The Watson Weekly: eCommerce Strategy & News

It’s July 25th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show we celebrate the one year anniversary of The Watson Weekly. Executive Producer, David Hoffman, of series production partner, CitizenRacecar, sits down with Rick to discuss the show’s amazing first year.   For more news from Rick, check out:  https://www.rmwcommerce.com...

It’s July 18th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  Coatue’s view of the market is cautious but still optimistic about GoodFirms long-term Glut of goods at Target and Walmart is good for liquidators Victoria’s Secret restructures its management team and executes layoffs Amazon Prime Day recap: always crazy but still great...

It’s July 11th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  FedEx announces new strategy based on revenue quality, mirroring UPS’s  approach. Instacart and Walmart Canada launch a virtual convenience store. TikTok cancels eCommerce plans in the US after terrible results in a UK test. Shopify launches editions and invests in conten...

Happy Independence Day!  It’s July 4th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  Nike reports strong growth in its direct-to-consumer business in recent earnings Bed Bath and Beyond looks for a new CEO as the company resets again Pinterest CEO steps aside as Bill Ready joins as CEO Is Amazon planning a second prime day in October, an...

It’s June 27th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  Global-e Acquires Borderfree In Further Consolidation of Cross-Border Market eBay Acquires NFT Marketplace KnownOrigin As Part of Its Metaverse Investments Walmart and Roku Team Up on Bringing Commerce to the TV Amazon Shuffles Its Consumer Team Leadership And Appoints Doug Herringt...

It’s June 20th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  The Great Resignation moves to Amazon as Amazon Consumer CEO, Dave Clark, departs Instant delivery firm, Jokr, announces it’s leaving the US market TheRealRealFounder out as we hold our breath for the second hand shoe to drop Amazon announces Prime Day on July 12th and 13th to...

It’s June 13th, 2022, and this is the Watson Weekly - Your essential eCommerce Digest.   Rick is out of town this week, but today on our show we have a new special edition interview with Hamaad Akmal, the Head of Operations and Global Logistics for trusted sneaker marketplace GOAT. Hamaad spends his days chasing fraudsters across the planet and creating a seamless supply chain experienc...

Rick is out of town this week but today on our show, we have a new special edition interview with a dear friend, John Lawson.  John ColderICE Lawson is one of the OGs of eCommerce, and a small business coach for growing eCommerce sellers.  Today’s episode is a wide-ranging interview on a number of interesting topics such as: - How do you compete against Amazon as a retailer or bran...

It’s May 30th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  Stripe launches new app marketplace  What do recent earnings calls say about the state of the consumer? Ulta announces its own retail media network in beauty Secondhand US market to reach $82 Billion by 2026 And the Investor Minute which contains 3 items this week from the world...

It’s May 23rd, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  Walmart’s quarterly profitability miss confirms economic slowdown REI’s circular commerce efforts show great progress Klarna’s new virtual shopping feature makes me worry for Buy-Now-Pay-Later Target Q1 2022 earnings highlights short-term profit challenges, but long...

It’s May 16th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  Instacart files for a confidential IPO after reducing its valuation Amazon shuts down its Selz acquisition with recent launch of Buy with Prime Shopify moves into the advertising space with launch of Shopify Audiences Amazon launches last mile rural delivery with independent convenience st...

It’s May 9th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  Shopify finalizes its $2.1 billion Deliverr acquisition Warehouse market influx could mean opportunities for Amazon Walmart invests in apparel with launch of new private label activewear line Amazon aggregator Thrasio starts layoffs and and names new CEO What the heck is the economy d...

Good Morning Watsonians! The production team is sad to report that Rick is a bit under the weather this week, so we're taking a quick break. We'll be back with the latest eCommerce news next Monday! 

It’s April 25th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  The United States Postal Service released its mail plan for America Is the Buy Now, Pay Later industry fundamentally flawed? Walmart’s digital services growth gets another boost by adding PayPal’s CFO Amazon CEO, Andy Jassy, released his first shareholder lette r And th...

It’s April 18th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  Etsy Strike Fizzles Out Before It Begins Kroger and Bed Bath & Beyond launch eCommerce site Target Tiptoes Back Into Resale with New ThredUp Partnership Shopify Makes a Succession Plan for CEO Tobi Lutke, Among Other Human And the Investor Minute which contains six items this w...

It’s April 11th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  Cross-border Marketplace Farfetch Invests in Neiman Marcus Group Raj Subramaniam is Promoted to President and CEO of FedEx Macy’s, Inc. Expands Supply Chain Operations with New Fulfillment Center In North Carolina Amazon Workers in Staten Island Voted to Unionize And the Inve...

It’s April 4th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  Red warning lights flashing on economy from recent retail earnings call EU passes sweeping privacy legislation called Digital Markets Act eCommerce brand SHEIN solidifying fast-fashion lead over its apparel rivals Target’s transformation has been powered by data science And th...

It’s March 28th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  Guggenheim Partners research highlights recent eCommerce trends to notice Is this the beginning of the end for a lot of Amazon roll up companies? FedEx strategy and execution issues on full display at recent earnings call Google enters last mile supply chain space with its last mil...

It’s March 21st, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  Retail Stores Will Completely Die, Says Tech Investor Marc Andreessen Walmart Sees Stores as Linchpin of Last-Mile Strategy Macy’s Trying Very Hard to Stay Ahead of the Reaper New Data Suggests Amazon is Gaining Share in eCommerce And the Investor Minute which contains five i...

It’s March 14th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  Kohl’s looks to stave off activist investors by transforming itself Nordstrom plots ad expansion as its new retail media network generates $40 million Shopify launches a shipping platform in Europe with Shippo as its partner Amazon continues to invest in the eCommerce softwar...

Welcome to a Special Edition non-weekly episode of the Watson Weekly!  This is the start of a new series where every few months, we will be doing interviews with a series of interesting people. I get asked from time to time about having guests on the show, as it would allow me to do a deeper dive on topics that perhaps I only have a few minutes to cover in a typical show. This week’s gu...

It’s March 7th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  Brands may need retailers more than they realize. Amazon continues to make digital investments in its stores with cashierless technology and display advertising. Grocer Albertsons starts a strategic review of its business. Target 2021 Q4 earnings roundup highlights continued focus o...

It’s February 28th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:    Walmart enters an economic environment that plays to the company’s strengths   Postal service launches new next-day local shipping service called USPS Connect Activist investor Daniel Loeb sees $1 trillion dollars of untapped value in Amazon Macy’s not br...

It’s February 21st, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  What if Amazon is the best-positioned company to diversify sellers off Amazon? Shopify Q4 2021 earnings shows growth but there are still strategy concerns Hasbro and Mattel’s opposite economic views of toys’ industry future may have implications for other brands 2021...

It’s February 14th, 2022 and this is the Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest! Today on the show:  Recent earnings calls indicate that Meta’s advertising lead is shrinking quickly, and Google is the biggest beneficiary CMS and eCommerce churn data shows WordPress maintaining market lead, Shopify gaining on WooCommerce Amazon advertising graduates from "Other" and 3P sel...