Retail & Merchandising

Most tech prototypes are built to be sold. These are built to break the rules of physics. Would you use this phone? When people see a fully transparent smartphone prototype, the immediate question is always: "When can I buy one?" But they are missing the point. These devices aren't consumer products—they are high-stakes, multi-million dollar experimental platforms designed to accelerate hardware R&D by a decade. Right now, transparent display technology is accelerating at an unprecedented pace: Transparent OLED (T-OLED): Currently achieving 40% to 45% transparency in active commercial and transit deployments. MicroLED: Pushing the boundaries even further, targeting over 60% transparency alongside massive leaps in nits (brightness) and energy efficiency. The Investment: Industry titans like Samsung, LG, BOE, and Lenovo are pouring billions into these concepts not for immediate retail ROI, but to solve future manufacturing bottlenecks early. The real engineering challenge, however, isn’t the screen. It’s the invisible wall behind it. The Data Behind the "Impossible" Phone A modern flagship is a dense metropolis of opaque tech. To make a phone transparent, you have to completely re-engineer components that naturally refuse to disappear: The Volume Problem: Smartphone batteries occupy 35% to 45% of a device's internal volume. There is currently no commercially viable way to make high-density lithium-ion transparent. The Thermal Load: Modern mobile SoCs regularly generate thermal loads exceeding 10W+ during intensive AI workloads. Transparent substrates are historically terrible thermal conductors, leading to rapid overheating. The Optical Barrier: Image sensors require isolated, dark optical pathways. If light leaks into the camera housing from the back of the phone, the sensor is blinded. This is why today's wildest prototypes still hide their guts in thick bottom chins, utilize opaque side rails, or drastically sacrifice battery capacity just to maintain the optical illusion. Early OLED panels were dim, expensive, and suffered from catastrophic burn-in. Early foldable hinges failed after a few thousand folds. Early EV batteries lacked the energy density for practical daily use. Iterative, aggressive prototyping solved all of them. Today, Generative AI is accelerating this hardware loop even faster. By using AI-assisted simulation, engineers can model thermal dissipation, optimize structural layouts, and test thousands of optical design concepts digitally—compressing traditional 5-year R&D cycles into months. The prototype isn't a gimmick. It’s the blueprint for the future of human-machine interaction. #Technology #Innovation #AI #Engineering #OLED #MicroLED #FutureTech #Semiconductors #SpatialComputing #IndustrialDesign

One image just disrupted a £22 billion fashion empire more effectively than a thousand sustainability reports. 🔥 This isn't an official SHEIN campaign gone wrong. It's artist Emanuele Morelli's AI creation—a haunting visualisation showing what fast fashion's "affordability" really costs us. The image speaks volumes: a SHEIN billboard where the model's flowing dress transforms into a cascade of textile waste. Art communicating what statistics alone cannot. 5 uncomfortable truths this image forces us to confront: 1. The scale of fashion waste is staggering → 92 million tonnes of textile waste produced annually  → The equivalent of one rubbish lorry of textiles dumped every second  → Most fast fashion items designed to be worn fewer than 10 times 2. The business model depends on our amnesia → Constantly changing trends keep us buying  → Ultra-low prices remove financial friction  → Digital marketing creates artificial scarcity and FOMO  → We're trained to forget yesterday's purchases 3. The true cost isn't on the price tag → Environmental damage from production chemicals  → Microplastics shedding into water systems  → Supply chain ethics compromised for speed and cost  → Communities near production sites bearing health consequences 4. Our definition of "affordable" is broken → When clothing is cheaper than a coffee, someone else is paying  → True cost spread across communities, environments, and future generations  → Psychological cost of constant consumption never factored in 5. Solutions exist but require systemic change → Circular fashion models gaining traction  → Rental and resale markets growing rapidly  → Consumer awareness rising but needs to translate to behaviour While SHEIN isn't the only culprit in the fast fashion ecosystem, Morelli's artwork throws a spotlight on an uncomfortable reality we've normalised. What we wear reflects our values more than our taste. What is your wardrobe saying about yours? Image: Emanuele Morelli ♻️ Found this helpful? Repost to share with your network.  ⚡ Want more content like this? Hit follow Maya Moufarek.

