VOICE FIRST: The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that Amazon and Google were considering adding phone call functionality to their voice assistant gadgets, but Recode has learned Amazon is going ahead with that plan. Several details still remain unclear, including whether people will sync their own phone number and contacts with the device, or create a new device-specific phone number.

BRAND: Saunders hailed Abercrombie’s new store format being piloted in Columbus, Ohio, but said the company, while justifiably cautious about revamping possibly underperforming stores, won’t be moving swiftly to bring that into more areas. “This… is a step forward and is more reflective of what the brand now wants to stand for,” he said, noting that the integration of improved customer service elements like better fitting rooms and the ability to place online orders from the store are helpful.

ECOMMERCE: Zoey's platform features drag and drop design tools that allow users to create fully customized designs without writing any code, while also offering enterprise analytics designed specifically for e-commerce companies. Additionally, the platform provides highly versatile product, promotions, shipping, and management tools that gives merchants more freedom and control than other services. Zoey syncs with a list of leading e-commerce apps, such as Nosto, YotPo, ShipperHQ, Springbot, and ShipStation.

ECOMMERCE: By last measure, Taobao — a property owned by Chinese retail giant Alibaba — was the 12th most visited site on the internet. The total value of all its goods in 2013 was judged to be more than $145 billion, a figure that dwarfs Amazon's $88 billion. China's government has looked at those figures and seen them as an opportunity to spur economic growth in poor villages. As Josh Freedman reported for Quartz, buildings are painted with hopeful slogans, such as "Through Taobao, you can escape bitter days. E-commerce runs toward the road of happiness."

MEDIA: Columbus, Ohio's Resource/Ammirati first used Snapchat two years ago for a specialty retailer looking to attract younger consumers. The brand built its presence on the platform over a year via Snapchat Stories content integrations, using small-scale influencers to reach an organic audience of about 7,000 before switching to paid promotions last December.

BRAND: “Our equation is heritage plus progression,” Palladini continues. That formula is conceptual but also literal: Vans takes its five most popular sneaker silhouettes, the Authentic, the Era, the Slip-on, the Old Skool and the Sk8-Hi, and “continually modernizes” them with new fabrics, prints and colorways. Vans balances its wholesale and direct-to-consumer businesses, promoting the latter with strategic collaborations with likeminded, hype-driven brands like Fear of God and Supreme. 

MEDIA: On a percentage basis, Lightspeed’s returns rank among the most lucrative startup investments in recent years, although still shy of Accel’s early investment in Facebook, which returned roughly 600x at the IPO price. Venture capitalists count on a handful of home runs to provide returns for investors, because most of the startups they invest in fail. Top venture funds generally aim for overall returns higher than 2x across the fund.

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