Heather McDonald

As in many things, we can benefit from a Both+And approach rather than an Either/Or one. DTC can still be highly relevant as Part of an overall strategy, not the 'panacea' it once appeared to be in a very specific environment and set of conditions (e.g. Customer Acquisition Costs, CLV, Top-line growth vs. Profitability focus). Find the right approach for the right environment and customer preferences. Steve Dennis has also spoken about this topic extensively and incisively in his 'Remarkable Retail' books. Excerpts: “Everyone believed the mantra should be DTC or die because they wanted to eliminate the middle person and make more money,” Simeon Siegel, managing director at BMO Capital Markets, said. “What they finally realized was: No one eliminates the middle person, they simply become the middle person, and that brings its own set of costs. So for a period of time, people became so obsessed with where they sell rather than what they sell that they lost track of who they were.” Even brands like Lululemon, which sells mostly DTC, have wholesale accounts, Saunders noted. “The term DTC is still used as a shorthand. I’m just not quite sure it’s all that relevant now,” he said. What went wrong As the direct-to-consumer model matured, a slew of factors that helped DTC brands flourish began waning. The general retail market slowed, customer acquisition costs on social media surged, venture funds dried up, the cost to fulfill online orders grew and brands started hitting their own growth ceilings. Still, for a time many DTC brands simply didn’t invest in wholesale as a channel because selling directly to consumers was working. And investors were enthusiastic about funding DTC brands, profitability challenges or not, because capital was cheap and consumers had disposable income to spend on new brands and discretionary products. The importance of stores and wholesale is now sending investments back in the other direction, and retailers are unlikely to lean back into DTC as hard as they did — that is, unless investors start funding it again. “When companies don’t need to be profitable, profit and loss statements are not scrutinized. When companies don’t need to be profitable, expenses are not scrutinized. That makes it much easier to chase a hope and a belief versus being held accountable for the actual results.” DTC and wholesale have different strengths, according to Siegel, with DTC theoretically offering first-party data, higher margins, greater control over the brand and greater connection to consumers, while wholesale ideally gives brands a partner with experience distributing products economically and efficiently. A case could be made that the battle is largely over now, with hybrid models being embraced across the industry and wholesale-brand relationships becoming more collaborative. But what does all this mean for future brands? #DTC #Retail #customer #RemarkableRetail

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Can the ASOS.com share price get much lower? Yahoo's headline today The writer says: the 1st step to recovery is to admit that you have a problem It's TikTok, TikTok's the problem Content collided directly w/commerce 6 years ago It's impact started showing up in unsold inventory a year later when the #'s nearly doubled TikTok is the most valuable startup on the planet b/c of content One easy place to film, edit, remix, & shop the latest trends An innate human desire to discuss all the fun things you DISCOVER w/people u know will be excited b/c they share your interests or b/c of an awesome deal/#dupe Suddenly, the tastemakers don't have influence at all - from paid media, runway designers, & #ad polished influencers TikTok proved true WOM bubbles up from real people - not top-down + force fed And it moves fast - culture isn’t waiting for a bunch of suits to tell them what they need The girls just get on creating content b/c they resonate w/a conversation instantly – they don’t think about it for a second For 5 years I have come to LinkedIn every day to report on the rapid acceleration of the social commerce market Now forecasted to be $11.1T (with a T) by 2030 We ignored TikTok as the medium, we can't ignore them as the store W/in just 6 months of launching TikTok Shop dominated 68% of ALL social shopping GMV I get a kick out of it b/c of the men who have never opened TT who come @ me saying TTS won't survive Our OLDEST apps (Instagram/Facebook) have less than 1% market share combined btw If you can't keep up w/the zeitgeist’s conversation you can't sell them your things It's wild out there, you can't control the joy of girls (prob why our c-suits want to ban TT) If you couldn’t keep up w/1 girl in her bedroom explicitly asking for things from her content How are you possibly going to keep up now that Adobe is going to equip each invidual w/SORA AI, Runway & Pika Labs into an effortless entertainment making engine You will no longer be competing with a single girl's ability to create one tiktok per day.... You’re competing with her individual ability to scale So SHEIN's manufacturing as a service is missing the point.... Put very simply and broadly, the job now is to keep the girls happy (PAST PRODUCT ALONE) at all costs since they run the economy Hard to imagine mass fashion is capable when they've done nothing but shame & exclude her I watched a girl on TT yesterday teach her community how to create 200 tiktoks a day... It may not be a world we want, but if we continue to operate in zombie mode — resistant to change, lacking innovation, failing to serve, depleting resources fruitlessly, we are JUST delaying the inevitable reckoning The future belongs to those who consider it an honor to connect the zeitgeist's frenetic, democratized rhythm to the world's best manufacturers - not plastic fast fashion ones #thegreatfashionreset #creatoreconomy #C2M #community commerce #contentistheproduct #tiktokisthestore

