1. Is Live-Stream Shopping the Future of Retail? Live-stream shopping has yet to significantly take hold in America as it has in countries like China, where smart-phone-based live-stream apps are a popular mode of purchasing. In 2020, Taobao Live, the live-shopping experience that China’s Alibaba launched in 2016, reported a gross merchandise volume (total revenue before fees) of $61.7 billion. – Read More on the WSJ

2. RELATED READ: Livestream Lawsuits Are Landing in Court in China, as Streaming-Induced Sales Continue to Grow. In what is being called a first-of-its-kind case, a Chinese livestream platform has been given similar treatment as a traditional e-commerce site in connection with a trademark squabble between two Chinese brands. – Read More on TFL

3. How AI is Changing Retail Marketing: marketers must take a proactive role by building strategies based on supply chain predictions. With a supply chain management system, business leaders can make accurate forecasts and anticipate demand, and marketers can use this data to inform their strategies. – Read More on Newsweek

4. Christmas Rush? You’re Already Too Late. Retailers Need to Plan Now for 2022: If the strains of 2021 should teach founders anything, it’s that logistics and supply chain can be a competitive advantage, with retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and Dick’s Sporting Goods having turned their supply chains and large brick-and-mortar presence into a competitive advantage. – Read More on Inc.

5. Luxury group Kering to ditch fur completely: Four years after its star label Gucci announced it would forego fur, France’s Kering will stop using animal furs in all its collections, joining a growing list of luxury fashion houses to respond to customer demands for ethical and sustainable clothing and accessories. – Read More on Reuters

6. Are gig worker complaints a retail problem? The longstanding debate over employment status of gig workers has been taking place globally. Gig economy companies assert that reclassifying workers as employees would add expenses, cost jobs and reduce the flexibility that their workers prize. Labor activists counter that gig companies are shifting business risk to precarious workers without other employment opportunities. – Read More on Retail Wire