Anna Hensel

In a sea of brands vying for spots on top toy lists, baby and toddler brand Lalo aims to stand out by appealing to the sensibilities of millennial parents.

Historically, CPMs have gone up on Facebook during presidential election cycles. But, brands just can't stop advertising with the holiday season around the corner.

Character, a home improvement startup, will be selling its faucet installation kits in more than 1,200 Walmart stores nationwide. The goal is to not only drive more sales for Character, but also help retailers sell more faucets or picture frames.

On Tuesday, OpenStore, an aggregator of Shopify brands, announced the launch of OpenDesk, an AI-driven customer support tool that it will start selling to other Shopify brands.

Some startups like Bonobos and MeUndies are undergoing brand refreshes as they enter their teenage years.

Interior design startup Havenly has been on a brand acquisition tear this year, buying up The Citizenry, St. Frank and most recently, Burrow.

E.l.f's collaborations with Liquid Death and Stanley are a key part of a marketing engine that has fueled 22 consecutive quarters of growth.

This is the latest installment of the DTC Briefing, a weekly Modern Retail+ column about the biggest challenges and trends facing the volatile direct-to-consumer startup world.

Stitch Fix wants its clients to get to know its stylists better, which the company is doing today with the launch of profiles.

Many DTC brand founders say they are playing the Black Friday sales period more conservatively this year, keeping profitability in mind.