Consider this conundrum: a well respected consumer goods manufacturer gets a call from a key retailer asking to return two years’ worth of inventory on a particular SKU. Two years. Why?... Read more
Market Insights Series: Amazon’s Advance – The War of the Wipes
Amazon owns most of the online market’s “shelf space,” and is leveraging this in an attempt to gain market share for its own branded products. In this four-part series, we dive into the three categories where Amazon products are booming. Here’s a look into the online baby wipes category from September 2015 – August 2016 and the role that Amazon’s baby wipes brand, Amazon Elements, plays within it.... Read more
Market Insights Series: Amazon’s Advance – The Siege of Speakers
Amazon owns most of the online market’s “shelf space,” and is leveraging this in an attempt to gain market share for its own branded products. In this four-part series, we dive into the three categories where Amazon products are booming. Here’s a look into the online speaker category from September 2015 – August 2016 and the role that Amazon’s line of Echo speakers plays within it.... Read more
Market Insights Series: Amazon’s Advance – The Battle of Batteries
Amazon owns most of the online market’s “shelf space,” and is leveraging this in an attempt to gain market share for its own branded products. In this four-part series, we dive into the three categories where Amazon products are booming. Our first is a look into the online battery category from September 2015 – August 2016 and the role that Amazon’s battery brand, AmazonBasics, plays within it.... Read more
Blue Apron is Bringing Home the Bacon
Recent speculation of a Blue Apron IPO has brought a lot of attention to the world of meal-prep delivery services. Too busy to figure out what to eat but still feel productive enough to cook? Meal-prep kits are the answer!... Read more
Online Laptop Category Report (June – August 2016)
When I think of the start of a new school year, images of notebooks, pencils and highlighters come to mind, but I think that’s an outdated view... Read more
If you’re a merchant doing direct business with consumers, you know that not all markets are created equal. And neither does your business perform uniformly across metropolitan markets.... Read more
It is abundantly clear to anyone who has been paying attention that the retail environment has changed dramatically in the last few years due to the rise of e-commerce and the democratization of information at customers’ fingertips thanks to the internet. The pharmacy space is no exception.... Read more
I was wrong and I should have known better. I have always associated the Kirkland Signature brand with Costco, which is why I was so surprised to learn that Costco.com is NOT the #1 seller of Kirkland items online.... Read more
Online Sun Care Category Report (May – July 2016)
As we enter fall and reflect on our summer, it’s hard to forget some of the distasteful burns we had to encounter. How did we forget about sunscreen?... Read more