Ecomdigest Home Decor & Furniture Newsletter - 10.17.2024

PLUS: Salt Life makes waves with new coastal furniture collections in partnership with Magnussen Home

Author

Priscilla Soedarpo
October 17, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Ad Week New York 🎤

ADVERTISING INSIGHTS
Advertising Week NYC Recap

💡 Balancing Fame and Flow in a Post-Privacy Landscape, by Sam Carter, CEO of Fospha.

AdWeek NYC 2024 was packed full of fresh ideas and powerful reminders of evergreen principles. From navigating privacy challenges to ensuring sustainable brand growth, here are my key takeaways that all brands should be implementing:

  1. Balance Fame and Flow: Brands that focus too much on short-term conversions and neglect long-term brand-building efforts fall into the ‘doom loop’, converting only existing demand without generating new demand. Eventually the convertible audience is exhausted, efficiency plummets, and the brand finds itself in trouble. To avoid this, brands need to strike the right balance between conversion and long-term brand awareness to sustain growth.

  2. Go Full-Funnel for Measurement: To balance short and long-term goals of conversion and brand awareness, marketing teams need to be able to measure the impact of both. Last Click attribution chronically undervalues awareness activities, so brands should opt instead for measurement tools that use a full-funnel methodology.

  3. Privacy-Proof Your Tech Stack: With third-party cookies deprecation and new privacy regulations cropping up regularly, brands need to accept the death of user-level data and embrace privacy-centric solutions to future-proof their measurement.

Read the full article here.

Hot in D2C eCommerce 🔥

AI POWERS PRIME
Amazon Prime Big Deal Days 2024 Breaks Records with AI and Innovation (top links below 👇)

Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days 2024 made history with the largest October shopping event ever, saving Prime members over $1 billion globally. This year’s event highlighted Amazon’s cutting-edge AI tools, including its AI assistant, Rufus, and drove massive sales across electronics, toys, and apparel. Top brands like Apple and Dyson offered unbeatable deals, setting the stage for a promising holiday shopping season.

Momentum Commerce reported a 41% sales increase on Day 1, with brands like Crocs and Lego leading the charge, while regions like Canada and Europe saw notable growth despite weather impacts affecting the U.S. Competitors Target and Walmart also launched early sales events, but Amazon's use of innovative shopping tools and AI set it apart in an increasingly competitive market.

For deeper insights into this record-breaking event, explore these key sources:

Specialty Bites 🍪

Lush Decor

Lush Decor's recent unveiling at the New York Home Fashions Market marks a pivotal moment in the intersection of nature and AI innovation. With the introduction of three new collections—Fantasia, Fantasy Floral, and Super Nature—the brand underscores its commitment to creativity and technological advancement. CEO Paola Peretti, who joined the company in February, emphasizes the transformative potential of AI-tested designs, stating that they are not merely products but experiences that inspire. The collections explore the dualistic nature of fantasy, blending dark, seductive elements with dreamy optimism.

The Fantasia collection features whimsical designs with vibrant flowers, birds, and butterflies set against a crisp white background, creating a striking visual contrast. Meanwhile, Fantasy Floral offers a moody, romantic aesthetic with daisies and lavender on a black backdrop, capturing the essence of dark, dreamy spaces. The Super Nature collection, entirely AI-generated, showcases velvet pillows with intricate, otherworldly patterns, highlighting the potential of AI in pushing creative boundaries.

By leveraging AI technology, Lush Decor enhances its ability to align with emerging trends and customer preferences, while also improving production efficiencies. This innovative approach not only sets a new standard in home textiles but also illustrates the brand's forward-thinking ethos, "The Future Is Now”. Lush Decor's New York City showroom, located at 230 Fifth Avenue, suite 906, stands as a testament to this new era of design.

Salt Life is expanding into home furnishings with three new collections in partnership with Magnussen Home, debuting at High Point Market. This move extends their coastal lifestyle brand into home products, supported by digital campaigns and social media, appealing to a younger, active demographic seeking coastal aesthetics.

Mohawk Home

Mohawk Home is making a significant return to New York, showcasing new products from its Foss Floors acquisition and Salt Life license. The company emphasizes innovation, sustainability, and American-made quality. Their non-woven offerings, including sports-themed rugs, highlight expansion and growth, supported by Foss's strong sales force and unique manufacturing process.

Registration is now open for the revamped Las Vegas Market, scheduled for January 26-30, 2025. This event will feature diverse resources, new educational programming, and returning market programs. Highlights include the Business Bootcamp and Market Snapshot, offering insights into industry trends and innovations. Visit the website for registration details.

Consumer card spending in furniture stores rose by 0.3% in September 2024, ending a 20-month decline. Overall card spending increased 1.2% year-on-year, driven by non-essential purchases. Despite economic challenges, consumers are prioritizing joyful spending, showing confidence in managing finances. Retailers' promotions effectively engaged cost-conscious shoppers.

E-commerce sales grew 3.2% YoY in September, marking the first increase since April 2021. Early September saw significant growth, especially in furniture, health, and beauty. Despite later declines, optimism rises for peak trading periods like Black Friday. This suggests a potential recovery in ecommerce performance.

Performance Platters 🍽️

Microsoft is transitioning from its retail media platform, PromoteIQ, to a partnership with Criteo. This shift reflects the evolving retail media landscape, emphasizing the need for adaptable strategies. While PromoteIQ's closure isn't officially announced, the move highlights the importance of resilient, owned architectures in the dynamic ad tech industry.

Amazon's Amelia AI, currently in Beta, aims to assist sellers with insights and advice. While it simplifies tasks for new users, its potential lies in evolving features like competitive analysis and content optimization. Amelia is promising, but its future impact on Amazon sellers remains to be seen.

Advertising Week New York highlighted three key trends: the scarcity of third-party data, the rise of the creator economy, and the pressure on marketers to prove ROI. Brands must leverage first-party data, embrace TikTok's potential, and focus on measurable outcomes to succeed in this evolving landscape.

Ecomdigest is a Contentive publication in the DTC Ecommerce division