Journals, Twitter, and Furniture
Route
With Halloween done, you’re free to use the next three weeks to focus fully on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Get your site ready, dial in those deals, and get ready for another chaotic holiday shopping season.
Don’t worry about keeping up on all of the news, we’ll deliver the need-to-know each week. Just focus on making this holiday season the best yet!
Here’s the lowdown for this week:
The world’s abuzz with the purchase and transition of Twitter to Elon Musk. Plenty could be said about the drama that has ensued, including reportedly laying off half of the staff (then asking some to come back) or the $8/month verification.
But what does it mean for ecommerce retailers?
Advertising is the big shakeup thus far. Major retailers have paused ad spending on the platform since the takeover. Big names like General Motors, General Mills, Audi, and agencies like IPG have jumped off the bus. For how long, who knows?
Musk expressed his frustration with the drop in revenue, but to be fair, Twitter’s ad problems started well before his purchase. Not only does the company lose $4M per day, but the number of advertisers on the platform has fallen from 3,900 in May to 2,900 in September.
So things were already not good with Twitter’s advertising. Musk’s team will likely look for ways to make ads more effective and provide more value to advertisers, without turning users off of the platform. Whether that’s better targeting, new ad formats, or increased ads for non-paid users remains to be seen, though. For retailers, any improvement in how their products can be found will likely be a welcome one.
🪑 Wayfair doesn’t fair well in Q3
👚 Disney+ adds a merch shop to their streaming platform
📦 Dropit raises $25M to unify online and brick-and-mortar inventory
🏠 Jeff Bezos’ former housekeepers sue him for creating an unhealthy work environment
✈️ Not that surprising: After 2 years inside, shoppers are opting to travel more this holiday season
Did you know journaling is good for your health? Not just mental health, but physical health as well! Being open and honest on paper helps decrease anxiety and worry and can actually help you ward off sickness too. It’s not easy, and can be pretty uncomfortable, but journaling has become a popular lifestyle trend as of late. Many people also find that writing down goals helps make them more achievable.
If you’re new to journaling (or if you’re like so many others who have tried and failed several times) and are looking for a high quality, durable journal, The Scribes is the place for you. Not only are The Scribes journals simple enough for everyday use, but for every journal they sell they also donate one to a student in need. It’s like TOMS, but for journals! So improve your life and someone else’s too!
eBay is a surprising winner amid grim stocks and earnings. With bad news swirling around the tech sector, there are still a few bright spots. eBay, for example, saw its stock rise today. Sure, Q3 revenue declined, but investors were happy to see that it hadn’t declined as much as expected. It’s the little things, right? 😃
British furniture retailer Made.com collapses. After struggling with supply chain issues, rising prices on materials and transportation, and customers canceling orders due to long wait times, Made.com has announced they will file for insolvency and trading of shares on the London stock exchange has been halted. More than 500 jobs are at risk as the company failed to find a rescue buyer.
Any juicy news we missed?
👉Let us know at chandler@route.com
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We’ll be back with more news and insights next week!