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The game is on. Web sites for giant corporations and your local autobody shop appear at the same size on all of your screens. In the brick and mortar world the difference can be tremendous. That difference is what Wayfair is shouting. "But Niraj Shah, CEO and co-founder, that stores are a critical part of Wayfair’s strategy. “Depending on what purchases someone’s making, they may prefer the in-store experience and getting to work with an associate.” And while Wayfair offers design and financing assistance online, “sometimes, in-store can be either more pleasurable or more effective.” The insightful Warren Shoulberg takes us through Wayfair's destination showroom and helps us gain an understanding of how this showroom was merchandised to help us all add just the right everything for our homes. Who are you betting on? The GIANT that is counting on a rising tide to raise all its boats or the coming swarm of nimble, laser focused stores that appear in this shadows. https://lnkd.in/gt-G8tAZ

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I've just published a new blog on the DIGITS site, where we delve into the recent Target Circle relaunch and its significant impact on the retail landscape. In this post, we explore:   - 1M New Signups since the relaunch  - A 20% increase in weekly offers  - 2.5X higher offer utilization with auto-apply  - Key insights on promotional spend and incrementality Plus, I share strategic tips on how to leverage these changes for maximum success. https://lnkd.in/g9PwNCMx

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I was doing an analysis for a business review with one of our customers and came across a really interesting stat in retail. Since the September 2023 Helpful Content Update retailers are down on average 28% in page 1 visibility. When looking into that cohort closer and just singling out cosmetics brands, you see that these sites are up 41% on average in page 1 visibility, which is wild. Thoughts on why this can be? My gut tells me it has to do with Google's switch to the product grid and focusing more on product pages in general which for a lot of cosmetics sites are their most content-heavy pages since their category pages are all images with little desire to change that (in my experience working with many beauty sites over my years). Would love to hear other thoughts and theories as well. I have another story like this about financial aggregator sites vs. financial institutions and health content hub sites vs. hospitals and doctors offices that I have been covering on 30|30 the last few months that I am going to share soon as well. Oh, just in case you're wondering, our cosmetics customer is doing 33% better than the average. Killin' it! #seo #digitalmarketing

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Another AVN season in the books (exhale). Not surprisingly, 72% of brands faced some level of challenges within their negotiations compared to 15% citing collaborative or efficient AVNs. 14% haven’t resolved their AVNs yet. According to our benchmarking, negotiating favorable terms is the #1 challenge brands face during AVNs. What challenges did you face within your AVN? And are you curious how your Amazon AVN experience, terms, and profitability compare your peers? Join me and Martin Heubel next Tuesday 6/25 where we’ll dig into the full results from our AVN Wrap-Up survey of 250+ brands. Register here: https://lnkd.in/eAD48b_g We’ll be covering: ✅ AVN intensity ✅ 2024 trade term %s ✅ AVN impact to brands’ margins ✅ Key profit levers for the year ahead ✅ and a chance to ask ALL your AVN questions! A must-attend for 1P vendors. See you there!

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Love Retail Media and AI, especially in the same sentence. Here are my top 3 takeaways from this new chart research from EMARKETER. 1. AI has already been playing a massive role in Retail Media. We have been talking about tech integrations, SaaS platforms and machine learning for the last 5-6 years depending on how mature your organization is. Kerry Curran, MBA Melissa Burdick and I chatted some of this at AdWeek nearly 5 years ago to the day. These numbers should all be WAY higher...except one. 2. My initial reaction to the folks at the bottom (again AI has already been here) was: Yikes! However, what this really means in surveys like this is more about how the respondents are interpreting the question. I am gonna go out on the limb and guess they were thinking specifically Generative AI (such as the 3rd one down, enhance creative efforts). Generative AI in a creative environment is incredibly risky, especially if you are a Fortune 500 brand so I get the trepidation. However, its war time in our industry and would really figure out what role AI is going to play for your org and what needs to be true in order to mitigate or eliminate risk to take advantage of the efficiency and impact. 3. AI is absolutely changing the way we are buying and optimizing media campaigns. Again, I'd argue we've already been there but if you look at these results its so much about finding efficiencies. Analyzing insane amounts of data to find the pockets of growth and automatically putting those insights into action and investment strategies is the promise. Count me in as 100% onboard but my piece of advise would be to find ways to incorporate more human elements/check-points. Set really strong parameters of what you are trying to achieve and what you will do with your organization as a result before pointing AI at the problem. Would also recommend Observational AI as being able to explain what the fancy algorithms are doing in basic human language is going to be a super power in our industry moving forward.

