Retail 'in real life'

E-commerce is always in focus at eTail West, but it's clear that these days even digital natives are in search of ways to meet customers face to face.

By Daphne Howland • Feb. 28, 2020

Walmart's answer to Amazon Prime is in the works

The retailer wouldn't say what perks would be offered with the program, but it represents a departure from its previous e-commerce strategy.

By Ben Unglesbee • Feb. 28, 2020

Explore the Trendline➔

What's shaping the e-commerce landscape?

From pivots in digital strategies to challenges retailers must overcome with reverse logistics, here are some of the forces shaping online retail.

By Retail Dive staff

Wayfair posts 'eyewatering' $985M loss for the year

As the company's losses continue to grow and it shovels more money into its advertising, questions loom around the future of the business.

By Caroline Jansen • Feb. 28, 2020

NRF says retail sales this year could top $3.9T despite coronavirus woes

The organization calculates growth of 3.5% to 4.1%, but some analysts warn that uncertainty around the growing pandemic could hit hard.

By Daphne Howland • Feb. 28, 2020

VC firm Fifth Wall debuts $100M fund to help DTC brands enter stores

The news comes at a time when digitally natives are increasingly seeing the value in moving offline and having a physical presence.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Feb. 27, 2020

DTC's impact on marketing unlikely to cool despite slew of bad news, analysis says

GroupM's Brian Wieser ​suggests blows to would-be disruptor brands like Brandless may tell a story that's more negative than underlying trends.

By Peter Adams • Feb. 26, 2020

Raising capital: What investors look for before writing a check

When it's still just a pitch deck, how can founders make investors believe in a brand as much as they do?

By Caroline Jansen • Feb. 26, 2020

Google tops Facebook, Instagram in e-commerce activity, study finds

Google's ability to drive stronger sales and web traffic than the social giants indicates key differences in how people use the respective platforms.

By Robert Williams • Feb. 25, 2020

Target poised to be a top e-commerce player in 2020

The retailer's investments are "paying off," while Amazon still commands the lion's share of the market, according to eMarketer.

By Ben Unglesbee • Feb. 25, 2020

Startup Shogun raises $10M to help DTCs compete with Amazon

The funding will help the company give emerging retailers better digital commerce capabilities.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Feb. 24, 2020

BorderX Lab reports traffic, customer growth amid coronavirus outbreak

The company states that Chinese consumers are turning to e-commerce to buy luxury goods and essentials as the epidemic lingers.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Feb. 21, 2020

Holiday online sales reached over $137B

An eMarketer report found that total retail sales during the season exceeded $1 trillion for the first time.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Feb. 19, 2020

Walmart posts 'tepid' Q4 as toys, apparel sales fall short

The retailer missed expectations for sales during the quarter, but executives and analysts still see a strong underlying business. 

By Ben Unglesbee • Feb. 18, 2020

Bed Bath & Beyond sells keepsakes site to 1-800-Flowers for $252M

The struggling retailer bought PersonalizationMall.com in 2016 for $190 million. Analysts hailed the sale, and called for even more.

By Daphne Howland • Feb. 18, 2020

Stitch Fix officially launches 'Shop Your Looks'

The algorithm-led feature allows customers to choose items that go with pieces they already own, rather than leaving that to their stylist.

By Daphne Howland • Feb. 13, 2020

What stumbles at Harry's and Brandless mean for e-commerce

Federal regulators nixed one brand's takeover deal, and venture capital burned the other. Both moves reveal hard truths about direct-to-consumer retail.

By Daphne Howland • Feb. 12, 2020

Fourpost shutters, ending mall-based 'microstores' for online brands

The company's founder, a member of the family running Triple Five Group, will be co-CEO of the developer's new American Dream mall.

By Daphne Howland • Feb. 7, 2020

Bloomberg: Visa to roll out sweeping swipe fee changes

The changes boost rates for online purchases and decrease them for certain types of retailers in two waves that start in April and October.

By Dan Ennis • Feb. 4, 2020

Farfetch raises $250M to accelerate global growth

The investment, half of which was from Tencent, could prove useful in the luxury platform's ability to gain ground in China. 

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Feb. 3, 2020

Avenue enlists Happy Returns amid transition to digital-only retailer

The plus-size women's apparel brand filed for bankruptcy in August, with plans to close all of its stores. 

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Jan. 31, 2020

Amazon one-day delivery fuels sales boom — and shipping ambition

The e-commerce giant is once again growing a non-retail business that already gives it an edge, observers say.

By Daphne Howland • Jan. 31, 2020

Layoffs hit Walmart's Allswell brand

The cuts to more than half the digitally native home brand's staff come as the retail giant restructures its broader e-commerce strategy.

By Caroline Jansen • Jan. 29, 2020

Casper slashes IPO price

With the revision, the direct-to-consumer mattress brand's market cap comes to about half the $1.1 billion it projected last March.

By Caroline Jansen • Updated Feb. 5, 2020

Retailers see 42% of online sales from mobile devices, study says

Almost two-thirds of retailers said they're integrating mobile tech into e-commerce, but only 14% described themselves as a "mobile-first" organization.

By Robert Williams • Jan. 28, 2020

Discovery is lost in e-commerce. How can grocers improve?

The concept is core to bigger baskets and impulse buys online, but most companies have missed the mark, experts say. 

By Jessica Dumont • Jan. 28, 2020