At airtel, I ran an iPhone giveaway marketing campaign three times, and to my surprise, none of them performed. Logically, you’d think offering a prize as attractive as an iPhone, especially during the launch period, would drive massive engagement. The assumption is that everyone would rush to participate, download your app, engage with the campaign, and complete the required actions. But what actually happened was the opposite. Engagement was shockingly, embarrassingly low. In contrast, campaigns that offered much smaller rewards—like a ₹1,000 or ₹500 voucher, or even just a free mobile recharge—generated higher participation rates, more app downloads, and greater overall engagement. But why does this happen? This outcome can be largely attributed to consumer psychology. When the reward seems too large or unattainable, people instinctively doubt their chances of winning. The concept of *perceived probability* comes into play here. When the prize is something as high-value as an iPhone, people immediately think, "What are the odds that I’ll actually win?" This skepticism causes them to disengage and not even bother trying, as they don't see the reward as realistically achievable. On the other hand, smaller, more attainable rewards feel within reach. A ₹1,000 voucher or a free recharge doesn’t carry the same sense of improbability. People feel like they have a real shot at winning something smaller, which encourages them to take the necessary actions, leading to better campaign results. In essence, psychology plays a far more critical role in shaping consumer behavior than we give it credit for.

Replenishment isn’t a side feature, it’s a force multiplier. This is a big mistake. We’ve seen replenishment flows outperform promos and win-back emails combined. They convert better every time with the right timing and zero customer effort. Brands overspend on ads to win new customers, then forget to win them again. They need to predict exactly when a customer needs to repurchase and trigger the message at the perfect moment. Not too soon, not too late. Just right. ++ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 – 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗶𝘅 𝗜𝘁 ++  𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 ✅ Fix: Replenit’s AI triggers proactive reminders across channels exactly when customers are likely to run out, via the brand's own marketing automation vendors, without any migration. 𝗣𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 ✅ Fix: Multichannel orchestration (SMS, push, email) with personalized timing based on consumption behavior. 𝗡𝗼 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 ✅ Fix: Smart upsell bundles, urgency messages (“running low?”), and loyalty integration improve reorder ROI.   • Food & Beverage, pet food and treats, wellness & beauty products hold the highest repeat purchase potential, being very high due to frequent, perishable-driven consumption patterns. • Online groceries and FMCG rank high in habitual/impulsive behavior, presenting a strong fit for mobile push and SMS-driven replenishment campaigns. Brands like Glosel turned a leaky bucket into a revenue engine with Replenit’s AI-powered multichannel replenishment flows. 🚀 53.75% more automation revenue 🛒 +28% higher AOV 📲 100% of the Multichannel approach, email, SMS & Push channel revenue -12X Higher Engagement Rate Why does it work? Because Replenit activates timely, no-effort reorders across email, SMS, push, and more. Most brands forget to remind customers. ++ 𝟯 𝗧𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀 ++ 1️⃣ Make Replenishment an Always-On Growth Engine Don’t treat it as a postscript. Integrate replenishment flows as a core revenue pillar in your retention strategy. 2️⃣ Automate Across Channels With Smart Triggers Use AI-powered solutions to trigger SMS, email, and push notifications based on usage cycles, not guesswork. 3️⃣ Track and Optimize With First-Party Data Loops Leverage Replenit’s dashboards to identify top retention products, run experiments on timing, and iterate continuously. 𝗧𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 ecommert® 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟰,𝟮𝟬𝟬+ 𝗖𝗣𝗚, 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘁® : 𝗖𝗣𝗚 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. About ecommert We partner with CPG businesses and leading technology companies of all sizes to accelerate growth through AI-driven digital commerce solutions. #CPG #ecommerce #Replenishment #AI #FMCG

