Robert From

Bloq.it × InPost: a new chapter in Europe’s out-of-home delivery. InPost operates the largest parcel-locker network in Europe — and is widely regarded as the company that made parcel lockers “work.” We’ve signed a strategic, multi-year plan to accelerate their expansion with off-grid NEXT lockers. Under this plan, InPost will add 20,000 units across France, the UK, Italy, Iberia, and Benelux. First units are already deployed in France (Mondial Relay) and the UK. This solidifies Bloq.it’s position as the undisputed leader in out-of-home delivery solutions — and puts us a step closer to our ultimate goal: reshaping the broken e-commerce delivery paradigm. We're just getting started. #bloqit #inpost #parcellocker

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Huge update from Google: A new enabler for retail. Conversational Commerce agent is live 🗣️ Every online store now has an AI agent. Merchants can engage with shoppers in natural, human-like conversations. As a customer, you can get recommendations, guidance, support etc. Shopping online just changed in a big way.

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Fashion and Sports e-commerce is entering a new era, one shaped by how customers discover, evaluate, and connect with brands.   Together with The Business of Fashion, we explored these shifts in ‘The New Era of Fashion E-commerce’ whitepaper, and three insights stood out: → 39% of shoppers now begin their fashion discovery with online multi-brand retailers. → Fit, reliability, and clear product information outweigh trendiness for today’s customers. → 61% of shoppers see personalisation as essential to their experience.   At Amazon Fashion & Sports, we’re proud to collaborate with global and European fashion and sports brands and sellers to meet these changing customer expectations. With our supply-chain capabilities, AI-driven personalisation, and multi-channel reach spanning Retail, Music, Ads, Gaming, and more, we’re helping brands: ✔️ Reach and inspire customers where discovery begins ✔️ Build trust with customers by offering the reliability and product clarity they demand ✔️ Personalise multi-channel experiences at scale to deepen connections.   Dive deeper into the complete findings here https://lnkd.in/dFZHwkhy

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🎯 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗽: 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆-𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 A dear friend & ex-colleague is making a transition from big tech to a startup and i found myself giving him unsolicited advise When transitioning from large organizations to early-stage companies, these key insights can help you navigate the change successfully: 𝟭. 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗼𝘀 What appears as disorder is actually fertile ground for innovation. Those missing processes and unstructured workflows are opportunities for impact. The key is to understand before you improve. 𝟮. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆 Your less experienced colleagues aren't less capable - they simply haven't been exposed to different working methods. Remember that startups build everything from first principles with a bias for action. They haven't had the benefit of mentors who could warn them about potential pitfalls. Share your experience with kindness, not criticism - it's your turn to pay it forward. 𝟯. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟵𝟬-𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲 Approach your first three months as an anthropologist. While documenting gaps is important, focus on understanding WHY things are done in certain ways. In startups, context is everything. Yes there are low hanging fruits - but be sure you know why it is there the way it is. And for 90 days 𝗚𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 , 𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 ( misquote from the movie 300) ( 𝗯𝘆 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 - 𝘂𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 - " 𝗬𝗼𝘂 / 𝗪𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗼 ...) 𝟰. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁 The most significant mental adjustment comes in decision-making. Big tech conditions us for deep analysis and treating decisions as "one-way doors." In contrast, startups thrive by viewing most decisions as "two-way doors" - reversible and worth testing quickly. 𝟱. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿? While you were hired for your big-tech background, wearing it as a badge can create barriers. Take a humble approach - it encourages others to share openly, including crucial information you need to learn. Remember: any chip on your shoulder only weighs you down. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘱 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦? 𝙔𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙯𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙣𝙚𝙩 - 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜. startuplife careertransition leadership personalgrowth

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🚨 Big news from OpenAI yesterday: Buy it in ChatGPT – customers can now research, find, and purchase products without leaving the ChatGPT environment. It feels inevitable, but it’s still a huge, exciting shift. And for affiliate marketing? This raises big opportunities and big challenges. 💡 Opportunities: ·      LLMs like ChatGPT still need content. Affiliate publishers are already being cited because their content is unique, trusted, and third-party validated. ·      OpenAI confirmed: “Product results are organic and unsponsored, ranked purely on relevance.” That plays directly into affiliates’ strength in creating unbiased, value-adding content. ·      When multiple merchants sell the same product, ranking will consider price, availability, quality, and checkout experience. Affiliates can amplify those attributes. ⚠️ Challenges: ·      On today’s last-click model, who gets credit for the sale if it happens inside ChatGPT? ·      We may need new ways of measuring and rewarding affiliates — beyond clicks, towards influence and contribution. ·      Margins could get squeezed if merchants are paying both affiliates and ChatGPT. ·      And yes, there’s a risk affiliates get cut out — but without high-quality, diverse, non-biased content, the whole system falls apart. 🌍 For now this is U.S. only, and limited to single-item purchases. Rolling out globally (and to multi-item carts) will be a big next test — think payments, taxes, data privacy. 👉 My take: This is just the first step in AI-driven commerce. Affiliates that double down on unique, trustworthy, relevant content will win — but the industry must continue to rethink attribution and reward models, and fast. https://lnkd.in/e26pvg9Q

