If it feels like the 47th month of the pandemic, you're not alone. Sure, there were those who said they were "made" for Covid and had no issue holing up and avoiding people. But, according to sources, those same individuals are now comparison pricing vacuums at Costco and calling it an "outing." Uneven Recovery People are bored. But Covid is hovering over us like a cruel dictator, eliminating the need or desire to buy clothes for conferences, date nights, reunions, parties, after-work drinks. The positive takeaway from the tech sector, …
Technology
DTC High Tech Beauty Solutions
You gotta hand it to L'Oréal for sheer transparency. In the wake of its mid-July announcement that it was pulling the plug on Clarisonic, it immediately began a digital fire sale, offloading all the iterations of the once-untouchable sonic cleansing brush on its website at a deep discount, along with the replacement heads and companion skincare. By August, the cyber shelves were wiped clean. "We are completely sold out on Clarisonic.com and the sale has now ended," reads a notice on the brand's home page. "Our sale continues in stores, so …
Welcome to the Data Sphere
In the mid-1980s, at a lecture in New York, author and counterculture visionary Robert Anton Wilson introduced his theory about the growth of information, called the "Jumping Jesus Phenomenon." In short, his theory was that it took until the time of Jesus (1 A.D. or thereabouts) for all the knowledge that was in the world in 1500 B.C. to double. It took 250 years for that body of knowledge to double again and then 150 years to double after that. By 1750, knowledge had increased by four times, or four Jesuses. By 1973, we had the equal to 128 …
The Quarantine Data Dearth
My shopping patterns have changed, have yours? Nozzle, a British consultancy that specializes in Amazon sales optimization released a report on recent Amazon search trend results. The insights reveal the top search terms. The lead searches for June in the U.S. were: Facemasks Lysol wipes Reusable facemasks Other popular items in the top ten include hand sanitizer and desk chairs. The July numbers were broken down differently, but the top two items were identical to June. Our consumer behavior has been flipped on its head. This …
Livestreaming: It’s Big in China, Is the US Next?
The future of livestreaming depends not just on who you are, but also where you are…and whether you understand exactly what livestreaming actually is. Livestreaming is a term being thrown around the retail world with increased frequency these days -- but describing it is not easy. Start with a TV shopping show like you might find on QVC or HSN. But put it on your mobile phone rather than your television. Then layer on social media functions, the ability to interact with what's on your screen in a way that's impossible on one-way electronics …
Don’t Be Fooled by Virtual Sizing Apps
Sizing and fit are top concerns for consumers shopping apparel. According to Shapeometry, in 2019 the apparel returns related to fit hit $60 billion, half of which were returns of online purchases. About 85 percent of apparel returns were due to fit issues. So, the premise of a digital personal avatar sounds great for shoppers, but the reality is that the supply chain cannot deliver to specific avatar sizes. Instead, brands match a personal avatar size to the closest size in the existing product range. Jason Wang, COO of Alvanon explains, …
Sex, China and Covid-19
Sex, China, and Covid-19. What sounds like an afternoon White House press briefing actually holds the key to understanding why virtual reality (aka VR) is one of the most overblown topics in retail right now. Social media has been a flutter with the usual geek speak on the topic since the outbreak began, and Retail Dive, just last month, also highlighted how the coronavirus pandemic could lead to higher VR adoption and a stronger consumer desire for things like “virtual try-ons” and “virtual malls.” But everyone needs to slow their roll just …
Tech Surprises You Don’t Want
The industry has paid a lot of attention to what stores need to do to reopen, and rightfully so. Big questions loom: how to arrange a store to enforce social distancing, how to provide PPE and sanitation to both employees and customers, new non-touch payment systems and how to provide a lot of plexiglass barriers at cash wraps. One area that has not received as much attention, though, is the technology. Not the registers and the payment devices - though this kind of tech poses its own problems (spraying down keypads can, in some instances, …