Commerce Outsights
December 9, 2024
The unraveling of brand power, the streetwear customer’s evolution, and the next chapter of Mytheresa’s growth playbook.
Hello, and welcome to Commerce Outsights—Nebulab’s bi-weekly roundup of the top reads, listens, and tools from the retail, e-commerce, and DTC space.
This week, we’re examining the ongoing shift from brand-first to product-first shopping as seen through the lens of streetwear and broader cultural trends, and we’re talking about strategies brands can adopt to stay relevant.
Finally, we’re looking at Mytheresa’s approach to luxury e-commerce and how AI is helping fashion brands create a better product discovery experience.
Let's get into it!
Does your brand need help with strategy, design or development?
For over a decade, we’ve been shaping, launching, and scaling shopping experiences for category disruptors such as Cometeer, Framework, and Huckberry. No matter where you’re going, we can help you get there.
Thought provokers
Brand Is Dead (5 mins). As the scale of information erodes our ability to make sense of the world—with AI both enabling and mitigating the phenomenon—and social bonds become more fragile than ever, does brand still matter? In his latest analysis, Bobby Hundreds analyzes a world in which product utility ultimately trumps brand allegiance.
🔒 How the Streetwear Customer Is Evolving (5 mins). Today's streetwear enthusiasts mix luxury, heritage brands, and streetwear staples, rather than espousing a single brand head-to-toe. The shift is forcing retailers to radically rethink their strategies and inventory approaches.
Product-led organization (5 mins). Successful retail organizations are restructuring around iconic products rather than abstract brand values. Synchronizing merchandising, marketing, and operations around product-led strategies creates sustainable growth and year-round relevance, providing a blueprint for retailers navigating an increasingly product-centric landscape.
Goings on
🔒 Can Mytheresa Keep Its Place at the Top of Luxury E-Commerce in 2025? (8 mins). In a fragile consumer environment, Mytheresa demonstrates the viability of a focused luxury e-commerce strategy. CEO Michael Kliger outlines how they plan to stay relevant by keeping a tight focus and offering value beyond price.
Fashion’s New Era of Product Discovery (7 mins). With 74% of customers abandoning purchases due to overwhelming choice, retailers are embracing AI-powered discovery solutions. The article explores how companies from Zalando to Alibaba are implementing advanced search capabilities and personalization to solve the digital discovery challenge.
'Drops help you find your crazy fans': Limited editions paid off for brands like Brunt Workwear during Cyber Week (4 mins). Brunt Workwear’s strategic deployment of limited editions during Cyber Week showcases the enduring power of scarcity marketing. Through careful product releases and marketing strategy, they achieved record-breaking sales while maintaining brand integrity, providing a masterclass in balancing commercial success with brand value.
Tools to watch
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Constructor. Constructor’s B2B platform enables brands to embed AI in product search. With partnerships spanning Under Armour and Birkenstock and a $550 million valuation, the company has powered over 100 billion customer interactions to date.
Daydream. Leveraging generative AI, machine learning, and computer vision, Daydream delivers highly personalized search results through natural language and image recognition. Having secured $50 million in seed funding and partnerships with Alo Yoga, Jimmy Choo, and Dôen, the platform’s upcoming beta launch already has over 2,000 brands and retailers onboard.
Does your brand need help with strategy, design or development?
For over a decade, we’ve been shaping, launching, and scaling shopping experiences for category disruptors such as Cometeer, Framework, and Huckberry. No matter where you’re going, we can help you get there.
In other news...
📚 The new blueprint for multi-brand retail. For multi-brand retailers, there is a way to compete without discounting your way into oblivion. I’m talking about it in our latest blog post—check it out!
🚀 MeUndies goes Shopify. A few weeks ago, we announced the successful migration of MeUndies to Shopify Plus. If you’re curious to learn more, we now have an entire case study about the project!
🎁 Time to up your gifting game. Davide, Head of Design at Nebulab, shares some interesting design tips for brands that are looking to improve their online gifting experience this holiday season.
That’s it for today!
If you’ve come across any interesting articles, podcasts, or products we should check out, you can email us at [email protected].
See you in two weeks! 👋