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Explore more posts
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Carol Spieckerman
𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞... A recent RetailWire discussion ponders whether Walmart can take on Trader Joe's with its latest private brand launch, bettergoods. My take was that the brand seemed more Target-esque (shades of Good & Gather) and that it was about time Walmart upped the ante with a "better" private brand in grocery. This weekend, I headed to the freezer to grab my new favorite plant-based ice cream only to find I was out of it. Keep in mind that 1. I'm plant-based but wasn't always. I know the standards analogs need to meet. 2. I've been hitting this ice cream several times per week. It's rich, not too sweet, with a perfect consistency, even after days in the home freezer. 😋 I started backtracking to remember where I bought it. Was it Whole Foods? Fresh Market? I remembered the bright green packaging...very "Target" - that must be it (my more frequent jaunts to Target for plant-based goods still surprise me). I wasn't completely sure so I headed to the recycle bin. Mystery solved. It was - Walmart's "bettergoods" plant-based ice cream. 😯 Well played, Walmart. Well played! ✅ 👏
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Monique Benoit
In my experience as a buyer, I viewed brand-buyer relationships as collaborative, but it's crucial to recognize that not all collaborations are equal. When you seek a retail partner for growth - look for a retailer that is collaborative Understand that the retailer still operates as a for-profit business But, know that you play a role in helping them achieve their goals Here are some areas to consider when looking at collaboration with retailers Door Count Bigger does not necessarily mean better. If your original doors aren’t “ALL” that’s ok. Discuss a tiered plan for growth and expansion. Placement Every brand wants to be seen. Your shelf placement, or location in the store can determine how many consumer eyes see your product. Ask where you’re being placed. Marketing Yes, ask for support from the retailer in their advertising vehicles. But know this is the place where the brand does the heavy lifting. Be ready to shout to the rooftops where you are. Forecasts Work closely with buyers, planners, and your ops team to understand projections. Have a reserve stock to plan for overperformance. Sales Expectations Ask upfront about the retailer’s benchmarks. Consider how the category performs too. Check-Ins As a new brand, having regular check-ins with your buying teams is great. This could be quarterly, or monthly depending on the projected sales volume. A lot to cover, and I know you might not be there, yet. So save this for that future retail meeting - cheers! – 👋🏾 Hi, I’m Monique, your bridge from niche market to major retail. I’m a former retail buyer turned beauty industry advisor who helps emerging brands ready to scale. Ready to expand your reach? Book a discovery call and let’s explore how we can elevate your brand together.
543 Comments -
Ronak Modi
I stumbled upon an excellent video from Wall Street Journal about how 7-Eleven is reinventing itself. I think the case-study can help other retailers (irrespective of the size and category) adjust to the changing landscape a little better. 1. They deal mostly in fast-moving items like daily essentials, packaged goods, groceries, tobacco and food. All of these need to stocked and re-stocked quite regularly, which requires knowing exactly what to order and how much on a weekly basis. This is a sort of high-octane case of inventory management. 2. It is crucial to ensure low-selling items don’t eat up valuable shelf space. With so many products competing for the customer’s attention, it becomes very important to know what’s selling and what’s not when you look at managing the assortment in a store. Here are my key takeaways: - The 7-Eleven stores in Japan first employed a concept called ‘Tapan Kanri’ that seemed to work wonders for them. Tapan Kanri suggests stocking two types of items in each store— The items that customers would expect to see in the store based on the brand’s identity, nationwide advertising, etc and the items that actually sell the most in that region, based on customer data, ongoing trends, and even weather patterns. The lesson— It is important to be very sure what you want to stock in each store. The only way to do that is through robust and reliable customer and trend data. - In contrast, the failing 7 Eleven American stores relied heavily on the sales of gas and tobacco products they sold. As times changed, gas became an incredibly low-margin game and younger people started rejecting tobacco. They had to shift to the always in-demand item that 7-Eleven Japan had been banking on for years— Fresh food. The demand for fresh food never goes away and if you can use data to know what people like eating and buy more of, you can turn it into a big source of cash for your stores. The lesson— No matter the category, your stores are always going to have items that make you a lot of money and then a few that don’t make you much at all. The category that actually makes the most sales needs to be focused on and studied, to make sure your customers always get what they are looking for. Closer to home I think Grandiose in UAE and Freshpik in India are reacting well to these changing market dynamics. What do you think? Link to the video:
