Amazon Pushes Pills and Resale Rules

AMAZON PUSHES PILLS

Those in the healthcare space have been on edge since Amazon's January announcement - one that promised to disrupt the industry. And with Thursday's news that they would be acquiring PillPack, a nationwide online pharmacy, it's official. On top of them avoiding the bureaucratic, state-by-state red tape that selling prescription drugs entails, it's a good marriage of clinical knowledge, customer bases, and fulfillment services. “PillPack’s visionary team has a combination of deep pharmacy experience and a focus on technology,” said Jeff Wilke, Amazon’s chief executive of its consumer business.

CVS and Walgreen's have reason to be very concerned indeed, and their stocks took a major hit on the news. While more than 90% of prescriptions have historically been picked up in-store, it's clearly time for these companies to be thinking about a more digital future.

RESALE RULES

What used to be considered hand-me-down and old-fashioned is no more. We're referring to the resale market. Spurred on by the demand for limited edition sportswear brands like Supreme and Kith, it's successfully penetrated the entire retail market, from low- to high-end. It's estimated that in the US alone, it will reach a valuation of $40B by 2022, and is expected to outstrip the growth of the rest of the retail market by a 24x multiple. On top of limited edition, hyped products driving growth, there's also a change in economics and consumer values that's driving the industry's renaissance, with consumers citing sustainability as an impetus to resale shopping.

Whether it's Depop, a peer-to-peer resale platform targeting millennials, or luxury consigner The Real Real, today's resale market has never had more options. Hitting refresh on our closets as we speak.

NIKE VS ADIDAS

Down to the final sixteen teams, this World Cup has been one full of nail-biting suspense and upsets. When it comes to the sponsorships, both Nike and Adidas have a lot on the line when it comes to the winning teams. The World Cup is the world's fourth most valuable sporting event, behind the Super Bowl, Summer, and Winter Olympics.

So how are the teams' merchandise faring? We partnered up with Thomson Reuters to see whether Nike or Adidas will earning that winning goal.

MORE THAN HYPE

Virgil Abloh's appointment to menswear artistic director at Louis Vuitton was a momentous one, and many in fashion circles were anxiously awaiting his first collection, which he revealed last week in Paris. The question was whether the Ghanian-American designer could leverage his success with Off-White to interpret the LV legacy in a new and fresh way. The pressure was indeed immense, as "he has connected so immediately and so viscerally with a massive constituency."

Well, the reviews are in and it seems he answered the existential question that had emerged since he took on the role in March of this year, "“Has anyone stopped and thought, why does Louis Vuitton make clothes?” With his collection touching every color of the rainbow, and his friends strutting the runway in true support, it seems Abloh has a bright and promising future ahead of him at LV.

THIS WEEK'S BRIGHT SPOT

The brick-and-mortar store is alive and well, and this week Retail Dive featured their top stores in NYC that embrace the customer experience in deeply personal and interactive ways. The list features digitally-native brands like Glossier and Allbirds, but also includes established sportswear brands like Adidas and Nike, who have always been keenly focused on delivering a memorable and exciting store experience. Time to lace up those shoes and do some recreational shopping!