Jie Zhang, the professor of marketing at University of Maryland’s School of Business recently explained two key factors that contribute to the current inventory glut facing many retailers. These factors have combined to reduce shipping prices and increase inventories in warehouses as retailers like Nike have invested heavily in reducing exposure to physical retail. The timing couldn’t be worse. These are the four points contributing to the current state of the retail economy according to Zhang:
The Instacart OS is less of an ideal now and more of a necessity. In September, Instacart rolled out a suite of new technologies on the heels of two acquisitions that underscored where the company would be investing for the future: omnichannel retail. It wants to be the Shopify of grocery, and CEO Fidji Simo said that customers are going to shop both online and in store, so the company needs to serve retailers in both environments. In a memo at the time, we wrote:
The old adage goes: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” It seems as though Liquid Death’s “laugh at you” stage lasted longer than what is typical. There is a reason that many analysts failed to see the power of Liquid Death. More on that in a moment.