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Monique Benoit
#HotTake: Retail stores aren’t a shortcut to success. Retail offers bigger POs, visibility, and cash flow Yet, it doesn’t ensure brand sustainability Case in point: JLo Beauty Despite celeb status and prime placement at Sephora, She faced challenges resulting in a US exit Retail alone doesn’t secure loyalty or repeat sales Placement isn’t guaranteed forever For lasting success, think beyond the retail PO Some markers of a sustainable brand include: Authenticity, community, differentiated formulas, and true fans Building a lasting brand legacy requires more than a retail presence – 👋🏾 Hi, I’m Monique, a former retail buyer turned beauty industry advisor who helps emerging brands ready to scale at big retail. If you are ready to scale and invest, book a discovery call, and let’s see if we can work together.
2712 Comments -
Adele Greenberg
The Chronicles of Four Marketplace Maestros at the NORA ~ National Online Retailers Association Marketplace Summit. Meet the "Bureau of Marketplaces": Paul Greenberg Gabby Leibovich Jethro Marks and Mark Mansour a quartet of digital titans who've transformed the e-commerce landscape. Known for their cheeky banter and profound insights, each has carved a niche in the bustling world of online marketplaces. Paul, "The Grandfather," is a seasoned strategist whose early advice to "fish where the fish are" is now legendary. He emphasizes the need for presence across multiple channels, ensuring opportunities are never missed. Gabby, affectionately termed "The Oracle," journeyed from family-owned retail to founding Catch, a behemoth in the online retail world. His transition from physical to digital sales embodies the quintessential entrepreneurial spirit, adapting swiftly to changing consumer behaviors. Jethro, with his deep operational knowledge, tackles the complexities of marketplace dynamics. His expertise in scalable systems and tech-driven solutions like robotic warehouse automation underscores the critical role of efficient operations in growth. Mark, the "steady hand" at Woolworths’ MarketPlus, champions the extension of brand reach through marketplaces. His initiatives illustrate how established brands can innovate and connect with broader audiences, proving the importance of evolution in retail. Together, these mavens blend serious strategy with "marketplace psychotherapy," navigating the emotional landscape of business with humor and wisdom. Their collective story is not just about individual success but about fostering a legacy of innovation and customer commitment in the digital age. As they continue to lead and inspire, their journey offers invaluable lessons for the future architects of the e-commerce world.
967 Comments -
Monique Benoit
Putting yourself in the shoes of your dream retailer can yield an understanding for their priorities. Each year, major U.S. retailers open a crucial window to evaluate new and established brands. This is your golden opportunity to pitch to buying teams. Retail Insight: Product resets in retail are both time-consuming and costly for retailers. Store teams continue to do the things they always do: – Restocking shelves – Serving customers – Maintaining store cleanliness Buying teams are also inundated with extra work: – Creating new blueprints for stores to lay out the new items – Meeting with 100+ brands that all have exciting newness to share – Landing on a strategy that will yield growth Major resets also involve: – Printing new shelf labels – Rearranging product placements – Managing discontinued items – Communicating big bets and strategy from corporate to stores These resets can evoke mixed feelings among retail teams: • Excitement about new products and the potential growth they bring. • Anxieties over the additional workload. Why am I sharing this? Because timing is important, you get one window annually to pitch your brand at big retail. So when you approach the retailers treat it like this is your one shot. Prepare your pitch → Nail it. Share your brand purpose → Inspire them. Understand what it takes to be successful → Make them believe in you. Take this opportunity to show buyers all of the things your brand has done. Shine bright. PS - Have you pitched to a retailer? Share your experience in the comments. – 👋🏾 Hi, I’m Monique, a former retail buyer turned beauty industry advisor who helps emerging brands ready to scale at big retail. If you are ready to scale and invest, book a discovery call, and let’s see if we can work together.
