Shopper Experience
24 February 2022
Purewow's new service offers a way to make a purchase via text
The women's digital lifestyle brand is providing curated items. Reply to buy.

The women's digital lifestyle brand is providing curated items. Reply to buy.
Shopping is coming to text messaging.
The latest example comes from women’s digital lifestyle brand Purewow, which is launching the service wowtext.
The platform offers users the opportunity to purchase curated home, beauty, wellness and family products by responding to a text message.
Here’s how it works: Readers of Purewow sign up and enter payment information. They’ll receive a weekly text message with editor-approved, which the service says is available at a discounted cost. If they opt to purchase one of the products, they can enter a quantity and make the purchase via text.
"At PureWow, we're dedicated to finding ways to make our readers' lives more meaningful, beautiful and manageable," said Kevin Stetter, Chief Operating Officer at Gallery Media Group, which owns Purewow. "Through wowtext, we're further demonstrating PureWow's passion and expertise in doing just that—and giving our readers access to amazing products at great prices just with the tap of a finger."
Entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk's VaynerMedia acquired Purewow in 2017, and created Gallery as an umbrella for the company’s media ventures. That puts the latest launch in the same lineage as WineText, a texting service launched by Vaynerchuk in 2020 that offers a daily discount on wine.
SMS marketing has been embraced by a growing number of ecommerce practitioners over the last several years. Research from email marketing and SMS platform Omnisend, which is used by 70,000 brands, showed that brands sent 94% more SMS than the year prior, and orders for SMS marketing increased 106%.
It could prove an especially appealing option for brands seeking to communicate directly with audiences in the wake of last year’s privacy moves from Apple that limit the ability to collect third party data on customers.
While SMS has been among services offered by marketing automation software providers like Klaviyo for a few years, Purewow’s approach shows how SMS can be used beyond marketing, extending to a shopping experience via text. Fast Company reported last year that the text-to-buy space is poised to see a growing number of entrants, including TextRetailer, Text2Shop and Walmart Luminate. Marc Lore, the head of Walmart's ecommerce business, is also the cofounder of the soon--to-launch Wizard Commerce, which will offer users the opportunity to have a text conversation with a brand about a product.
Like the inbox before it, the text message is a surface where brands can meet their audience where they are. It's among the areas where conversational commerce is poised to rise.
On the Move has leadership and promotion news from Pacsun, Calvin Klein and CVS Health.
This week, one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies hires a new CEO, while a luxury ecommerce platform taps a successor to its founder. Plus, we’ve got news on top leadership hires and promotions at Pacsun, West Elm and Calvin Klein Americas.
Hein Schumacher. (Courtesy photo)
Hein Schumacher will be the next CEO of Unilever, effective July 1. Schumacher comes to the maker of Dove, Hellmann’s and Ben & Jerry’s from Royal FrieslandCampina, where he is credited with leading turnaround efforts at the $11 billion business.
Succeeding the retiring Alan Jope, Schumacher will assume the top job at Unilever as it appears to be on the precipice of change following the appointment of activist investor Nelson Peltz to the board in May.
“The Board looks forward to Hein realising the full potential of Unilever as a winning business which delivers long-term growth and value for all its stakeholders,” said Unilever Chairman Nils Andersen, in a statement.
Brie Olson. (Courtesy photo)
Brie Olson was promoted to co-CEO of Pacsun from the role of president. Olson will serve alongside co-CEO Mike Relich. With the move, Alfred Chang will transition to the CEO role at clothing brand Fear of God, which is a Pacsun brand partner. As president, Olson oversaw Pacsun’s AI and metaverse initiative, led a variety of brand partnerships and introduced a gender neutral collection.
John E. Koryl is joining The RealReal as CEO. Koryl is stepping in to lead the luxury ecommerce platform after founder Julie Wainwright stepped down in June. He comes to the company from the digital arm of Canadian Tire Corporation, and also previously played a key digital transformation leadership role while serving as president of stores and online Neiman Marcus.
Day Korbluth. (Courtesy photo)
Day Kornbluth was named president of West Elm. Kornbluth comes to the Williams Sonoma-owned sustainable home retailer from Ralph Lauren Home, where she served as president. The company credited her track record of growing home furnishing brands with a focus on product and digital innovation. The move follows former West Elm president Alex Bellos' appointment as CEO at Food52 earlier this year.
The travel and accessories retailer Vera Bradley announced a leadership shakeup that resulted in the following:
President Daren Hull, Chief Creative Officer Beatrice Mac Cabe and Chief Revenue Officer Mary Beth Trypus all saw their roles eliminated, and will be leaving the company.
The company will also add the position of SVP of merchandising and design, and is actively conducting a search.
Alison Hiatt joined Vera Bradley as chief marketing officer to oversee digital marketing, customer data and ecommerce. Hiatt brings experience from the food company Salt and Straw.
Pura Vida, which is owned by Vera Bradley, will see co-presidents Griffin Thall and Paul Goodman leave the company. With this, Vera Bradley will acquire a 25% interest in Pura Vida from Thall and Goodman for $10 million, effective January 30.
Vera Bradley said it is making these changes to "drive cost savings, add more focus on marketing and merchandising, and position the Company to deliver steady top- and bottom-line growth."
Percy "Master P" Miller. (Courtesy photo)
Percy “Master P” Miller was appointed chairman of the board at Launch Cart, an ecommerce platform that bills itself as an alternative to Shopify. Alongside a rap career that yielded 90s hits with his label No Limit Records, Miller brings a track record as an entrepreneur in food and entertainment. “With his entrepreneurial spirit and deep understanding of the power of business, our partnership will make it easier for aspiring entrepreneurs to realize their dreams of starting an online business, building a brand, and generating income,” said cofounder Bernt Ullmann.
Donald Kohler. (Courtesy photo)
Donald Kohler was named president of Calvin Klein Americas by parent company PVH Corp. Kohler brings experience from a 15-year career in retail from Burberry, Salvatore Ferragamo and Diesel. The company said his expertise includes direct-to-consumer, third-party driven business models and ecommerce. The new comes on the heels of the appointment of Inditex executive Eva Serrano as global brand president at Calvin Klein.
Robert Norton is joining Skims as chief commercial officer, and will lead international expansion. Norton joins the Kim Kardashian-founded shapewear brand from Moncler, where he served as president of the Americas. Over a two-decade career, he also previously served as CEO of the Americas for Roberto Cavalli and was an executive at Ralph Lauren.
“I have been a fan of Robert’s for several years and believe him to be a rare, creatively minded executive who knows how to build both a brand and a business,” said Jens Grede, cofounder and CEO of Skims, in a statement. “We are excited to have Robert on the team as we continue the evolution of SKIMS into a global retail brand.”
CVS Health announced a pair of appointments: