The titans of the web are rebels, playing by their own rules. That is to be applauded at times, but we should also be thinking about the wider, long-term implications for society and fair competition. Read more »
A conversation with a payments processing company that offers small businesses a side of data, got me thinking about how data may change your customer service experience and maybe distort markets. Read more »
Kobo is now selling its e-readers directly through its website in the U.S. and Canada. Previously, customers had to go to third-party retailers to buy the devices. Read more at paidContent »
Wal-Mart will start a locker program to enable customers to pick up items they purchase off site. Other retailers have looked at the model, but Wal-Mart has 4,000 pickup spots in the United States. Read more »
Google’s acquisition of Channel Intelligence could give it a big leg up in ecommerce. But Jason Lehmbeck, DataPop, says the search giant has its sights on the offline retailing world, too, Read more »
Four months after the firing of the previous SVP of Retail John Browett, Apple Stores remain leaderless. Meanwhile, Browett lands on his feet. Read more »
Square is now in Verizon as well as AT&T stores. Working with the carriers gets Square closer to small business customers right as they’re buying their smartphones, and so far carriers aren’t asking for a cut. Read more »
Belly introduces the free sample to its local-business loyalty and rewards program. Through the Belly app, businesses can offer free goods and services to lure customers into their stores. Read more »
Former VP of Retail Jerry McDougal was said to be a candidate for SVP. His departure may indicate he was passed over and that Tim Cook is getting closer to appointing a new head of retail operations. Read more »
New York-based discovery commerce startup Birchbox on Thursday launched a special edition home-themed box, featuring home accessories, gourmet foods and other lifestyle and entertainment products. Last year around the holidays, it similarly launched a one-time box targeting men and later made it a monthly product. Read more »
Dave Gilboa, Warby Parker’s co-founder and co-CEO, said the future of its business and all retail will involve the blending of online and offline commerce. He said Warby Parker does more sales per square foot at its headquarters showroom than all retailers except for Apple. Read more »
Designing a store that’s not about selling products, but is instead about delighting and engaging with the customer may be the future of retail if George Blankenship of Tesla Motors has his way. Blankenship shares his retail vision honed at Apple and at Tesla. Read more »
Whoever Tim Cook chooses to run Apple retail has big implications for future growth and Apple’s valuable brand. While the timing of the search — heading into the holiday sales season — isn’t ideal, the decision also represents a big opportunity for Apple’s image. Read more »
The co-founders of two companies changing the face of connected retail, Warby Parker and Birchbox, will join us at our upcoming RoadMap conference next month. They’ll talk about the forces changing the retail landscape and how they expect to connect with the consumer of the future. Read more »
Ebook pricing and device trends that hold in North American countries don’t necessarily work for less developed market. Executives from Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google, France’s FNAC and India’s Indiaplaza discussed similarities and differences between digital reading cultures Wednesday afternoon at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Read more at paidContent »
New York-based fashion community Stylecaster has purchased beauty and virtual makeover site Daily Makeover and raised $2 million in new funding. With the acquisition, the company said it would double revenue and the size of its team, as well as triple its traffic. Read more »
Hotels, airlines and grocery stores already link everything imaginable to their loyalty card programs. Why not 4G, as well? Sprint wants to make it easy for the hospitality and retail industries to become mini-virtual operators renting and selling mobile data modems to their customers. Read more »
Treater, a social gifting startup launching Wednesday, wants to use Facebook help people send impromptu, casual gifts to friends. The Washington, DC-based startup is also announcing that it has raised $2.5 million dollars. Read more »
When British retail veteran John Browett took over Apple’s store operation, plenty of critics lined up to question the decision. And now, with the company forced to apologize for cutting customer service staff, his appointment by Tim Cook looks even more baffling. Read more »
The in-person customer service offered to customers by Apple Store retail staff is key in winning Apple new customers and keeping old ones around. The quick backtrack on staffing changes shows Apple knows the perception of cutbacks in this area is risky to its brand. Read more »