Loyalty is failing. Gen Z & long-term commitment. 22% of Gen Z consumers consider themselves loyal to one brand is a clear warning for legacy loyalty strategies. Unlike previous generations, Gen Z doesn’t see brand loyalty as a long-term commitment, they’re loyal to moments, not just names. +43% increase in engagement and sales conversions among Gen Z Beauty brands offering "limited-edition drops" and collaborative experiences. +71% Gen Z say they would rather spend money on an experience than a product. >>Loyalty is FAILING, but why<< +Transactional systems feel outdated: Point-based rewards for repeat purchases don’t excite this audience. They expect more than discounts or free samples. +They’re brand-agnostic but experience-driven: Gen Z freely switches between brands if the experience, aesthetic, or values feel fresher or more aligned with their identity. +They buy into stories, not just products: They want to align with brands that represent something, social causes, cultural movements, or communities they relate to. >>DYNAMIC LOYALTY<< What’s this? as it name indicates its a system that rewards interaction, aligns with their values, and constantly evolves. And that is what your brand needs. → Create experience-driven loyalty programs: Offer early access to limited drops, invite-only events, or backstage content. Think like a fan club, not a punch card. +Example: A loyalty tier that unlocks tickets to a pop-up experience or an exclusive AR filter. →Let them co-create: Invite Gen Z customers to co-develop product ideas, designs, or campaign themes. Give them ownership in your brand’s creative journey. +Example: Voting on packaging designs or joining beta tester groups. →Align with their values: Sustainability, inclusivity, and social good aren’t nice-to-haves. they’re expectations. Use loyalty programs to reward actions too, like recycling, sharing causes, or supporting small creators. +Example: “Earn loyalty points by returning empties or attending a sustainability workshop.” →Deliver constant novelty: Rotate limited editions regularly. Use scarcity and surprise to create FOMO and buzz. +Gen Z doesn’t commit to a single brand, but they’ll keep returning if each visit feels fresh and share-worthy. →Go omnichannel but social-first. Should live across TikTok, Instagram, pop-ups, and web. Let them earn or unlock rewards through social engagement, not just purchases. +Example: A user gets exclusive content or perks for creating UGC with your brand. Bottom Line. Loyalty must be earned over and over through experience, relevance, and emotional connection. Think dynamic loyalty: a system that rewards interaction and go for it. Find my curated search of examples and get ready for your next HIT. Featured Brands: Balmain Benefit Chanel Charlotte tilbury Cerave Fennty L’Oreal OGX YSL #beautypackaging #beautybusiness #beautyprofessionals #experienceretail #luxuryexperiences #genz

"Is $20/month too much for our product?" Instead of guessing, we used the Van Westendorp method to find our pricing sweet spot. 4 questions revealed exactly what users would pay (and we haven't touched our pricing since). Here's the framework any founder can steal: 1. Send a survey to actual users, not prospects We surveyed people already using Gamma. They understood the real value of our product, not hypothetical value. Too many founders survey their waitlist or randomly select people who have never used their product. That's like asking someone who's never driven about car prices. 2. Ask these 4 specific questions - At what price would this be too expensive for you to consider it? - At what price is it expensive but still delivering value? - At what price does it feel like a bargain? - At what price is it so cheap you'd question if it's reliable? These create bookends for perceived value. You're mapping the entire spectrum of price psychology, not just asking "what would you pay?" 3. Plot the responses and find where the lines intersect Graph responses from lots of users. Where "too expensive" and "too cheap" lines cross: that's your acceptable range. Where "expensive but fair" meets "bargain": this is your optimal price point. 4. Test within the range, don't just pick the middle The intersection gives you a range, not a number. We ran pricing experiments within that range to see actual conversion rates. A survey shows willingness to pay; testing reveals actual behavior. 5. Lean towards generous (especially for product-led growth) We chose to be more generous with AI usage than our "optimal" price suggested. Word-of-mouth growth matters more than maximizing initial revenue. Not everything shows up in the numbers. 6. Lock it in and stop tinkering Once you find the sweet spot through data, stick with it. We haven't changed pricing in 2 years. Every month debating pricing is a month not improving product. Remember: pricing is a signal, not just a number (Image: First Principles)