312 Comments -
Daniel Sweet
Here's a fun fact about many purchases & mergers: you can often get your suppliers to buy in as well. In this Saks and Nieman Marcus acquisition, both Amazon and Salesforce have contributed money as minority owners of the final organization. Why would they do this (for them or for you?) 1) To retain good customers forever and block out the competition. 2) To reinvest (taxable) income into a store of value (equity ownership) that will continue to grow tax free. 3) Since they know the inner workings of the customers, this is the lowest risk investment they can make. This works at smaller acquisitions, too, so don't be afraid to bring in the vendors and partners. https://lnkd.in/g9dGSUpJ
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Jeff Rudat
Complex and major initiatives often require an increased focus on initial expectation setting and managing expectations during the change. Also, a potential reminder that Wholesale can be an important channel and that many times a Both/And solution can surpass an Either/Or. Meeting a wide variety of customers using the Reach of E-commerce and Wholesale partners AND including the touch/experience at Nike Stores as well as stores in areas that may not easily be served by existing Nike Stores ( ~300 in the USA and ~1,000 globally). Your thoughts? Excerpts: Dive Insight: Nike’s Consumer Direct Offense and Acceleration plans are coming under attack in a new class action lawsuit that alleges two of the brand’s top executives misled investors about how successful the strategy was. “Throughout the Class Period, Defendants repeatedly touted the purported strength of Nike’s business model, and in particular, the claimed success of its digital and direct-to-consumer strategies to produce sustainable growth, while downplaying the significant competitive pressures facing the Company,” the lawsuit reads. The lawsuit recounted Nike’s efforts to ditch wholesale partners in 2020, which continued into 2022 in a much-discussed shift away from Foot Locker, as well as the retailer’s subsequent return to many of those partners when its DTC strategy didn’t deliver as intended. Indeed, on the back of disappointing sales results, Nike late last year rolled out a cost-savings plan aimed at driving growth and profitability. The plan included layoffs, as well as a simplification of its product portfolio, with executives referencing its shift to a DTC model as a reason for the cuts. “Since fiscal ’19, our investments in accelerating Nike’s consumer direct vision have created new operating capabilities, added tens of millions of new members to our member base and delivered a return of more than $12 billion of incremental revenue,” Friend said on a call with analysts at the time. “However, we have also added complexity and inefficiency. In this competitive environment, we need to accelerate our pace of innovation, elevate our marketplace experiences, maximize the impact of our storytelling, and increase our speed and responsiveness.” Donahoe followed that up in March by acknowledging that the company needed to make some “important adjustments” to its Consumer Direct Acceleration strategy, as Nike was not “performing at our potential.” #Nike #DTC #Retail
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Nicole Fourgoux
I love this! Thank you to Rachel Brown from Beauty Independent to kick-off this exchange with Andrew Ross' provocative thesis and have us all react to it. I truly enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts on the topic of the shortening lifecycle of beauty brands. Here is a snippet of mine: "Because beauty brand lifespans are shortening, it is important that we are able to differentiate brands with staying power from brands that will end up being a flash in the pan. There are much more of the latter than the former in the market right now, and if a brand is not well-positioned, it will be challenging for that brand to survive over the long-term. That’s why we focus on understanding each brand’s differentiators and long-term relevance." See more here: https://lnkd.in/esVbwnu2 and you will discover what Kevin Murphy, Odile Roujol, Rich Gersten, Tina Henry Bou-Saba, Oliver Nordlinger, Claire Chang, Manica Blain, Sonya Brown, George Birman had to say. #beautyindustry #beautyinvesting Stride Consumer Partners
114 Comments -
Gary Hawkins