Pinterest, Fancy and plenty of other websites help shoppers find deals and inspiration for clothing they can buy online, but some early startups are developing mobile apps that encourage shoppers to make their fashion purchases in stores. Read more »
As the market for music on discs shrinks, struggling retailer HMV will try blurring online and in-store to beef up plastic. But is the initiative just designed to defend a fast-diminishing old business? Read more at paidContent »
Clearwire lost subscribers for the first time in the second quarter as a result of Sprint discontinuing new contract WiMAX device sales. Sprint has tied its star to LTE, and Clearwire would like to follow, but if the 4G carrier may have already reached its apex. Read more »
Print books still dominate, but a new report reveals that in 2011, ebooks made up 15 percent of all trade book sales. In addition, digital is now the most popular format for adult fiction. Despite the massive growth of digital, though, bricks-and-mortar stores are still the largest sales channel for publishers. Read more at paidContent »
As if we needed more evidence that brick and mortar stores are at a crossroads, a study out Tuesday from Paris-based consulting firm CapGemini found that more than half of shoppers globally said they think more physical stores will become merely showrooms by 2020. Read more »
Another international legal snag for Apple: Italy is moving to add additional fines and even force the company to temporarily shut down its operations in the country until it complies with local laws that require two years of free warranty coverage. Apple has ignored previous warnings. Read more »
With $5,647 per square foot sales, nearly twice that of Tiffany’s, Apple’s a high-end retail player that pays like its products sell themselves and has so many applicants, it can afford to do just that. At some point, though, retention may pay off more. Read more »
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: how Apple’s future depends on China, pay raises for retail workers, fined for false advertising in Australia, and 32 new countries get access to the App Store. Read more »
Social book discovery startup was left divorced from its intended book retail partner after HMV jettisoned Waterstones. Now its future lays with a supermarket, not a traditional book store. Read more at paidContent »
Earlier today I wrote about online bra retailer True&Co delaying delivery of its products to customers. It turns out that the supply chain was an issue, but only because the demand for the service outstripped what True&Co thought would be a full year’s supply of inventory. Read more »
PayPal has made headlines about the business arrangements it’s secured for its in-store payment system. But the consumer strategy will be just as important. PayPal told me the marketing campaign for consumers began in the last week and will ramp up as PayPal adds more retailers. Read more »
SnipSnap, a new Philadephia start-up, is giving people a way to take a picture of a printed coupon with an iPhone app and display it at check-out. The app help consumer unlock a lot of the value in printed coupons that go to waste over time. Read more »
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: iPhone versus Android revenue from Google, the feasibility of Retina display MacBooks, the profitability of the Flashback botnet, and Apple gets approved for a greener data center. Read more »
Germany’s Samwer brothers are notorious as Europe’s chief cloners of web companies through their Rocket Internet vehicle. But we discovered their empire of e-commerce copycats is increasingly global, with companies operating in more than 50 countries worldwide. Read more »
Russian web incubator Fast Lane Ventures is developing a reputation for building big businesses fast, with the sale TV channel Shopping Live — its second significant exit inside a couple of months. Read more »
Best Buy will close 50 stores, while also expanding the number of smaller concept stores where customers can go to try devices and talk to expert staff members. The shift in strategy is one that we’ll see across much of retail in the future. Read more »
Although some believe the death of brick-and-mortar retail is inevitable, Mark Sigal, CPO of Unicorn Labs, thinks we all have a vested interest in seeing the industry reboot itself for the modern age. He outlines three paths for physical retail stores to avoid extinction here. Read more »
Does your kid want to play with unicorns? You might want to check out the goods at next week’s Toy Fair in New York, where toy makers will show off the latest-and-greatest augmented reality technology that animates once-static games, books, and toys. Read more »
Recently, I tried Antec’s new cleaning solutions on my MacBook Pro, iPad and my iPhone 4S. Initially I was a bit skeptical because, well, it’s just cleaning solution. Still, I’ve been a long-time user of iKlear, so I wanted to give the competition a shot. Read more »
As Apple adds to its collection of architecturally significant retail stores, the company is getting even fancier for its proposed new flagship store in Aix en Provence, France. It is doing away with walls almost entirely and going for an all-glass structure. Read more »