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Here’s my own top 3 reasons more DTC brands are moving to Amazon. 1. New customers - Amazon has its own set of shoppers that don’t even consider things that aren’t sold on Amazon. I’ve seen very little overlap of .com and Amazon for my clients 2. Diversification - Having fewer channels means your more susceptible to disruption, a Google SEO algo change, a new buyer that doesn’t like your brand, etc- just limiting risk 3. Traffic costs- it’s not 2014 anymore where Facebook and Instagram ads can print money with even kind of decent creative. Google search is so saturated. CPCs are far higher now. Amazon has traffic flowing to it already, yes you need ads there too, but Organic rank is achievable for an established brand with a good product and proper strategy. Two of my most recent clients have DTCs that are multiples larger than Amazon but they understand they need to win on Amazon hence doubling down. #ecommerce #amazonfba #digitalmarketing https://lnkd.in/e77YmySW

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I've been lately asked about more advanced Shopify POS analytics. Our Ellis by Woolman is currently powering dozens of Shopify Plus retailers and brands. Whether you manage a few locations or over 50, we're equipped to support your needs. What do we offer? - Advanced Analytics: We provide exclusive, sophisticated live analytics developed directly based on Shopify POS data, integrating vital datapoints from popular sources like Recharge, Yotpo, Gorgias, and more. - Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Easily monitor and compare essential KPIs across various physical locations to understand business performance at a glance such as average order value, average basket size, retention and omnichannel success. - Sales Performance Insights: By popular demand, we offer accessible analytics on your sales staff's performance, enabling targeted sales training and informed education for your new salesforce using precise real-time data. - Omnichannel Overview: Compare online sales with Shopify POS transactions, map omnichannel user behavior, and gain insights into Yotpo Loyalty and LoyaltyLion programs. - Custom Reports: Tailor your analytics with custom Shopify POS reports designed to meet your unique business needs. Our data team is happy to help you out. Don't miss out! Learn more and schedule a demo today. #shopifypos #shopify #shopifyplus #shopifypartners #woolman #pos #omnichannel #retail #ecommerce #commerce #recharge #yotpo #loyaltylion #gorgias

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An interesting report about the future of retail with Macy's, Nordstrom and Kohl's in the spotlight. The key to growth? Targeting Gen Z and Millennials without neglecting the original retail warriors, Baby Boomers. Nordstrom has been quicker to sign deals with hot brands and direct-to-consumer names, such as Skims, Kim Kardashian’s shapewear company and timed the debut of millennial-focused fashion brand Nasty Gal with an activation in Los Angeles coinciding with the Coachella music and arts festival. Kohl's has Sephora and Macy's has Blue Mercury. It will be interesting to see how department stores stay relevant to offset the convenience of online shopping.

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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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Ahead of the real holiday season retail rush, the content marketing team at Hibbett worked with Wpromote to survey 1,000 US shoppers to find out how much social media influencers actually influence our buying. We published our findings in a recent Unboxed Blog article, and we want to know what YOU think. How influenced are you? Tell me in the comments below! #influencermarketing #contentmarketing #blogger #retailblog #retailsurvey #holidayshopping #influencer #socialmediashopping #ecommerce #shoppingtrends #consumerbehavior w/ Nyeedra Davis and Hannah Kain

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Reaching customers wherever they are along their shopping journeys is increasingly more complex. Brands also need to be able to effectively reach relevant targets and measure their impact in ways that matter. That’s why we’re incredibly excited to make that easier to accomplish with Disney+ and Hulu’s premium streaming content through this first-to-market collaboration with Disney Advertising. This winning combination will be another powerful way for advertisers to tap into Walmart Connect’s full-funnel, omnichannel capabilities to create integrated campaigns across offsite media like CTV, Walmart digital properties, and in our stores. In fact, Walmart Connect campaigns that ran both CTV and Onsite Display ads saw a 10% higher conversion rate on average vs.campaigns used Onsite Display ads alone (Walmart first-party data, Feb. 2023-Jan. 2024.) Disney Advertising, welcome to Walmart Connect’s Partner Lab – we’re excited to unlock new capabilities for marketers together!

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Got the following text from a CDP vendor: “Just wanted to give you guys a shout-out again. Officially received the [$3B retailer] RFP today and got a note from [$10B retailer] a minute ago letting us know we’re officially in on that one as well.” Here’s how he got there… // STAGE ONE: Discovery 1. He joined Alium 2. Got access to our database of interviews 3. Learned the marketing director’s [for $10B retailer] strategic priorities were: - Creating deeply personalized customer journeys - Securing a new CDP to meet that goal // STAGE TWO: Outreach 4. He reached out to the marketing director via email 5. And used intel from the Alium interview to get their attention… Words like: - “Time-saving” - “Personalization” - “Cross-channel orchestration” 6. They emailed back and forth for over a year 7. And he built a real relationship with the prospect // STAGE THREE: Scale 8. He found more prospects (from Alium) looking for a CDP 9. Repeated the outreach stage with the same success 10. Got invited to [$3B retailer] & [$10B retailer] RFPs — Bottom Line: The key to getting invited to RFPs is building relationships with prospects. But to do that… You need to: - Leverage insider intel - Catch the buyer’s attention …and get a response. What’s your approach?

