The rest of the world is waking up to the potential of shoppable livestreams, but it’s old news to China’s short-form video players and ecommerce platforms. Short-video leaders Douyin (TikTok’s sister app) and Kuaishou (known outside of China as Kwai) have been expanding their social commerce operations, not just to sell products, but to provide services and other forms of content as well.
A direct-to-consumer (D2C) strategy wasn’t top-of-mind when soda brand Olipop launched in 2017. In fact, during its first year of business, the brand didn’t even have a website—primarily relying on retail brick-and-mortar partnerships to drive sales. But last year, everything changed.
Disney's pivot to streaming is ramping up: Streaming is beginning to perform better than both its theatrical and TV segments, which makes it very likely that the company will focus more heavily on streaming in the future.
Virginia passes privacy law: It's the second state to do so after California, but its bill differs in many ways, which could make compliance difficult for businesses unless a federal law is passed.
Instacart's ad biz heats up: The company is beefing up its retail ad network with new investments and hires, which could help it become one of the biggest retail media networks behind Amazon and Walmart.