Heritage brands are having a moment but not the nostalgic kind. In the past 6 months, I’ve had more conversations than ever with FMCG and retail CEOs asking the same question: How do we evolve without losing what made us iconic? One CEO I recently spoke with said it best: “In order to grow, we’ll have to expand beyond the category that built us.” This from a French heritage brand that has sold over a billion units of one signature product, now facing flatline growth as consumer behavior shifts under their feet. This challenge isn’t unique. It’s playing out across legacy CPG, fashion, beauty, and retail. → The categories that built these brands? No longer guaranteed to sustain them. → The traditional talent playbooks? Often too rigid to reimagine the future. That’s why I teamed up with brand and growth strategist Linda De Vito to unpack what it actually takes to revitalize without erasing. Here’s what stood out: 1. Core values must be your north star. Heritage brands that scale into new categories without anchoring to brand DNA lose more than market share — they lose trust. 2. Think beyond your own box. Many traditional FMCG marketers are brilliant at operating within their category — but struggle to break out. This is where cross-pollination matters. Bringing in talent from adjacent industries (fashion, entertainment, digital culture) unlocks new creative energy. Sometimes the right person to ask “What if…?” is the one who’s never been in your category. 3. Test, learn, repeat. Linda put it perfectly: “You don’t need to go 100% in from the start.” Whether it’s expanding into adjacent categories or showing up on new platforms (like she did taking Hearst from 2 to 20 TikTok brand accounts), pilot first, then scale. 4. Case in point: New Balance. From “dad shoe” to fashion staple and they did it without abandoning craftsmanship. Or the LEGO Group, which built an entire adult fandom by tapping into nostalgia and creative identity. Their “Adults Welcome” line now anchors their growth story. The real shift? It’s not just category expansion. It’s cultural transformation. From product-led to brand-led. From transactional to relational. Because heritage isn’t just something you protect, it’s something you activate. One stat that jumped out: The global corporate heritage data market is projected to grow from $656.7M to $2.2B by 2030. That’s not just sentiment, that’s strategy. If you’re a CEO of a heritage brand navigating this crossroads, my advice is this: ✅ Know what must never change. ✅ Be brave enough to question everything else. Curious to hear: What’s one heritage brand you think is getting it right in 2025? Drop it below. #HeritageBrand #FMCGLeadership #BrandTransformation #ExecutiveSearch #ConsumerGoods #LindaDeVito #CPGLeadership #CategoryExpansion

CFO: What’s a good ROAS target for 2025? CMO: The lower, the better. CFO: That doesn’t make sense. Why would we aim for lower ROAS? Isn’t that the opposite of what we’re trying to do? CMO: Not at all. ROAS obsession is where so many brands get it wrong. By focusing on short-term returns, they build a growth model that depends entirely on spending money to acquire customers. And that’s not sustainable. CFO: But don’t we need to acquire customers? Isn’t that the goal? CMO: Yes, but the goal shouldn’t be to constantly buy customers through paid ads. The real objective is to build a brand so powerful and resonant that people come directly to us when they’re ready to buy. No ads, no promotions—just a deep emotional connection to our brand that puts us top of mind. CFO: That sounds great in theory, but doesn’t building that connection mean spending more with lower returns? CMO: It does in the short term. Here’s the deal: at any given time, only about 5% of your audience is actively shopping for what we sell. For that 5%, ads focused on product, price, and promotion perform well. But for the other 95%? Those ads don’t resonate because they’re not in-market. That’s where branding comes in. CFO: And branding means advertising to the 95% who aren’t ready to buy? CMO: Exactly. The downside is that this effort will show lower ROAS because it’s not driving immediate conversions. But here’s the fantastic news—reaching that 95% is astronomically cheaper because they aren’t being bid on by every competitor in the category. CFO: So what’s the benefit of reaching them when they’re not shopping? CMO: When they’re not in-market, they’re less focused on rational factors like price and features. That’s the perfect time to build an emotional connection. If you connect with them then, by the time they’re in the 5%, they already know, trust, and want your brand. They don’t even shop around. CFO: You’re saying this makes us harder to compete with? CMO: Exactly. Competitors can match our price, promotions, and even features. But they can’t replicate our brand. A strong brand creates a value proposition that draws customers directly to us, bypassing the whole ad ecosystem entirely. CFO: So what’s the long-term play here? CMO: By focusing on branding and building this connection with the 95%, we’re creating future-proof growth. It’s not about immediate ROAS—it’s about turning our audience into loyal customers who seek us out on their own. That’s how we reduce dependency on paid acquisition and build a scalable, profitable business. CFO: Alright, I’m starting to see the bigger picture. Let’s talk about how we balance the short and long term in the budget. And next time, lead with this when you say “lower ROAS.” CMO: I like to get you all worked up sometimes. Lets me know I’m truly alive.

