Member Briefing: “136 Days”—Inside Yotpo’s Brand Turnaround
Welcome to Friday, futurists.
Today we’re excited to deliver an exclusive member benefit to Future Commerce Plus subscribers: a briefing on the turnaround effort at Yotpo.
In addition to our new column, The London Brief, our coverage at Future Commerce is changing and expanding to serve the executive audience, all to help you see around the next corner.
If you’re not yet a member of Future Commerce Plus, I encourage you to join. In addition to exclusive content and 20% off events, print, and merch, you’ll get immediate access to all of the video content from VISIONS Summit: NYC, including our sessions with Kyle Chayka and Alison Roman.
Exclusive Member Briefing: “136 Days”
When Eli Weiss joined Yotpo, he saw potential where others saw problems.
With Weiss at the helm, Yotpo leadership executed one of the swiftest brand turnarounds in B2B history, proving that conviction can be a company's most valuable asset.
…and they did it in just 136 days.
“It’s About Damn Time” This week, IKEA announced that a 'meeting point' store concept will open on Fifth Avenue in 2028. The meeting point store promises a blend of showroom, social hub, and retail environment, inviting customers not just to shop, but to linger, connect, and engage. Nothing says ‘culture and commerce’ like business meetings over $6.99 swedish meatballs. They say the best time to plant an IKEA in Manhattan was 20 years ago…
Podcast Time. Here are four episodes of other podcasts to cue up for your weekend:
1. Decoder Ring does a special on exotic animals that become memetic through stuffed animals which explains the rise of Axolotls in recent years.
2. Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal covers the Epistemology of Chatbots, the future of empathetic machines, and how we can reframe our language around relationships with AI.
3. Commerce is Culture. Future Commerce co-founder Phillip Jackson sat down for a podcast interview on the Up Arrow Podcast.
4. E.l.f. Beauty’s Roblox Investment gets quantified in this insightful piece from June, James Purell delivers a quantified user engagement study of e.l.f. Beauty’s Roblox investment, plus here’s a thorough breakdown from Bloomberg Intelligence’s “Into the Metaverse” podcast.
More Sights and Sounds: No Best Practices will cease software sponsorships to maintain brand integrity and authenticity. Amish basketball players surprise an inner-city park in Indiana. 24% of Disney-goers incur debt for their trips, increasing to 45% among parents with kids under 18.
Nothin Like the Ol’ Handy. Etsy is banning the sale of most sex toys and explicit content next month, aiming to return to its roots in handicrafts. The brand’s policy shift goes into effect next month, marking a return to the platform's artisanal roots. The decision comes as part of Etsy’s broader strategy to refine its brand identity and reinforce its commitment to craftsmanship and creativity—which is brand-speak for “Temu, Walmart, Amazon, and Shein are making it difficult to differentiate.”
Art x Commerce. This week saw a number of commerce activations with artists, as well as cultural critiques of commerce. Artist Impro installed a cash machine on Sonning Bridge in Reading County, UK, adding to his series of unusual public art installations. Walmart partners with Francisco Palomares for fresh oil paintings and Ana Bergero for a quinceañera-inspired dresses, tapping into the $49B global quince market.
The City That Never Sleeps, Once Again. Whatever 24-hour restaurant culture was left after the GFC died out in New York post-Covid. But now Diner24 in NYC is bringing it back. The restaurant and bar experience blends nostalgia and modern dining in Manhattan.
Robots Got Stacks on Stacks on Stacks (On Shelves). Seven-foot robots are being used in a Tokyo convenience store to solve labor shortages, “enhance efficiency and reduce human labor needs.” Dystopic? Maybe not. This may be a necessary, if visionary, step towards addressing the acute labor shortages plaguing Japan. The robots aren’t fully automated; rather, they’re piloted by a worker from the robot’s supplier, Telexistence, from nearby office by experienced drivers who are providing the training inputs to automate them at a later stage.
.svg)