In his article today, Sam Silverstein from Grocery Dive, calls out the key issues confronting retailers as we accelerate up and out the exponential growth curve of tech-fueled innovation. "Rapidly advancing technology is presenting grocers with unprecedented opportunities to move their businesses ahead, but the industry’s tendency to move slowly to test and implement new concepts poses a central challenge for retailers as they look to embrace change, experts said during a webinar on Tuesday. The issue is becoming especially urgent for grocers as artificial intelligence upends long-established processes at the heart of retailing, threatening to put retailers that don’t make adjustments fast enough at a substantial competitive disadvantage, said Gary Hawkins, founder and CEO of the Center for Advancing Retail & Technology." This and other key issues were surfaced during the launch webinar for Bionic Retail, my latest book that's now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other bookstores. I was joined by Tom Furphy, Zach Bello, Doug Baker, Shekar Raman, and Mike Stigers for a great discussion around the challenges and opportunities retailers have as they prepare for a future arriving sooner than expected. Thank you to all who joined our spirited discussion! Bionic Retail is now available here: https://lnkd.in/gNDY8baC Center for Advancing Retail & Technology (CART) #retail #retailtech #retailinnovation #retailstrategy #grocery #groceryretail #grocerytech #cpg #cpginnovation #techinnovation #fmcg #fmcgretail https://lnkd.in/gFxcKMXu
334 Comments -
David Bishop
The title of Timothy Inklebarger's article in Supermarket News should cause supermarket retailers to take notice for a few reasons. First, the actions taken by Instacart and Walmart have the potential effect of locking in more of their existing customers. This is because of the deep discounts associated with the respective offers and the increased benefits new members will now receive as a result. If that occurs, which we believe it has, it will also help boost order volumes as the most likely sub-group of customers to enroll are those only completing one order per month today. Second, the deals likely aided in converting more frequent customers who hadn't yet become a member for whatever reason. Realize that anyone completing just two orders per month already is rewarded right away essentially simply by enrolling without any need to change their buying patterns. This should result in stronger retention rates overall and more importantly with the more frequent and valuable customers. Third, this will create headwinds for most grocers who are attempting to grow their first-party business and Delivery in particular. Consider that one in five customers who buy online from Supermarkets also do so from Walmart during the same month. This means it will be more challenging to build order frequency with that customer cohort, depending on how many are now enrolled. Lastly, Walmart is just finishing another promotional push with the same offer as before, which only makes the above points more pertinent to Supermarkets. Either way, both membership programs - especially the limited time offer - have a compelling value prop. Otherwise, these collective activities addressed in part the higher cost of Delivery vs. Pickup or even vs. in-store, which continues to be a headwind for Delivery. What's your take on these moves and how it will impact the eGrocery business going forward? Special thanks to Mercatus Technologies Inc, who sponsor this ongoing research created and conducted by Brick Meets Click/
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David Glaza
Our "Win with Target Promotions" webinar featuring Maya Mirt from Krazy Coupon Lady was packed with invaluable insights. Maya highlighted a significant trend: "Overall Target engagement is up 3% year over year, but during Target Circle Week, it's up a whopping 26%! Consumers are keenly looking for the best value amid inflationary pressures." Target Circle Week is a critical time to capture consumer attention and showcase your brand. https://lnkd.in/g8DE-CE7 #TargetPromotions
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Tony D'Onofrio
BRILLIANT RESEARCH: Five 2024 Holiday Shopping Predictions https://lnkd.in/emwXStw7 Holiday shopping will look different for retailers this year. After remaining largely resilient throughout four years of economic uncertainty, consumers are finally feeling the pinch. Nearly a third of global shoppers (32%) reported using alternative credit services like buy now, pay later (BNPL) more frequently this year #retail Digital Commerce 360
