The dream of the DTC exit is fading Despite experiencing unprecedented sales declines, some retailers are still willing to open their wallets. At least, Lululemon proved it was when the athleisure brand announced last week that it was acquiring Mirror, a connected fitness startup that it had previously acquired, for $500 million. The news was largely celebrated as...
- How DTC startups fall flat in marketing their values
Direct-to-consumer startup founders have found themselves in a number of unprecedented situations over the past three months -- from having to keep their company afloat while stores were closed to having employees confront them about racism within the company. Many of these same startups have also found themselves in hot...
- As cities reopen, the DTC store strategy is changing
While the first generation of DTC brands waited years to launch retail stores to build up their online business, newer DTC brands have been much more eager to launch stores within their first couple of years in business. Many of them are now cutting back on the number of stores...
- As calls for improving diversity increase, many VCs are silent
Over the past two weeks, there's been a flood of direct-to-consumer startups issuing statements about steps they will take to better support the black community, and build more diverse companies. But venture capitalists have remained largely quiet. "People are scared -- even though they want to do the right thing,...
- The most important thing DTC startups can do is build diverse companies
DTC startups have responded to events of the past week in a couple of ways. The first is by affirming their support for Black Lives Matter on social media, and pledging to fight against systemic injustice. Some brands followed that with pledges to donate to organizations like the NAACP Legal...
Stitch Fix considered moving stylist jobs away from California for over a year, according to leaked audio Stitch Fix’s decision to lay off the majority of its California-based stylists is something that the company has been discussing for over a year, the company’s vice president of operations, Minesh Shah told impacted stylists on Monday. In a recording obtained by Modern Retail, Shah said that the layoffs were...
- The coming months will make or break the DTC boom
Over the past two months, digitally native startups have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of store closures. Part of this growth was due to the fact that shoppers had fewer options. Now, shoppers have more options as stores open back up in more states. The coming months will prove...
- Facebook Shops present both opportunity and questions to DTC brands
Over the past year, Facebook hasn't been shy about its e-commerce ambitions. So, it didn't come entirely as a surprise on Tuesday when Facebook announced that it would be launching customizable online storefronts called Facebook Shops, as part of its quest to get customers to think of Facebook and Instagram...
- ‘More efficient than before’: DTC startups are rethinking the role of the office
Now that companies have roughly two months of working remotely under their belts, all CEOs are grappling with if, and when, they should call employees back to the office. Many CEOs are trying to figure out exactly what that will look like. For some, it may mean getting a smaller...