Six years ago, I took over marketing at a company that went to 40 trade shows per year, and I cut that to 4. When I joined CoLab to lead marketing, we had zero conferences planned. I booked 2 the first year, and increased it to 6 the following year. What happened? Did my opinion on trade shows do a 180? Nope - the black and white pro - trade show vs. anti - trade show narrative is just an oversimplification. Most companies can go to at least a couple shows per year and get a positive ROI. Problem is - most companies are going to way more than a couple of shows per year and they have no idea which ones produce a positive ROI. You actually need a decent amount of rigor and discipline to figure this out. If you scale your conference spend too fast, you'll skip important retrospectives. It's easy to end up in the first scenario I described, where I had to cut trade shows by 90% in a year. Here's what you should do instead: 1) Start with a manageable number of conferences (no more than 1-2 per quarter, unless you have someone working on it full time) 2) Define success criteria going in: - You should have a qualified pipeline target - You should have tight definitions for what constitutes qualified pipeline, in the context of a conference - If you want to measure success based on other things (like establishing partnerships, moving in pipeline opps forward, etc.), figure those things out ahead of time too 3) After each show, do a retro and understand whether you achieved or missed your success criteria 4) If you missed, figure out why: - Is it a bad show for you? (e.g. not enough good fit ICP attendees) - Or could you make something of it, with some tweaks to your own execution? If it's the latter, you can go back again next year and test the new approach. Just like your email list, your trade show portfolio is something you should be constantly managing and "pruning" Most companies don't apply this level of rigor, which is why most trade show + conference programs are really, really wasteful. #b2bmarketing

Retail is dead. Foot traffic is down across the board. That’s the narrative we hear over and over being pushed in the media. Yet TALA - Grace Beverley’s brand born online - has opened their first physical store in Carnaby Street this weekend, to queues around Soho & a sell-out ticketed event. So rather than being dead, what if the role of brand retail has simply transformed? My take 👉 The store is no longer solely top of the funnel or entirely about discoverability. It’s the destination. The community hub. The clubhouse. It’s where content becomes tangible. Where brand world becomes real world. Where you walk through the door and it feels like stepping into their Instagram, their TikToks, their values. We’re not just talking racks and rails - there’s a coffee bar, photobooths, events, and experiences. This is community-led commerce. It’s a cultural space disguised as a high street shop. And I believe this is where we see the real revival of the high street - not as a retail destination, but as a brand world brought to life. A place to deepen connection with your community - ultimately strengthening the life time value of that customer. The blueprint is clear: Content captures. Community keeps. IRL deepens. TALA joins the ranks of Gymshark, Odd Muse and Glossier, Inc. - brands that built strong digital tribes before laying a single brick and now use their stores as destinations for the community to connect IRL. And in a world where discovery is unpredictable - spanning podcasts, group chats, TikToks and Substack - trying to funnel people in linearly is a lost cause. The smartest brands aren’t forcing a path. They’re showing up where their community already is & then inviting them in deeper. Retail isn’t dead. It’s reinventing itself & I'm so here for it. Calling it now - your favourite digital brand worlds will manifest in real life in the next 18 months whether through pop ups or permanent stores. Mark my words!