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Richard Vorisek
Scott Benedict great shares this week - thank you. This is fascinating and impacts so many pieces of the 360’retail management. I think typically the full on Holiday Transition is Nov 1. Many retailers merchandise “fall” thru 10/31 Halloween especially in home and accessories. Apparel and accessory palette “fall color”Then heavier weight goods, bright holiday colors and Holiday Party glitz launch Nov 1 approximately. Based on this chart a very significant portion of real Estate should be transition by Sept 15! (unheard of) to be ready for October 1 - the largest % of Christmas shopping month. This means shift in merchandise selection, buy side planning, factory side planning, visual plan, staffing plan (I ran FAO Schwarz for XMAS and we didn’t build staff to Nov 1). If this chart accurate retailers should be doing some scrambling at least in certain areas like Christmas Shops, Toys and bring forward all best selling holiday key items to launch Sept 15 and can back up with other colors/styles in November to keep things looking fresh. This seems like a aha moment. I would be very curious to see this same chart for last 10 years and then same for e-commerce. I believe December is not Amazon’s # 1 month evening including the last week November. lol. Macy's #retail #christmas #holiday
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Neil Saunders
Aloha Friday! 🤙🏼 Here are some interesting stories from the world of retail for Friday, May 10: 👨🏽⚖️ Former retailer Bed Bath & Beyond has filed a lawsuit against Hudson Bay Capital Management, seeking to recover over $300m in trading profits from the hedge fund. 🥕 Instacart reported strong first-quarter results, as the company’s total revenue, number of orders and gross transaction volume were all up sharply year over year. On the bottom line, net income came in at $130,000. 👜 Tapestry, the parent company of Coach, Kate Spade New York and Stuart Weitzman, has expanded its outlet strategy and overall marketing spending in response to evolving consumer behaviors. 👠 Salvatore Ferragamo booked lower revenue for the first quarter, weighed by a weak consumer environment in China and the soft performance of its wholesale channel. Revenues totaled €227m in the first three months. 👓 Warby Parker’s revenue jumped 16% in the first quarter of the year as other brands in the sector struggle to grow sales. The eyewear seller expects full year sales to climb as much as 13 percent to $761 million in 2024. 👨🏻💻 Online retail sales in the US have increased by 7% from January to April 2024, driven by strong demand for groceries and cheaper discretionary items, according to an Adobe Analytics report. 🏋🏼♂️ The Planet Fitness $10-a-month membership plan is a powerful marketing tool and a central part of its strategy. But the largest gym chain in the United States is hiking that monthly fee for the first time in more than two decades. 🌈 Target has Pride merchandise in fewer stores this year after backlash it received caused it to pull some items from last year's collection. Last year collections went into all stores; this year they will go into select locations. 🍷 More Americans are making lifestyle changes, consuming fewer alcoholic beverages and switching to non-alcoholic brands that resemble booze-filled cans and bottles. 🍏 Apple has apologised for an ad for the new iPad Pro, following criticism for its depiction of an industrial compressor flattening tools for art, music and creativity. 🍓 ALDI USA plans to pass along $100m in savings to customers by reducing prices on over 250 items. The company aims to help customers save money amid concerns of persistent inflation. 🍔 Many consumers are expressing frustration at the surge in fast-food prices, which are starting to scare off budget-conscious customers: about 25% of people who make under $50,000 are cutting back on fast food due to costs. 🧸 Funko taps former Hasbro executive as CEO: Cynthia Williams served as president of Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Gaming units until she resigned last month. 🚛 DoorDash and Uber are pushing back against measures that set a minimum pay standard for delivery drivers in Seattle. NYC and Seattle are the first two cities in the US to pass a minimum wage law for food gig delivery workers. #retail #retailnews #economy #DailyRetailNews
631 Comment -
Drew F.