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ADAPT OR... Walmart - for all of its size & scale, manages to stay nimble with its strategy and ambitious with its capability. They're smart, and have no quit in them. 27% YoY growth in their #ecommerce business - wow. Also, the company's using it's online digital capabilities to draw in higher income customers - for non-food items like apparel and electronics, which boosts AOV. These dynamics also fuel their rapidly growing retail advertising business - as their audience becomes larger & more attractive to advertiser partners. WMT stock is up 4% so far today. It's impressive! Where do you see Walmart taking its strategy from here? Share in the comments below. #retailstrategy #retail #onlineretail #digitaladvertising #advertising #growth #targeting

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Server-side tracking isn't just about privacy - it's about data quality. Just completed a migration for a major retailer. Results: - Major improvement in conversions reported - Significantly more accurate attribution - Zero reliance on client-side / 3rd party cookies But here's what nobody tells you: The hard part isn't technical implementation. It's redesigning your entire measurement strategy for a server-first world. Are you ready for the shift? #serverside #webanalytics #dataquality #digitaltransformation

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Using Sales and Share as the metrics, who is dominating this holiday season? The answer lies in a simple strategy. Brands that embrace consumer-oriented approaches suited for the modern market are succeeding, while those anchored in boardroom politics or past marketing models are falling behind. Lots of great content out there in an exciting but hectic time of the year in our industry. Wanted to highlight this great one from Kiri Masters Forbes (https://lnkd.in/eDrtSfTR) that includes lots of great data points from my friend Melissa Burdick and the Pacvue team. Few things that stuck out to me from this and 2024 Turkey 5 trends: 📺 Its 2024 and Video is a performance vehicle. I don't care what your MMM says, video is driving higher incremental sales when used correctly. Lots of nuance here but just look within specific channels and where spend and performance is going within specific channels like Live Shopping, Social and even Amazon. 🔥 I love the shoutout for Sponsored Brand Videos on Amazon. At VaynerMedia we are obsessed with this placement on what it unlocks. As Kiri notes, this placement is performing really well and I truly believe it is underutilized still in our industry. These are videos on a CPM/CPC bid with ridiculously quick feedback loops tied to actual sales. It's an insights engine super power and also is more effective at driving short term incremental sales than most every other tactic...oh and by the way, even more exciting news to come (https://lnkd.in/e2SBDpAm 👀 ) not to mention AMC path-to-conversion metrics. 💰 Going back to the main theme, the winners know how to operate the modern commerce landscape. My advice is simple, think like a consumer and how you are individually going about your holiday shopping and your day to day lives. We are all super busy and our attention spans are zero, we all prefer video content because its more entertaining and often easier to digest and as consumers, don't operate in false barriers like upper/lower funnel, Amazon/Walmart, brand/retail, etc. Bonus: Ran into a friend at the playground this weekend who works for a retailer. Looking at the rise (IMPACT) of live/social shopping while seeing foot traffic drop, I am shocked more retailers are not constantly going live this holiday season. Even if it doesn't drive short term sales, as a consumer, I would love the ability to ask question to an associate live in the store. There are so many platforms and ways to do it and I think stores are the best studios out there, especially in the Commerce & Retail Media landscape. I hear more talk about in-store audio networks than in-store live demo/shopping/Q&A experiences and the latter is actually cheaper and easier to produce! Maybe my playground conversations will be a different in 2025 🚀 🚀 🚀

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Thank you, Wade Gerten, for sharing insights into Blue Yonder ‘s #AI journey. For the past five years, my vision has been to provide focused insights to operators prior to the start of each shift based on their role and on an ongoing basis, highlighting key operational stats, exceptions, and actions to take across safety, quality, productivity, service, inventory, and labor. Instead of operators spending time piecing together data from fragmented systems, this approach would offer a comprehensive, consolidated view that continuously updates with actionable insights and options. By integrating descriptive analytics—such as trends from last week, last year, and historical comparisons—alongside real-time data on what’s happening in the building, this solution would offer a powerful toolset. I would also encourage to include a shift end summary that summarizes what happened during the shift and why and what could be done differently to improve service and productivity. Additionally, similar tailored views could be created for demand planners and logistics managers, helping them quickly identify key areas of focus and make necessary adjustments, streamlining decision-making across the supply chain. This solution would be a tremendous asset for location managers, demand planners, and logistics managers, empowering them with data-driven insights to improve performance and spend more time on high-impact actions. #AI #SupplyChain #Distrubution #KPIs

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