Profitero, an ecommerce analytics firm that includes Adidas, L’Oreal and General Mills among its 4,000 clients, has raised $50 million in new funding and brought in ad industry veterans to lead the company as it looks to develop new products and grow its business. Bryan Wiener has been named CEO and Sarah Hofstetter is president.
Amazon is continuing to dominate in apparel sales online, according to a new report from CoreSight, which reports 70% of apparel shoppers bought clothing or footwear on Amazon in the past 12 months, up from 60% a year ago. This compares to 51.2% who said they did so on Walmart, 44.6% at Target and 35.3% at Kohl’s.
What will the world of ecommerce operations and fulfillment look like after World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 pandemic ends? The answer, like predictions of that date, is uncertain. But industry experts firmly believe that the seismic shifts that began in February 2020 will create a new normal in ecommerce operations.
Brick-and-mortar retailers selling online saw a 15% boost in advertising spending last week based on COVID-19, according to data from MediaRadar, while big-box chains like Target, Costco and Walmart are dialing it back as demand for essentials like cleansers and groceries has been overwhelming.
While ecommerce was initially thought to be a boon during the coronavirus crisis, with stores and malls in lockdown, execution is proving to be anything but as a growing chorus of drivers and facility associates complain about the danger of exposure. Workers at Amazon, Instacart and Whole Foods staged protest walkouts.
While much is unknown about the long-term impact of coronavirus, retail supply chains will certainly look different once the crisis is past, industry observers agree. Multichannel Merchant spoke with experts from enVista, Le Tote and Johnson Stevens to get their views on the current situation and where things are headed.
The impacts of the coronavirus spread are being felt everywhere across retail and ecommerce, with first stores and now ecommerce operations shut down to comply with government orders, and warehouse workers and drivers testing positive, forcing facilities to close so they can be scrubbed and restarted.
The coronavirus outbreak is continuing to wreak havoc on retail, with the impact going beyond store shutdowns to online business being shuttered. Companies that closed their ecommerce operations in recent days include fashion brands Reformation, Marysia and The Frankie Shop, and retailers TJ Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods.
Grocers may be ringing up major sales from the crush of store and online panic buying due to the growing coronavirus threat, but the market will be painful after the situation abates as demand falls and supplies are overstocked, a Barclays analyst said in a research note.
Amazon’s decision to limit new inventory for Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) to essential items through April 5 due to the coronavirus situation is severely impacting sellers heavily reliant on FBA, forcing some out of business while others scramble to move product or find fulfillment partners.