The Week in Commerce Marketing — Retail, E-commerce and DTC: November 8, 2024 edition

Welcome to The Week in Commerce Marketing — Retail, E-commerce and DTC, a weekly roundup for marketers from Quad Insights.

Lowe’s is making it a whole lot easier for homeowners to maintain their homes with the introduction of the Lowe’s Digital Home Platform, a resource developed by Lowe’s Innovation Labs and available exclusively to MyLowe’s Rewards members. With free access to personalized information about products in customers’ homes, including warranties and manuals, as well as how-to content and maintenance suggestions, the platform is designed to serve as a home’s “digital twin” and delivers on the retailer’s Total Home Strategy, per a Lowe’s statement. While the initial launch of the Lowe’s Digital Home Platform includes only home appliances, the retailer plans to expand it to include other products as well. Appliances purchased over the last five years via a customer’s MyLowe’s Rewards account will automatically appear in their rewards profile; rewards members can also manually add appliances.

Previously: “Lowe’s launches Apple Vision Pro app enabling customers to create and share their ‘dream kitchen,’” from the July 7 edition of The Week in Retail.

More retailer and e-commerce news:

• “Kroger to open 2 Asian grocery store concepts in Texas next year” (Grocery Dive)
• “Target opens products to social influencer platform” (Chain Store Age)
• “On Continues US Retail Expansion With New Chicago and NYC Flagships” (Footwear News)
• “Amazon, Walmart, and Target offer ‘returnless refunds.’ Who’s eligible?” (Fast Company)
• “Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Acquires Additional Big Lots Stores” (Store Brands)
• “Walmart And Amazon Are Rolling Out AI Shopping Assistants For Holiday 2024” (Forbes)

Amazon launched a 2024 holiday campaign this week centered around the classic Burt Bacharach and Hal David song “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” Marketing Dive’s Peter Adams reports. Titled “Midnight Opus,” the ad follows a theater janitor whose dreams of a singing career never materialized, “as evidenced by a younger photo of himself hung on his locker door,” Adams notes. With the help of fellow theater staffers, who purchase a tuxedo jacket for him on Amazon, the janitor takes the stage to deliver a stirring rendition of the song. “Midnight Opus” is running across various platforms, including linear TV and, of course, Amazon Prime Video.

Previously:

• “Amazon Prime previews new business competition show ‘Buy It Now,’” from the Oct. 4 edition of this column.
• “Amazon launches branded content series ‘Celebrity Substitute’ on YouTube,” from the Oct. 25 edition of this column.

More holiday-focused campaigns and activations:

• “Best Buy pushes tech in holiday ad series” (Retail Dive)
• “Wolverine Boots Celebrates Workers Who Make the Holidays Happen” (Footwear News)
• “SharkNinja and David Beckham help consumers ‘Ninja the Holidays’” (Marketing Dive)
• “LEGO Taps Cataclaws to Spread Holiday Cheer, Power Retail Sales” (The Toy Book)
• “American Independent Business Alliance Brings Back Annual ‘Shop Indie’ Holiday Campaign” (Retail TouchPoints)
• ICYMI: “Gap’s Creator Choir Throws it Back to the ’90s With a Festive Janet Jackson Cover” (Adweek)
• ICYMI: “Etsy’s holiday campaign shows a real-life ‘Where’s Waldo’” (Ad Age)

That’s the time it took marathoner Kevin Leimkuhler to complete the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 3, while donning a pair of the Croc’s brand’s classic clogs, per Footwear News. Leimkuhler broke the world record for the fastest marathon time while wearing a pair of Crocs. (See more industry and marketing stats in the most recent edition of The Weekly 10 from Quad Insights.)

Previously: “Bath & Body Works partners with Crocs on new shoe collection,” from the July 12 edition of The Week in Retail.

Two limited-edition basketballs co-designed by WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark and Wilson Sporting Goods are now available for purchase exclusively at Hy-Vee stores, Progressive Grocer’s Bridget Goldschmidt reports. Part of the Wilson Sporting Goods Inspire Series, the Tribute ball in black, yellow and white “pays homage to Clark’s time with the University of Iowa women’s basketball team,” while the Dreamer ball in shades of purple, blue and yellow “aims to encourage current and future athletes to follow their dreams,” Goldschmidt notes. The balls are available at select Hy-Vee stores through the end of the year.

Previously: “Gatorade reboots ‘Is It In You?’ in largest campaign ever, featuring Michael Jordan, Caitlin Clark and others,” from the May 31 edition of The Week in Consumer Packaged Goods.

See also: “Clark, Curry, Kelce: Basketball and football players have big fan appeal” (Marketing Brew)

More notable brand collaborations:

• “Forever 21 X Wicked’s Collection Captures the Magic of the Film” (Trend Hunter)
• “Smashbox Collaborates with Mexican-Based Fashion Brand Ilka” (Beauty Packaging)
• “Timex and Fortnite Join Forces in a Fun Timepiece Collection” (Trend Hunter)
• ICYMI: “Wrangler Goes Wild with Happy Socks” (Rivet)
• ICYMI: “Madhappy Brings a Punch of Color to Danner’s Mountain Light Boot in New Collab” (Footwear News)

E.l.f. Beauty just announced a partnership with Dollar General, Reuters’ Ananya Mariam Rajesh reports. Through the partnership, e.l.f. products — already a staple in larger retailers such as Walmart, Target and Ulta Beauty — will be available for purchase at select Dollar General stores, which largely serve “families with an annual income less than $35,000,” Rajesh notes.

Previously:

• “e.l.f. Cosmetics is now the first beauty brand to become an official partner of the Indy 500,” from the May 24 edition of The Week in Direct-to-Consumer.
• “e.l.f. Beauty launches ‘Dupe That!’ campaign encouraging brands to duplicate its efforts to do good,” from the Oct. 25 edition of this column.

See also: “E.l.f. Beauty sales to rise as demand for mass market beauty products grow” (Reuters)

More brand-retailer partnerships:

• “NEOM Wellbeing launches at Ulta” (Drug Store News)
• “Snapchat Launches Snapchat+ Gift Cards in Retail Stores” (Social Media Today)

Product launches:

• “Lee Launches Totes and Handbags” (Rivet)
• “Kenneth Cole Bottles Up Vibrancy of New York City with New Fragrance” (Happi)
• “Outerwear brand Hawke & Co. to relaunch” (Fashion Dive)
• ICYMI: “The ‘Bedsure x Iconic Collection’ Pays Homage to Marilyn Monroe” (Trend Hunters)