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| The big idea | |||||
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Peloton vs. Lululemon, explained |
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Two of the hottest fitness companies around are suing each other over strappy sports bras and leggings. Why? The backstory At-home fitness company Peloton has long offered branded activewear through partnerships with companies including Nike and Fila. Its deal with athleisure pioneer Lululemon began in 2016, per Retail Dive. Peloton bought Lululemon products wholesale, had a printer slap on Peloton branding, then sold the clothes to its dedicated fanbase. According to Peloton’s claim, this process took ~1 year, which Peloton deemed “burdensome.” So, when its deal with Lululemon ended in September, Peloton launched its own line. Lululemon sent a cease-and-desist letter and filed a lawsuit this week. The ‘trade dress’ beefLululemon claims 4 bras and 1 pair of leggings are in violation of its patents, while another pair violates its trade dress. Peloton, which sued back, argues that: 1. They’re not that similar. BTW, what’s “trade dress?” A design or shape element that would identify a product’s maker. As an example, The Fashion Law uses the design of the Hermès Birkin bag. Lululemon claims Peloton’s One Luxe Tight (a Nike collab) violates its Align pant’s trade dress, but would have to show that the average consumer would be confused by the 2 products. That could be tricky because they basically look like any other leggings — except for their logos, which are placed in different spots. The crossoverThe lawsuits come at a time when the 2 companies aren’t staying in their lanes. Peloton’s hawking clothes and Lululemon bought fitness tech company Mirror for $500m in 2020. Like Peloton, Mirror offers live and pre-recorded at-home workouts. But what we want to know is, do people without Pelotons even buy Peloton-branded workout gear? And if so, is it… to make people think they have a |
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| SNIPPETS |
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Underwear D2C Parade opened an in-person store in New York replete with a circus tent and a claw machine full of products. #ecommerce-retail Some have claimed that wind turbine blades can’t be recycled. It turns out they can… except it’s rarely done. #clean-energy Quad power: Tesla is making an electric 4-wheeled bike for kids. It’ll retail for $1.9k. #emerging-tech Qualcomm’s new phone’s camera is always on and looking for you, allowing users to unlock it by looking at it. Cool, or creepy? #privacy Reverse course: Facebook once banned most crypto companies from advertising on its platform. Now, it’s changed its mind. #fintech-crypto Five textbook publishers are suing Shopify, claiming the platform is liable for “textbook pirates” who use it to sell unauthorized school materials. #big-tech MFM extra: The Hustle founder Sam Parr retired at 31 with $20m. Here’s how. #mfm |
| Gray Friday | |||||
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Why the Black Friday numbers were a little bit gray |
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While there was a 1.4% dip in Cyber Monday sales, don’t be fooled — sales this season are through the roof. From Nov. 1 through Cyber Monday, US consumers spent $109.8B online, up 11.9% from 2020’s levels, with the trend expected to keep pace through year-end. It’s the result of a longer shopping period in which companies like Amazon started touting deals in October, and shoppers worried about things going out of stock, well, stocked up early. Can’t blame ’em — out-of-stock messages across online stores were up 169% from pre-pandemic levels. |
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| Apple Shenanigans | |||||
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Apple sells a $19 polishing cloth. The price point actually makes sense |
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In October, Apple announced it was selling a $19 polishing cloth and the internet went absolutely crazy… with jokes. “Oh look, crazy Apple selling overpriced stuff that its As it turns out, the $19 price point makes a lot of sense… … based on Apple’s pricing strategyAccording to the Wall Street Journal, every Apple product has a starting price that ends with the number “9.” Here’s a quick spot check:
The logic behind this pricing is known as charm pricing, which “uses odd numbers — often nines — to demonstrate perceived value to shoppers and convince them to buy” (think about it: $4.99 feels a lot cheaper than $5). So, Apple needs to price its polishing cloth with a ‘9’But it also has to signal its premium position in the market. For this reason, a $9 polishing cloth is too low a price because you can find comparable single-digit options on Amazon. The next “9” price is $19, and it’s clear that Apple believes this is the market-clearing price for its upscale clientele. In addition to the cloth, the iPhone maker sells many commodity accessories at $19, per WSJ.
Earlier this week, Elon Musk poked fun at Apple’s $19 cloth by selling a limited edition Tesla “Cyberwhistle” for $50. If he was following Apple closely, he should have priced it at $49. |
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| AROUND THE WEB |
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📱 On this day: In 1992, engineer Neil Papworth sent the 1st text message from his computer to the Vodaphone network to a friend’s phone. It read, “Merry Christmas.” 📕 Wait, what: After 111 years, an Idaho library got its copy of “New Chronicles of Rebecca” by Kate Douglas Wiggin back. It was returned anonymously and in good condition. 🤨 That’s interesting: The Atlantic explores the Breakaway Movement, an aspirational, Instagram-fueled business that turned out to be… an MLM selling fancy water machines, sort of? ⏱ Useful: FollowUpThen is a tool you can use to schedule follow-up emails. 🌲 How to: Did you know that you can make syrup from a spruce tree? 🥰 Chill out: NPR’s Joy Generator offers short breaks that boost happiness. Click to be taken to a random, blissful experience. |
| IN CASE YOU MISSED IT |
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(A roundup of our best reads from the last couple weeks…) |
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💃🏽 Feature story: The economics of Broadway shows 🇹🇭 How Thailand is betting on crypto to spur tourism 🤖 Will the ‘Grinch bots’ ruin Christmas? 🚔 Visual explainer: Why thieves love to steal catalytic converters 📦 Why retailers are telling customers to keep returned items |
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