Hello, 2018! Our thoughts for the new year

We grabbed a few minutes with our founders to reflect on 2017 and share some plans for the upcoming year. Here's what they had to say.

What changes have you seen in the industry?

Matt

• Growing commitment from senior leadership to invest in data (both internal and external) as a necessary pillar paired alongside creative intuition

• Renewed focus on supply chain speed / responsiveness
• Increased proactive efforts across brands to understand, reach, and appeal to a younger customer base
• The effectiveness and proliferation of micro-influencers as a marketing tool across the industry (particularly on social media)

Dan

• Focus on tighter, more productive assortments and rationalized store footprints
• Brands re-thinking wholesale distribution strategy (with deciding whether to sell directly on Amazon an increasingly urgent strategic decision)

What are your predictions for 2018?

Matt

• Continued brand focus on increasing responsiveness and reaction speed to customer trends
• Continued expansion of smaller, more curated retail locations

Dan

• Brands increasing their focus + investment in creating meaningful direct relationships with customers (transactional + non-transactional)
• More partnership between brands and retailers around data sharing, particularly regarding customer data and purchase patterns

Favorite TV show of 2017?

Stranger Things, Season 2 -Matt

Abstract (particularly the Tinker Hatfield documentary) -Dan

... and what are you planning to binge watch in 2018?

2018 Olympics -Dan

The Crown -Matt