Merchant Innovation

Pixlee Lets Retailers Market Using Real Customers’ Photos
August 17, 2016

Selfies or vacation photos are apparently a big business. Seriously. Pixlee, a San Francisco-based startup, allows retailers or brands to market directly to customers by using their own photos through curating them from social media or having the customer directly submit them for use, which...

How Adore Me Discovered The Data Behind Lingerie Models
August 16, 2016

So, how did a “team of geeks” with “zero experience” in the fashion or retail industries go on to become the second fastest-growing retail company in the U.S. and a serious disruptor to the $24 billion annual lingerie industry long dominated by Victoria’s Secret? That...

Merchant Innovation
CVS Pay Joins The M-Pay Bandwagon
August 12, 2016

CVS announced Thursday (Aug. 11) that it is launching CVS Pay, an end-to-end mobile payment solution the company says will help streamline the payments process for customers both in-store and through an app. CVS Pay will now be part of the CVS Pharmacy mobile app and will...

Merchant Innovation
Pokémon’s New Retail Customer Acquisition Math
August 12, 2016

The coming ascendance of augmented reality and virtual reality has long been article fodder for tech enthusiasts, gamers and retail watchers alike. And for good reason – the story of virtual and augmented reality makes for some great copy. Oculus Rift rose from being a plucky...

Say Goodbye To Free Hulu
August 10, 2016

There will be no more free Hulu. Hulu told the Wall Street Journal that it will “phase out” its free online watching options, which allowed users to watch the five most recent episodes of ABC, NBC, Fox and other networks after an eight-day delay. “Our...

Merchant Innovation
Is Apple Guerilla Marketing At The Olympics?
August 10, 2016

What’s the hottest Olympics-inspired merchandise at this year’s Rio Games? Well, according to this piece from Reuters, it’s not any of the countless officially licensed Olympic products from any of the formal Olympic sponsors (who can sometimes pay sponsorship fees of up to $100 million over...

Merchant Innovation
Apple Store Now Recommending Apps Based On Purchase History
August 08, 2016

Apple has rolled out a more personalized version of its App Store, which, according to TechCrunch, will now recommend “new products based on its understanding of the devices you already own.” If you own an iPhone — which Apple is probably able to discern based...

Merchant Innovation
Twitter Unleashes New ‘Brand Bait’ Ads
August 05, 2016

Twitter unlocked a new feature on Thursday (Aug. 4) that will allow advertisers to “bait” a user into clicking on their ads in order to unlock exclusive branded content, like exclusive interviews or access to movie trailers. According to Mashable, the new feature is built...

Startup Wants To Give Online Customers Many Happy Returns
August 04, 2016

How cumbersome and annoying do you find the return process for items that you ordered online? Well, a new startup is banking on you finding that process very annoying indeed, as its whole business model is based around making it simpler and faster for consumers...