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Brands: Give Retailers the Partnership They’re Looking For

| Lynn Herman

The same techniques you use to develop your brand and your audience make you an attractive partner for retailers. They want to see mature brand identities. Standing out from a crowded field of competitors takes a clear commitment to a core mission and values, and consistent messaging with a defined target audience. Retailers and customers look for brands that are sincere, consistent and original.

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The Manufacturer-Retailer Relationship: Collaboration Breeds Success

| Kristin Naragon

The dynamics of the manufacturer-retailer relationship are complex and subject to power shifts. Where retailers often excel at customer loyalty, recognition and retention, manufacturers control stock availability and product development. As customers continue to demand innovative digital experiences across a growing number of channels, effective communication and collaboration is crucial.

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Retail Media Networks: 5 Ways to Unlock Brand-Building Power

| Kevin Dunn

With advertisers projected to spend upwards of $45 billion on retail media this year, launching a retail media network makes a lot of sense. However, it requires careful planning and execution amid a crowded marketplace. Here are five key steps you can take to establish a retail media network that drives transformational growth for your business.

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Volcanic Retail Creates Platform to Connect Retail Buyers, Brands

| Mike O'Brien

Volcanic Retail is bringing a Tinder-style matchmaking capability to facilitate connections between brands and retail buyers, allowing them to connect through its marketplace to quickly determine compatibility and set up deals. The platform, launched in 2022, already has more than 2,000 retail buyers and 7,000 brands, the former including Tractor Supply, Whole Foods, Walmart, TJX and Nordstrom.

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Ecommerce Returns Dispositioning Targeted By Two Boxes

| Mike O'Brien

Two Boxes, a software startup promising to make the dispositioning of ecommerce returns more efficient for brands and 3PLs, has launched with a $4.5 million seed round and advisors from Amazon, Shopify, Whiplash, Loop Returns and Rent the Runway. Funding was led by Vinyl Capital, with Matchstick Ventures and Range Ventures.

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Cyber Week, Here We Come

| Mike O'Brien

Sales expectations are somewhat muted based on a welter of surveys and experts, as well as most retail earnings, but Cyber Week is still kind of a big deal, extended season and early deals notwithstanding. There are, of course, no lack of consumer jitters due to nagging inflation, with study after study indicating some degree of hesitancy.

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Doing Cross-Border Ecommerce, Post-Covid

| Nishith Rastogi

Building an international presence through cross-border ecommerce is often an incredibly daunting task, even for the most established brands. Following these best practices will help ensure greater success and an overall better customer experience by avoiding supply chain and logistics disruptions while maximizing brand potential.

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ChannelAdvisor Being Acquired by CommerceHub

| Mike O'Brien

CommerceHub plans to acquire ChannelAdvisor in a joining of two competing SaaS ecommerce platforms combining front-end and back-end capabilities for retailers and brands to help grow their businesses, but one that will face some integration work based on different technologies. The acquisition price was $663.6 million.

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Amazon Prime Offers Same-Day Delivery from Retailers

| Mike O'Brien

Digging out a few more shovelfuls to deepen the Prime moat, Amazon is now offering same-day delivery for subscribers in 10 metro areas, who can shop retailers including PacSun, GNC, SuperDry and Diesel and either have the order delivered or picked up in store.

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Walmart Lowers Guidance, Sends Shockwaves

| Mike O'Brien

Walmart like Target lowered its quarterly and year-end guidance, citing the continuing drag of overstocked inventory and shoppers focusing on lower-margin essentials and less on general merchandise. The scenario is causing a negative effect on pricing and profit, causing a hit to its stock and others in retail.