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Retail & eCommerce

post thumbnail for The Booming Business of Being a Witch—Selling Spells on Etsy

21 2025 July

The Booming Business of Being a Witch—Selling Spells on Etsy

There was a time when not being a witch was a good survival strategy. Apparently those times have changed. According to ​a new piece from...

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post thumbnail for How To See Through a Manipulated Headline (A Retailwire Case Study)

16 2025 June

How To See Through a Manipulated Headline (A Retailwire Case Study)

One thing I often talk about in this newsletter is honing our media literacy. This week I found a perfect case study to illustrate how...

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post thumbnail for When the Government Refuses to Protect Consumers, Tools Like This Can Fill the Gap

22 2025 May

When the Government Refuses to Protect Consumers, Tools Like This Can Fill the Gap

For over thirty years, the EPA’s Energy Star testing and certification program has helped consumers see how energy-efficient an appliance or electronic device is before...

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post thumbnail for What One Man’s T-Shirt Test Says About Sustainability

08 2025 May

What One Man’s T-Shirt Test Says About Sustainability

For the past two years, startup founder Torleif Markussen Lunde created a quiet test of the sustainability of three comparable white t-shirts. The most expensive was...

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post thumbnail for The Quest to Prevent Scalpers and the Rise of the Freebie Bots

26 2025 March

The Quest to Prevent Scalpers and the Rise of the Freebie Bots

There is a word for people who buy a child’s game when it first comes out and then immediately try to sell it online for...

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post thumbnail for The Subtle Master Plan Behind De Beers New DiamondProof In-Store Verification Device

05 2025 March

The Subtle Master Plan Behind De Beers New DiamondProof In-Store Verification Device

A little over six months ago, De Beers Group announced the DiamondProof “diamond verification instrument” at a jewelry trade show in Las Vegas. The idea was that...

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post thumbnail for Poopy Diapers and How to Destroy a Small Business with Minimal Effort

10 2025 February

Poopy Diapers and How to Destroy a Small Business with Minimal Effort

Paul and Rachelle Baron sell washable swim diapers on Amazon. Like many other small businesses, they use the logistics arm of Amazon to provide distribution...

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post thumbnail for The Age of the AI Chatbot Salesperson Might Have an Unintended Side Effect

05 2025 February

The Age of the AI Chatbot Salesperson Might Have an Unintended Side Effect

Training an employee to do upselling (and be good at it) is notoriously difficult. When it’s done right, it can drive significant revenue for many...

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post thumbnail for The Brilliance of Costco’s New Plan to Build Apartments on Top of Their Stores

16 2025 January

The Brilliance of Costco’s New Plan to Build Apartments on Top of Their Stores

There is a housing shortage in many cities. And there’s a Costco in those cities. In an ambitious new project, the brand is working with...

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post thumbnail for How 2025 Could Become The Year of Reuse

06 2025 January

How 2025 Could Become The Year of Reuse

Every time I would visit India growing up, one sight would fascinate me as we traveled the roads was the number of old Ambassador black...

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post thumbnail for The Biggest Question from the Influencer Suing Another Influencer for “Copying Her Vibe”

26 2024 December

The Biggest Question from the Influencer Suing Another Influencer for “Copying Her Vibe”

Two influencers meet at a fancy hotel in Austin to collaborate on some social media posts. That’s how the story started but it quickly goes...

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post thumbnail for The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Pretending You Care by Norm Feuti

26 2024 November

The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Pretending You Care by Norm Feuti

As we head into a holiday season, the Black Friday deals are already getting published out there and you might be thinking about heading out...

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post thumbnail for Why Branded Reselling Platforms That Allow Customers to Sell Old Products to Each Other May Be Better Than Ebay

04 2024 September

Why Branded Reselling Platforms That Allow Customers to Sell Old Products to Each Other May Be Better Than Ebay

Sustainability-first brands like Patagonia have taken their commitment to reuse to the furthest extreme by creating an entire ecommerce experience dedicated to allowing their customers...

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