Excited to have been featured in Modern Retail to comment on contingency planning for startups. One of my favorite industry publications There have been lots of reports outlining the turbulence in the DTC/CPG ecosystem around partners going out of business. Distribution partners like foxtrot, lenders like Ampla, even banks back to the collapse of SVB last year. In this post ZIRP era where belts are getting tightened all over the economy, those belts oftentimes are tightened around the necks of the little guy - the every day SMB owner. Contingency planning is 100x more important in a contractionary macro period and when you are struggling to even get your business off the ground, it can easily fall to the back burner. I advocate for always having backup relationships with mission critical service providers in order to easily fall back if required. Tactically, this involves just a few extra meetings a quarter understanding how different service providers are able to meet your needs, and throwing them a bone every once in a while to keep relationships warm. Additionally, you should always have a downside case built out in your financial plan for when things do not go according to plan. Know where you will cut, where you will zig and zag. You don't have to do it in iris but you do have to do it Thanks Anna Hensel for writing https://lnkd.in/gcdtzZgd
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Katheleen Eva
Congratulations to StandUp Ventures portfolio company Max Retail on their $15M USD Series A led by Nosara Capital after an exceptional year of growth! Oh how I love optimization problems, and especially ones that support entrepreneurs 😭 Independent retail shops sit on an average of 22% excess inventory at any given time, representing ~$50K-$200K of financial losses each year. For small businesses that are often the pillars of their communities (& frequently women-owned!), these losses are HUGELY impactful. Before Max Retail, options to recuperate them were extremely limited (discounting items far below cost, sending to consignment, or donating for a tax write-off). Alone, a single store in a small town with one or two sizes of a SKU isn't meaningful enough to engage with for zero inventory marketplaces or online retailers, but in aggregate, Max Retail's network of 2,000+ retailers and real-time data acts seamlessly as a single source of new and often hard-to-find supply. Bringing these items online exponentially increases the pool of potential buyers, resulting in immediate cash relief and payouts 4-8x higher than the status quo of liquidation. And the proof is in the pudding. 89% of active sellers are selling inventory every single month, with some sellers making upwards of $250k per year. GMV has exploded 4x YoY, with an incredible 40% of new retailer leads coming from existing customers. The macro omnichannel opportunity for real-time, SKU-level, inventory, pricing, and sales data across the normally siloed brick-and-mortar independent retail market is limitless. Alongside AI-powered pricing and item allocation engines, Max Retail is able to pay sellers the maximum value possible for excess inventory, and help retailers understand live inventory performance and market value of every item they list. This ultimately underpins a foundation for a more efficient and productive market, getting the right products to the right buyers at the right time, place and price. We're so excited to continue supporting the INCREDIBLE Melodie van der Baan alongside the wonderful M13, The Artemis Fund , and Rethink Impact, LP. Onwards and upwards! 🚀 #fundingnews #seriesa #retaildata
473 Comments -
Kosha Shah Eisenberg
After a whirlwind two decades of a corporate career – which has spanned a traditional management consulting firm, a Fortune 500 toy company, a world class entertainment agency, and a growth equity fund, I’m excited to officially share that I’m striking out on my own with Shruti Sehgal. Together, we’re proud to launch The Moonshot Company – a new kind of strategic consultancy, representing high-growth talent, brands, and investors looking to accelerate their cultural and commercial success from a place of authenticity, creativity, and intent. The Moonshot Company will specialize in integrated brand and growth strategies–culled from our prior executive careers in consumer, entertainment, media, finance, politics, and PR. Throughout my professional life, I often found myself at the center of consumer industries undergoing a major landscape shift. Shifting consumer behavior, the proliferation of social media, digitally-native consumption, and revamped business models have underpinned every business I have been fortunate to be a part of. Winter has always been coming. And it is through that lens that I learned a lot about myself as an executive. My curiosity has always found that change exhilarating - and I am particularly adept at spotting through lines and opportunity amidst a constant state of flux. Rapidly transforming industries don’t scare me, stagnation does. And yet, I have always felt a natural tension between building these