Lab Weekly - 11/18/2022
The launch of Amazon Clinics and the future of accessible healthcare services; New Floor 9 episode on holiday shopping trend; Plus, the latest news and must-know stats roundup
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The Rise of Embedded Healthcare Services
The launch of Amazon Clinics, and how the future of accessible healthcare is being embedded into every step of the patient journey
In case you missed it…
Why Meta Is Teaming Up With Microsoft To Build The Metaverse
Will working in metaverse be compelling enough to make people want to use it beyond office hours? Meta certainly seems to believe so.
Why Uber is Expanding Its Ad Business
Examining the digital economy and the push for revenue diversification through advertising
Now Streaming: Live Sports with Ads
With Apple, Amazon, and Netflix all pursuing live sports content, advertisers gain a new window to reach cord-cutting households.
Episode 145: Holiday Shopping & Streaming Update
Welcome back to Floor 9! 'Tis the season again to chat about holiday shopping trends, and they may be better than you expect. Listen now to hear co-hosts Adam and Ryan walk you through the following trends in holiday shopping and recent news from the streaming services:
Highlights from recent holiday shopping reports from Insider Intelligence and the Deloitte holiday survey;
The looming recession’s impact on holiday shopping (or the lack thereof);
Amex’s Small Business Saturday event and how to support SMBs during the holidays;
News on emerging shopping trends: Amazon partnering with Snapchat for Shoppable AR lenses & Peloton’s new ecommerce widget;
Latest streaming news on Netflix and Apple adding live sports content, the resulting increase in ad opportunities, and Disney’s broadening ecosystem play
We close out the episode with a quick discussion on the ongoing FTX debacle and a potentially long crypto winter. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcast.
As always, you can find Adam on Twitter @adamjsimon, and Ryan on LinkedIn. Follow the Lab on Twitter @ipglab and on Medium for our latest insights. Thanks for listening!
YouTube Expands Shopping Features To Shorts Following Digital Advertising Slowdown [Reuters]
YouTube takes another step towards monetizing the short -form videos on its platform by introducing Shorts shopping features, which allows users to buy products while scrolling through its TikTok clone. Select creators in the United States can now tag products from their own stores in a pilot test. YouTube has long tested shoppable ad units in regular-length videos, so it is only about time that they brought this to Shorts as well. In June, YouTube reported its Shorts videos were viewed by 1.5 billion logged-in users worldwide every month.
Shoppable video has been growing as a retail conversion channel. Among U.S. consumers who watched live or pre-recorded online shopping videos, more than half had made a purchase from the event, per a recent DISQO survey. It is worth noting that in addition to the newshopping features, YouTube is experimenting with an affiliate program that allows creators to earn commissions through purchases of recommended products in their videos, Shorts or regular-length, as well. So there’s plenty of options for brands to reach mobile users via YouTube shorts.
Related: YouTube launches a streaming subscription hub for third-party services [Variety]; Linktree is letting creators add paywalls for premium content [The Verge]
SheIn To Open First Physical Store In Tokyo [Business of Fashion]
Rather unexpectedly, online-only fast fashion retailer SheIn has opened its very first permanent brick-and-mortar store in Tokyo after testing a few pop-up stores at retail events here and there. True to its fast fashion model, however, the store won’t carry any inventory. Instead, shoppers will be able browse and try on the items, but then order the items they’d like to purchase via SheIn’s mobile app by scanning the QR code attached to each item. This showrooming model is an inverted version of “buy online, pick-up in store,” and it’s one that some other apparel retailers like Bonobos have used to offer an offline shopping experience that add value to its primarily ecommerce operation without taking on too much overhead cost.
Related: Depop to launch three-day London pop-up for top sellers [TRB]; Casper is tapping Netflix to reach stressed holiday shoppers [Retail Dive]
Nike Unveils ‘Dot Swoosh’ Platform To House Web3 Projects [Vogue Business]
Nike is commendable for being one of the early-adopters brands to explore blockchain and crypto applications in its marketing, especially in regards to branded NFTs and digital goods. According to the Vogue Business report, Nike has “made at least $185.3 million in revenue on Web3 products, and is leading compared to competitors Adidas, which has earned $11 million.” Unfortunately, the launch of this web3 platform came at an awkward time when the crypto industry is still reeling from the ongoing FTX debacle, which has significantly shaken investor confidence and sent the crypto market into freefall. While NFTs are technically a different asset group than cryptocurrencies, the common thread of being web3 assets is impacting the value of NFTs as well. Still, if Nike were to weather through the long crypto winter ahead, having a centralized hub for all of its disparate web3 projects is not a bad idea.
Related: Nike leads NFT success by revenue as fashion shines over Pepsi, Time magazine [Vogue Business]; Nike buys Rtfkt and invests in the metaverse [Vogue Business]
After this quarter’s earnings season, Morning Brew collected the last reported subscriber figures of 2022; Here’s the highlight:
Netflix ended its final quarter without an ad-supported tier with roughly 223 million global subscribers, the first time this fiscal year in which the streaming giant reported subscriber growth.
Disney+, which is readying its own ad-supported tier for next month, counted 164 million global subscribers, an increase of more than 12 million from the prior quarter.
Warner Bros. Discovery, which operates streamers including HBO Max and Discovery+, ended the quarter with nearly 95 million total streaming subscribers—but the company has stopped breaking out HBO Max and Discovery+ subscribers separately.
Hulu, the highest revenue-per-user streamer in Disney’s portfolio, ended the quarter with 47.2 million total subscribers, which includes subscribers to its Live TV offering.
Paramount+ is gaining on Hulu, reaching 46 million total subscribers in the quarter, and Paramount’s entire streaming portfolio (which includes Paramount+ as well as Showtime, Noggin, and BET+) neared 67 million global subs.
Peacock ended the quarter with “more than 15 million highly engaged paid subscribers,” as well as 14 million free users.
If you find our insights valuable and would like to have a deeper conversation on technology and media innovations, or need to sound smarter in a client meeting or a pitch, please feel free to reach out to our Group Director Josh Mallalieu!
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