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Welcome to this week’s episode of Banknotes news for the week of August 25, 2022.

Each week we provide a short rundown of what we’re keeping our eye on across eCommerce, retail and the creator economy. You can always check banknotes.co for daily articles and insights from across the industry and subscribe to our channel wherever you download your podcasts.

So here’s what we’re keeping tabs on this week ...

Wayfair announces layoffs

Online future giant Wayfair this week announced it was laying off 5% of its workforce, about 900 jobs.

"We were seeing the tailwinds of the pandemic accelerate the adoption of e-commerce shopping, and I personally pushed hard to hire a strong team to support that growth," CEO Niraj Shah wrote in an letter to employees. "This year, that growth has not materialized as we had anticipated. Our team is too large for the environment we are now in, and unfortunately we need to adjust."

This announcement comes on the heels of Canadian DTC furniture leader Article also announcing significant layoffs.

Yeezy Gap merchandising: Insensitive or innovative?

You may have heard a bit about Kanye West going retail and offering his clothing like at GAP.

Well that clothing line showed up not on shelves but in black, garbage-like bags in the stores.

The Internet was flooded with headlines about the Yeezy x Gap clothes in 'trash bags,' so the famous rapper had to address the controversy. According to Ye, those were not trash bags but rather large construction bags, and the clothes were placed inside to make dressing easier for customers.

Read more over at banknotes.co on whether this is smart merchandising or a social experiment.

Creators without influence can still benefit your brand

In today’s digital age, the term “creator” has been taken hostage by those with a critical mass of followers and who make money exclusively from growing an audience.

But the reality is that being a creator doesn’t mean you have to have hundreds of thousands of TikTok followers, and being an influencer doesn’t mean you’re qualified to ‘create.’

BANKNOTES writer Ashley Cummings dove into ways brands can work with creators regardless of how many followers they have.

Read more over at banknotes.co

Peloton rides over to Amazon

In a surprise move Peloton has decided to sell its exercise bikes and other fitness products and clothing on Amazon.

After months of mounting losses and supply-chain issues, the deal with Amazon is an effort for Peloton to get itself back on the right track and shore up sales.

“Post-COVID, the retail environment is continuing to evolve, and that’s something that we’re trying to understand better to make sure the Peloton of the future is calibrated appropriately for that,” Peloton Chief Commercial Officer Kevin Cornils told CNBC. “We want to make it as easy as possible to get a Peloton.”

Don’t forget to sign up for the upcoming BANKNOTES webinar, which will unpack how to get started on market research.

Join BANKNOTES editor in chief Ian Leslie as he speaks with Rachel Swanson, founder & principal at Method + Mode.

Swanson will discuss the importance of market research and how best for any business, regardless of size, to get started with a research project. Sign up for the webinar at banknotes.link/webinars

Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of BANKNOTES NEWS. Subscribe to stay on top of the latest digital trends for ecommerce, retail, and the creator economy.

See you next week.

Welcome to this week’s episode of Banknotes news for the week of September 9, 2022.

Each week we provide a short rundown of what we’re keeping our eye on across eCommerce, retail and the creator economy. You can always check banknotes.co for daily articles and insights from across the industry and subscribe to our channel wherever you download your podcasts.

So here’s what we’re keeping tabs on this week ...

DTC brands turn to crowdfunding investments as recession looms

Recession looms, inflation is at a 40-year record high, and supply-chain issues and advertising uncertainty abound. As a result, DTC brands are facing a VC funding drought.

But it's not all doom and gloom.

Several DTC brands are turning to alternative, crowdfunding options to raise capital.

Learn more over at banknotes.link/crowdfunding

Influencer and publisher whitelisting is all the rage: And it works!

Brands are constantly on the lookout for the next marketing technique.

One such technique, often referred to as whitelisting, creator licensing, or creator listing (really, various terms mean the same thing here), has shown to be beneficial for particular brands.

In a nutshell, whitelisting is this: creators and publishers give access to their social platforms (usually Facebook and Instagram, though TikTok is growing) so brands can upload and boost posts.

