Jeff Sward, the other founding partner of Merchandising Metrics and a former executive at DKNY, Ralph Lauren, and Abercrombie & Fitch, among others, notes that while fast fashion is popular right now, other mall retailers like American Eagle, Express, and Urban Outfitters aren’t getting hit as hard saleswise. Therefore, Gap’s problems are more internal than anything else.

In order to improve products, data scientists must collaborate closely and constantly with engineers. You also need to decide concretely whether data scientists implement product enhancements themselves or partner with engineers who implement them. Either approach can work, but it’s important to formalize it and establish shared expectations across the organization.

Branded content and product placement are now A-OK with Facebook if marketers with verified pages on the platform follow the rules. The social media giant today began offering tags that companies can use to mark their videos and other content as branded content, though they are not allowed to include pre-roll or mid-stream commercials—a YouTube mandate as well.

Lee has sat back and watched the Luxe criticism roll in — until today. Luxe announced a $50 million Series B round led by Hertz. Lee started fundraising at the end of last year and after some initial offers, felt that Hertz was the best strategic partner. Like all on-demand businesses, Luxe’s unit economics get stronger with scale and there is no doubt that Hertz’s national presence is a key asset for the startup as it grows.

A group of newspaper publishers sent a cease-and-desist letter to Brave Software, the creator of a Web browser that features built-in ad-blocking software. Users can see ‘safer’ replacement ads sold by Brave or make micro-payments to view content.

The Luka app is also integrating a bot interface, complete with widgets and shortcuts, so that the process of asking for what you want doesn’t get too tiresome. For example, if you know you want to play a specific game or get the weather report, Luka will allow you to select that bot with a single tap instead of asking Luka to connect you.

Each platform is robust and offers similar features, so it’s a toss-up as to which you choose. The defining factor may be whether or not you want to integrate your shopping cart fully into WordPress without relying on a third-party service like Shopify. The other determining factor may be the cost. As mentioned, WooCommerce is free while Shopify will run you a minimum of $9 per month.

Love him or hate him, Kobe Bryant is a legend. In China, they mostly love him—he's made a concerted effort, with Nike, to reach out to his Chinese fans over the past decade. And the Chinese have responded with adulation all but unmatched for American sports stars.

Until now, the company has made do with Alien Blue, which started out as a third-party app before being acquired by Reddit in 2014. But as Sarah Perez reported this morning, the company’s engineering team decided rebuild the app from scratch to make it “faster, more modern and more usable.”

As part of his role as a Blaze Pizza spokesman, LeBron James worked at a California pizza store and surprised customers there last month. James has at least a 10 percent stake in Blaze. He's also a partner in a franchise group that holds the rights to develop Blaze restaurants in Chicago and South Florida.

Want to raise money outside of Silicon Valley? Here’s a fresh look at where the money is flowing beyond the bubble. Editor’s note: Jason Rowley is a freelance journalist and regular Mattermark contributor.  Startup fundraising. People like to talk about it.

Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development is working on an electronic platform to export Russian goods described as a ‘Russian Alibaba’, business daily Kommersant reports. The creation of the platform was suggested by President Putin in December.