industry-specific skills and the freedom to add my own interdisciplinary instincts and perspectives to bear, especially on someone else’s platform. But as the world has changed, so have I: this very tension I once thought frustrating is now a reason for being. If I could go back in time, I would tell my younger self that my own diverse range of experiences and multicultural consumer lens always has been, and will always be, as instructive to my success and growth as anything else. The future of business and culture requires differentiated voices and leaders who can bring a much wider set of skills and a unique blend of deeply-lived experiences – both personal and professional – to achieve transformational outcomes for clients, and this is the foundational vision of The Moonshot Company. Simply put: this platform didn't exist, so we built it. As mothers, former senior executives, culture-obsessed consumers, and South Asian women – Shruti and I are thrilled to put our skills, networks, and novel strategies to work for clients who share our values, and whom we feel uniquely compelled to deliver Moonshot-level results for. If our vision and founder story resonates with you, please reach out. And as we embark on this new journey, I’d love to hear more about your own Moonshot below. 🚀 💫
21246 Comments -
Patrick Miller
Will be a fascinating earnings season. One to keep an eye on: which customers are driving growth. Walmart’s focus on more affluent customers via their ecom efforts just got another boost with the launch of bettergoods vs. Amazon’s focus on less affluent customers via half off grocery delivery for anyone with a EBT card (and no prime membership requirement). I expect these two companies to be the share leaders and for their shadow boxing only to continue—can’t wait for Vizio to close. Walmart’s ability to add affluent customers will not just sell cardamom rose raspberry jam, but help their ads business as brands will pay a premium to reach affluent customers; so yes bettergoods will drive GMV, but if it also takes affluent customers from Trader Joe’s or elsewhere, Walmart can then monitize again via ads. https://lnkd.in/eYM-rFE2
994 Comments -
Chris Moe
PRIME DAY LIVE TAKES: DAY 2 We’re wrapping up the second and final day of Prime Day. It’s looking like Amazon has accomplished its goal of beating last year’s Prime Day performance… by a healthy margin. Not only that, but participation from CPG brands this year felt like the highest it’s ever been! Here are some hot takes from Day 2 (maybe a bit less rosy!): 💹 Are the deals fake? - I got questions about price increases ahead of Prime Day, which has the impression of making the deals seem “fake”. (I think this is trending on Tiktok) - This definitely exists, though it’s not so simple to pull off: requires months of planning. “Reference price” is closely monitored and if it moves ahead of Prime Day, you often have to recreate your deals or restructure - In our categories we actually worried about June or July deals or price matching which would make your reference price too *low*, requiring too deep of a discount brands couldn’t afford. On that topic… 🏷️ Price matching from other platforms is getting worse: - Chewy and Target have started price-matching promos or sales prices which can jeopardize Prime Day deals. - Because of this, it’s becoming almost table-stakes to have unique assortments for different retailers. ♻️ Amazon is emphasizing repurchase behavior: - This year, Amazon showcased deals from brands on “Buy It Again” list (appearing high on the homepage) - S&S coupons were everywhere - a 50% coupon was a great follow-on to a deep discount - The mega brands you know were some of the biggest deals - Apple, Dyson, etc. Best Buy now operates as a 3rd party seller - Paired with less prominent badging of deals, feels like Amazon focused on driving sales a bit more than new product discovery 🛠️ Prime Day also had lots of technical issues: - The Amazon advertising console was down for over an hour last night - Brands experienced several strange, new suppressions that prevented them from running coupons or promos. - Prime Day badging displayed somewhat inconsistently, causing confusion for shoppers (and frustration for brands!) The next 2 weeks is critical. The purpose of Prime Day is—and always has been—new customer acquisition. Brands should specifically target new people who visited their pages. Follow-on promos for people still in cart, emails about the follow-on promos (”Did you miss it?” FOMO is strong!), retargeting ads, and repurchase campaigns should all be launched in the coming days. Finally, want to know if your Prime Day was good? My advice: look at your Best Seller Ranking compared to your direct competitors. It’s the simplest measure of relative performance! You can use a tool like Keepa or Helium10 to track both this and price (to see if any brands pulled price increase tricks!). - - - - - Next week, we’ll be aggregating all of Cartograph’s Prime Day performance data and writing a deeper list of learnings from this year.
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