Happy Fri-YAY! TGIF 🙌

We made it through another week, and what a week it was! As we head into the weekend, let's take a look at some of the top retail and e-commerce stories from this week:

• The first Amazon Style store opens in Los Angeles this year.
• Ralph Lauren CEO says the company is looking to buy real estate in the metaverse.
• Walmart is venturing into the metaverse with plans of creating virtual goods.

Top Retail and E-commerce Stories

Amazon Forays into Fashion Retail: Amazon Opens First Clothing Store

Amazon Has Launched a Physical Store – But It’s Not What You Think! Amazon is opening a physical retail location for clothing, in the midst of upending brick-and-mortar shopping. The first Amazon Style store, located in Glendale, California, will debut later this year, according to the company.

The store will sell women's and men's apparel, as well as shoes and accessories from a variety of well-known and up-and-coming designers, at reasonable prices that are appropriate for most consumers.

However, shoppers will have to rely heavily on their smartphones in order to gain access to product information and browse styles. 🤔 

Doubling Down on the Metaverse: Ralph Lauren is Betting on the Metaverse to Win Over Young Shoppers

Here's a look inside Ralph Lauren's next big (virtual) investment. After a growing number of fashion brands started to step into the metaverse, with sports fashion giant, Nike, recently acquiring virtual sneaker company, RTFKT and partnering with Roblox to build Nikeland, Ralph Lauren has also decided to take part all the metaverse action. 

Ralph Lauren is taking a new approach to marketing and commerce. The fashion brand has been chasing opportunities in the metaverse, where consumers can already buy their digital apparel with virtual visits where they can even have coffee at the Madison Avenue store!

Currently, the company is considering purchasing real estate in this digitally inspired world where e-commerce, gaming, and social media converge.

Bringing a New Meaning to 'Online Shopping': Walmart Has Set Its Sights on Virtual Goods

Walmart takes aim at the new battle royale of e-commerce--Metaverse. Walmart isn't the first big-box store to show interest in the metaverse, but a major push to expand its services may go a long way toward legitimizing technologies that are crucial to the channel, such as cryptocurrencies. The largest retailer on earth, Walmart, is looking to create a virtual world where customers can buy digital versions of products they would find in the physical store. Walmart's entrance into the metaverse would give the technology a stamp of approval, and more importantly, could bring in a whole new wave of customers.

A LITTLE MORE

• DTC Trends to Watch Out for in 2022
• New Data: 2021 Online Holiday Sales Up 10% 
• The Must-Have Product Characteristics for E-Commerce Domination in 2022

FUN FACT

More than 70% of visits to e-commerce sites are done from mobile devices.

QUICK TIP

Try this. Never underestimate the importance of Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons. CTAs lead to greater conversion rates and improved site usability if you can make them stand out from the rest of your website. Consider the button size, site placement, and contrasting colors when creating your CTA buttons.

TWEET TWEET

“Be undeniably good. No marketing effort or social media buzzword can be a substitute for that.” – Anthony Volodkin

OLDIE BUT A GOODIE

Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, both MIT students, created HubSpot in 2006, and here's how it looked back in the day.