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🧭 Our biggest quadrant yet. 📈I honestly didn’t expect the Home & Living category to expand this quickly. But our new update includes 71 marketplaces – more than ever before. This growth is being driven by a combination of factors: a lack of dominant international players (aside from Amazon), accelerating online sales across Europe, and a growing number of players who want a slice of the pie. 🏠 From department stores and DIY chains to brick-and-mortar retailers, off-price platforms, and online pure players – everyone is moving into Home & Living. And each of them brings their own model, assortment strategy, and customer base. A few key players to watch: – Amazon leads in most countries – OTTO, bol, and Allegro dominate in their local markets – XXXLutz Deutschland, home24 SE, Wayfair, Conforama, and BUT form the furniture core – 1stDibs and Privalia compete in the outlet-driven and off-price segments – John Lewis & Partners offers a curated premium selection – Next and The Very Group strengthen their positions as UK generalists – Leroy Merlin, ManoMano, OBI Group Holding, and Praxis continue to push from DIY into Home & Living 🔄We’ve also repositioned some players to better reflect their strategy – especially in the premium and outlet segments. Read the full analysis here: https://lnkd.in/dey5mZQR So, what do you think? How long will I keep adding new platforms to the home & living quadrant - and when will the wave break? Which of these players will still matter in 2 years – and which ones are just category tourists? 👇  Let’s hear your take.

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In an AI-first customer journey, shoppers start in ChatGPT—and, with the new Instant Checkout and the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), they don’t have to leave. This is Agentic Customer Experience (ACX): chat → consider → buy. What moves first: • Near term: “considered” specialty purchases shift to AI chat commerce—think bikes, strollers, mixers—where an agent can shortlist, explain trade-offs, and convert. • Longer term: commodity buys flip from search-led (Google/Amazon) to agent-led replenishment. Your assistant will keep you stocked and price-optimized. What doesn’t change (for specialty purchases): • Social discovery still sparks demand. • Brand still matters and earns trust and premium. What does change: • The front door to commerce becomes chat. • Storefronts become APIs. • The funnel compresses: intent, evaluation, and checkout collapse into one conversation. Implications for incumbents: Platforms around commerce, content management, personalization, analytics, and ads (Adobe, Salesforce, and more) will be re-architected for ACX. The surface area for differentiation shifts from page design to data, agents, and outcomes. Opportunities for founders: • Agent-native merchandising & attribution. • ACP connectors/adapters for major platforms; merchant tooling for offers, returns, identity, and fraud. • Product knowledge graphs & RAG for complex catalogs. • Compliance, safety, and brand controls for autonomous purchases. • Journey analytics for agentic flows (from prompt to purchase). ACX won’t kill commerce—but it will reroute the path to purchase for many brands.

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For emerging brands with exit aspirations, retail strategy is no longer optional. Strategics aren’t buying “digital stories” anymore. They’re buying proof of scalable demand in retail — the clearest signal of brand strength, operational discipline, and sustainable growth. What matters most in getting retail right: 1. Channel math: margin structures across prestige, masstige, mass 2. Retail sequencing: why a premature low-price entry can block a prestige play (and confuse customers) 3. Capital requirements: the PO isn’t the finish line — it’s the starting line But here’s the unlock: if your wholesale margin structure doesn’t support downstream contribution margin, you’re not building in retail… you’re subsidizing it. In our latest Brand Capital Report Newsletter, we break down: - Pricing architecture - The “scrappy” cost of entering Sephora vs. Ulta vs. Target vs. Walmart - Why Prestige → Masstige → Mass is far easier than the reverse Read the full analysis here: https://lnkd.in/gXVKGn5G Would love to hear how you are approaching retail strategy — especially what’s worked (and what hasn’t). Andrew Ross Kelly Chen

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The age of Agentic Commerce is here. And it’s rewriting the rules of online buying. Last week, ChatGPT rolled out its agent framework for Pro (and select Plus/Team) users. Nothing fundamentally new, wrappers have been doing this for a while. But the speed of private-labelling is insane. Thousands of companies lost (some) relevance overnight. With this update, Agentic Commerce just went mainstream. Yesterday, I saw it in action. Naman, who leads the AI charter for Growth Team at BSC, demoed an agent purchasing our flagship product. End-to-end. Seamless. Entirely within ChatGPT. Video attached. No site redirection. Just a smooth, closed-loop experience - from discovery to checkout. This marks a big shift. Search engines like Google are built to get users out fast. Agentic interfaces keep them in, capturing the full journey in a single conversation. The implications? Massive. Most digital strategies (SEO, CRO, UX) are built for human users and search crawlers. But agents behave differently. They need different incentives. Different inputs. Different journeys. Get in shape, world. The future isn’t coming. It’s already here.

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