Mike O'Brien
Mike O’Brien has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for … well, quite a while. At Multichannel Merchant he focuses on the world of direct-to-customer operations and fulfillment, editing MCM’s weekly O+F Advisor newsletter, and programs the annual Ecommerce Operations Summit conference. Previously Mike was a senior account executive for Marx Communications, a boutique public relations firm working with marketing and advertising technology companies. Other past work includes stints as a media relations consultant for a concert promoter, a marketing communications specialist for a pharma software firm, a research analyst covering corporate e-learning and a daily newspaper reporter on every beat imaginable – except sports.
What do major changes at USPS mean for thousands of businesses that rely on it daily for parcel delivery, as well as giants like UPS, FedEx and Amazon? How will these changes affect SLAs and CSAT? We discuss these issues with Cathy Roberson, founder and president of Logistics Trends and Insights on our latest MCM podcast.
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the Golden State’s answer to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) from May 2018, went into effect July 1, 2020, and its impact has been sudden and swift. This infographic demonstrates the strong impact CCPA has had already on Facebook ad performance.
Missing Prime Day this July, and can’t wait until October? Never fear. Global buy now and pay later platform Klarna has teamed up with media partner Cosmopolitan to create a new shopping event called Hauliday over the weekend of Aug. 8-9, with deals aplenty aimed at millennial and Gen Z shoppers.
RTW Retailwinds, parent of apparel retailer New York & Co., filed for bankruptcy protection, adding it plans to close most if not all of its nearly 400 stores and seek a buyer for its ecommerce business. The company plans to continue operations, including re-openings where appropriate, paying vendors and suppliers and employees.
Amazon as of Sept. 1 will require third-party sellers in the U.S. to provide their business name and address in their seller profile, a requirement that has been in place for some time in Europe, Japan and Mexico based on government regulations. The benefits to consumers are not entirely clear, ditto the impact on counterfeiting.
Brooks Brothers, famous for its pinstriped suits worn by 40 of the 45 U.S. presidents and legions of executives since its 1818 founding in New York, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing the impact of COVID-19 as a major factor. The company, with $1 billion in sales and $300 in debt, expects to find a buyer shortly.
Understanding microbrowser traffic and its relationship to social can help correlate where conversions are really coming from, enabling marketing spend to be adjusted accordingly for better ROI. Jason Khoury, head of corporate marketing at Cloudinary, talks about how brands can tap the power of microbrowser traffic.
E-grocery sales continued to spike upward in June, increasing 9% over May to $7.2 billion as pandemic-fueled consumer behavior followed a hockey stick pattern, according to a survey conducted by Brick Meets Click on behalf of Mercatus. 45.6 million households placed e-grocery orders in June, up from 43 million in May.
After putting it off for four months due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Walmart plans to finally roll out its own $98 a year subscription program this month to challenge the outright dominance of Amazon Prime. It will reportedly include access to Walmart’s new two-hour grocery delivery service, deals and discount gas, Recode reported.
Website design and builder firm Wix has enhanced its ecommerce solution by adding a number of capabilities, taking aim at market leader Shopify by giving SMBs an entire raft of tools to set up and run their e-shop without breaking the bank. Wix said the COVID-driven explosion in ecommerce accelerated its development plans.