retail therapy
The economics of dollar stores.
“A visual explainer of the numbers behind America’s ubiquitous bargain-basement chains.” | learn more
Category: retail therapy
retail therapy
Why direct-to-consumer brands are bringing celebrities on board.
“The proliferation of influencer culture has pulled back the curtain on the world of brand sponsorships and endorsements, leading consumers to become more skeptical of what motivates a celebrity to make a product recommendation.” | learn more
retail therapy
FedEx Freight prunes 1,400 customers to protect service levels
With essentially no notice, FedEx fired 1,400 customers and stopped picking up their freight. They were too busy. “There hasn’t been a new asset-based LTL carrier since 1984 because the large amount of infrastructure needed is a barrier to entry. […]
retail therapy
Amazon Prime is an economy-distorting lie
A fascinating theory of Amazon hurting consumers with monopoly power. “Amazon also uses its bazooka of cash from Prime members paying high consumer prices, laundered through third party sellers, to distort industries across the economy.” | learn more
retail therapy
Chinese sellers on Amazon in hot demand by VCs and e-commerce roll-ups
“The scruffy exporters are used to roaming about suburban factory areas and dealing with constant cash flow strain, but suddenly they find themselves having coffee with top Chinese venture capital firms and investment representatives from internet giants, who come with […]
retail therapy
The increasing complexity of product returns
“Amazon and Walmart both use artificial intelligence to decide whether it makes economic sense to accept a return. These merchants can absorb the cost. But for smaller merchants, returnless refunds are a recipe for financial disaster.” | learn more
retail therapy
Amazon, Walmart and Chinese potting soil
In 2018, the anonymous blogger behind Deep Throat IPO wrote this incredibly long post exploring the question “What would have happened if Amazon and Walmart had never been born?” It’s a fascinating exploration of the dynamics of US retail and […]
retail therapy
Brands are getting weird on social media
Thingtesting highlights a few brands that aren’t following the typical d2c script for social media: “Manicured feeds, on-brand messaging, the occasional playful meme, and an ultra-friendly member of the customer support team lurking in the comments.” | learn more
retail therapy
Shein: the TikTok of ecommerce
I was unimpressed by this company when a Chinese friend showed me their website. I’ve made a complete reversal after reading this. “It reportedly did almost $10 billion in revenue in 2020, and has grown over 100% for each of […]
retail therapy
Travis Scott doesn’t like ‘branding’ or ‘marketing,’ but he’s so good at both
“With Travis Scott, no creative choice is obvious or predictable. In fact, he didn’t even want his first album to be released on CD, still the standard format of the day in 2015.” | learn more