Commerce Outsights
February 26, 2024
An interview with Clarks’ CMO, a better type of loyalty program, and are people getting tired of TikTok already?
Hello, and welcome to Commerce Outsights—Nebulab’s bi-weekly collection of the best reads, listens, and tools from the world of retail, e-commerce, and DTC.
Yes, we are one day late. Yes, we skipped the last edition. And yes, we changed the newsletter’s name to “Commerce Outsights” because (1) doesn’t it sound better than just “The Outsights,” and (2) we are unfortunately not immune to the tyranny of email open rates.
We might have a few more improvements coming your way in the next weeks, but for the time being, enjoy this week's roundup of the most important news in retail, e-commerce, and DTC.
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
From Art Basel to Roblox: How Clarks Follows in the Footsteps of Customer Muses (13 mins). Our friends at Future Commerce interviewed Tara McRae, Chief Marketing and Digital Officer at Clarks. Among other things, Tara talks about how Clarks managed to stay culturally relevant for 200 years (!), how they think about innovation, and why marketers should look for a dialogue, not a monologue, to win over the modern consumer.
Goings-on
How brands use loyalty programs as a ‘focus group’ to drive growth (5 mins). We've long advocated for leveraging loyalty programs to collect quantitative and qualitative insights directly from your customers. With third-party cookies becoming more and more of a distant future, this is even more relevant now.
Kith’s New Loyalty Program Sets the Bar for Customer Appreciation (4 mins). Speaking of well-designed loyalty programs, here's one for your perusal. Kith launched a brand-new, fully custom loyalty program that is very, very intentional. Nebulab Chief Strategist Alessandro Desantis also wrote about it here.
TikTok usage is starting to slow — is TikTok Shop to blame? (4 mins). Frankly, we find it a bit shortsighted to gauge TikTok's penetration through app downloads alone. That said, it's hard to deny that TikTok is playing with fire with their aggressive plans for TikTok Shop. At what point do consumers get fed up?
Tool of the week
Editor’s note: We don’t accept sponsorships for this newsletter. All product recommendations come from our consulting team.
Gadget. If you’re on Shopify and need to develop a custom app or integrate your store with an exotic third-party system, Gadget is going to be your best friend. It provides your agency or dev team with everything they need to develop custom functionality without going crazy. Check it out!
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.
That’s it for today!
If you’ve come across any interesting articles, podcasts, or tools we should check out, you can email us at [email protected].
See you in two weeks! 👋