Learn more over at banknotes.link/whitelisting

Chris Meade and how CROSSNET is creating a new sports category

Chris Meade is not only marketing a product, he's creating a new sport!

Through CROSSNET he's brought 'four square' to volleyball, soccer and pickleball; and he's done it all without raising venture money.

CROSSNET products are now sold in Dick's Sporting Goods and TARGET among others and it's even been featured on ESPN.

Read more about CROSSNET over at banknotes.link/crossnet

Furniture retailers see decline in sales, layoffs since height of COVID boom

What do you do when you’re forced to stay home for days, weeks, months at a time?

You make improvements to your home, of course.

With that, in the early days of COVID, furniture sales saw tremendous growth.

In February of 2020, Americans spent $11.3 billion on furniture and home furnishings, and monthly sales grew by 181% over an 11-month period from April 2019 to March 2020, according to Commerce Department data.

However, a cushy new sofa or mattress isn’t always enough to pad the discomfort of inflation and a down economy, and furniture sales are now slowing.

Layoffs have come from the likes of Wayfair, Article and more.

Should brands hire creators over agencies to produce high-fidelity content?

Stats show brands that understand the power of creator influence are winning.

Influencer marketing is booming, driving stellar results, and has an average ROI of $5.78 for every dollar spent. This is one reason why only 39% of marketers planned to grow influencer marketing efforts in 2018, but a whopping 72.5% are increasing their budgets today.

This begs the following questions. If creator content is so effective across social media, should brands be turning to creators for all kinds of high-fidelity content as well? And, is there a benefit to hiring creators directly instead of going the traditional route and hiring an agency?

Well the answer is yes and no. It depends on what you’re looking for.

The pros dive into the topic over at banknotes.co

What’s your sign? How brands are using astrology to start a conversation

If you feel like you’re seeing a lot of marketing campaigns focussed on astrology and the zodiak lately, you’re not alone.

This resurgence in focus on astrology has a lot to do with the movement toward wellness and self-care, and the declining interest in organized religion. As more turn away from traditional religion and delve deeper into spirituality (while still wanting to find a sense of guidance or understanding), the alternative for many is to dive into the varying layers of astrology.

As more become interested in star signs and birth charts, brands are catching on and looking for ways to market products based on zodiac signs.

There’s another motive for brands to do this, too.

Consumers love it when brands ‘get’ them on a personal level. And what’s more personal than offering products or recommendations based on zodiac signs?

Learn more over at banknotes.co

Market research still matters in the world of COVID and eCommerce

In a lot of ways market research is a legacy tactic, but that doesn’t mean it should be ignored by brands big and small.

In fact, market research as come a long way from the focus groups of the past.

While formal studies and surveys are still on the table, the host of potential market research channels now open to marketers has grown exponentially.

Those conversations can be happening on traditional social media channels like Facebook and Instagram, or occurring on a Discord channel or on Twitch. Then there are of course sales and customer service calls that can be audited for research, along with one-on-one Zoom sessions.

Head over to banknotes.link/marketresearch to learn more about how market research is evolving.

This week on BANKNOTES News: In marketing: Authenticity is everything!

Learn about how YETI is leveraging authentic user generated content (UGC) to attract social media viewers and prove its product stands up to the worst situations.

Also this week:

BeReal: What’s the appeal of Gen Z’s new fave app

Shopify invests in marketing automation platform Klaviyo

Gifting platform, Govalo, launches new integration with Recharge

“My content was viewed over 75 million times this year.” If we asked you to guess who said that, who would come to mind? A TV star? An artist talking about their 2022 Spotify downloads? A Kardashian?

It was, in fact, Tobi Oluwole. And rather than knowing him from Spotify or your favorite Netflix series, you might have seen him doling out advice to underpaid and unfulfilled employees on LinkedIn.

Most people might not group LinkedIn with mega-creator platforms like YouTube and TikTok. TikTok is the exciting new kid on the block, rocket-blasting from $82 million in revenue in the third quarter of 2019 to $1,567 billion three years later. YouTube has been around longer, but its status as the world’s top video-sharing network makes it a titanic platform for any influencer. ... (READ MORE)