-Amazon of eCommerce. It has a long way to go.

eCommerce / New York Times: Google is trying to present itself as a cheaper and less restrictive option for independent sellers. And it is focused on driving traffic to sellers’ sites, not selling its own version of products, as Amazon does.

How did an American rowing brand make the year's best football kit?

DTC Brands / Esquire: The 12-piece collection is comprised of shirts, matching shorts, and track and coach jackets — staples all firmly within Cantona's locker. This couldn't be anymore Nineties-Noughties football if it tried, harking back to a golden era when players partied and WAGs got perfume deals. That said, the Rowing Blazers x Umbro collab isn't a total retread — Blackburn Rovers didn't win the Premier League in candy stripes. These are the preppy patterns you'll find in actual rowing blazers (the collection also features plaid, alongside tartan and Carlson's favourite, a sublimated zig zag).

Real estate is booming, and Opendoor thinks it can help

Real Estate / Protocol: In early March, Opendoor unveiled a new product — cash-backed offers — aimed at helping buyers stand out in the red-hot real estate market. Protocol spoke to Willerer to learn how it fits into Opendoor's broader iBuying strategy. Willerer also discussed why he thinks the demand for homes isn't going away anytime soon, as well as how Opendoor's approach to the residential real estate market differs from that of Compass, which recently went public.

Member Brief Archive: read our position on Opendoor's potential for social impact by clicking on the image below. 

Like Sears once provided protections to consumers of color, Opendoor has the opportunity to serve in a role that the traditional demand-side real estate market cannot facilitate: providing anonymity and complete fairness. By anonymizing the loan origination process, home shopping, and even the closing process – Opendoor can market transparency in a format that only a digitally-native marketplace could. 

How to text your customers

Practical / Aja Singer: Our brains produce dopamine from positive social interactions — which is why it’s so exciting (and you’re so quick to check) when you’ve received a text message. 

Stores that defined American malls bet on a freestanding future

Retail Real Estate / Portland Press Herald: The company closed 395 stores last year, mostly in malls, and plans to shutter another 100 this year. 

What do we really need in toothpaste and brushes?

DTC Brands / Thingtesting: Thanks to a number of new brands launching in the oral care category — a $32 billion market — it’s now easier than ever to buy a toothpaste that’s tailored to your specific needs.

Old golf courses are being turned into eCommerce warehouses

Logistics / Bloomberg: A languishing course is often the largest tract of unbuilt land for miles around, and there are plenty of them. As the jump in golf’s popularity driven by Tiger Woods in the early 2000s fades, scores of courses are closing each year.

Simply put, this is a reflection on this month's five year anniversary of the first edition of 2PM (March 22, 2016). This is a personal one: the internal struggles of the solo creator model. Here is an excerpt: 

The goal of the newsletter was to connect ideas and foster new ones. [...] Today’s essay isn’t about growth hacks, monetization, or the joys of the creator-market fit. Rather, it’s about the mental and emotional cost of doing business as a solo creator.

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