What: M&S has launched a plea to the UK Chancellor to help the high street face the expected energy bill price increases threatening retailers.

Why it is important: Marks & Spencer CEO Stuart Machin wants Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to slash business rates, another significant burden on retailers which will also rise 10% next year along with energy costs.

M&S CEO highlights the deterioration of the Oxford Steet and the importance of retailers for employment as reasons for the rates to be reduced. The retailer has also been navigating the weakening consumer demand as households face similar economic pressures.

Other UK retailers, such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Greggs, and Iceland, have also called on the Chancellor to freeze business rates.

Marks & Spencer faces energy bill increase of 100-million-pound 

What: Kristin Maa, senior vice president of growth at Saks Fifth Avenue, shares insights with Business of Fashion on how luxury e-commerce is being transformed.

Why it is important: Saks Fifth Avenue Vice President of Growth highlights the use of data science to understand first purchase behaviours and stylistic preferences for a more personalised product curation and shopping experience.

Saks has built a marketing model for assessing several different clues that can indicate the high lifetime value potential of customers, eliminating the need to wait for them to cross a high spending threshold before Saks can recognise them.

Saks’ VP of growth also indicated the importance of two-way communication between brands and consumers as a new expectation of luxury retail today. As well, diversifying content across digital platforms can provide a more dynamic presence for customers to interact with, while ensuring authentic and meaningful communication gets delivered to the right audience.

Saks VP of growth shares insights on luxury e-commerce transformation

What: As Alibaba grapples with an anti-monopoly crackdown and the economic downturn, the company posted a third-quarter report showing an exorbitant net loss.

Why it is important: Alibaba is seen as a reflection of Chinese consumer sentiment, making its Q3 results of -2.89 billion dollars seem like more than simply a decrease in market prices of equity investments, which was the excuse Alibaba provided shareholders.

Revenue for the three months was up 3% year-on-year at 207.2 billion yuan, but after posting flat quarterly revenue, the company laid off a number of employees, with its headcount down more than 1,700 from the previous quarter.

Alibaba is also the focus of regulatory crackdowns in China and sits on a US watchlist, causing shares to slump.

Alibaba reports loss of USD 2.89 billion

What: Even though the Shinjuku flagship aims for the stars, the lack of Chinese tourists is still heavily felt in Japanese department stores.

Why it is important: Isetan-Mitsukoshi is facing a situation where regional stores are struggling and the Tokyo flagships are doing extremely well. They might end up closing down some locations, just like what they did in China earlier this year, or in Thailand, in order to maximise their profitability.

In Japan, in spite of the reopening of the borders and the subsequent rise of duty-free sales, the absence of tourists from Mainland China is still felt. Chinese tourists represented in 2019 10m people,  i.e. a third of the total number of tourists entering the country, but they usually spent a disproportionate amount of money compared to the other nationalities.

It is evaluated that the Japanese department store market is currently trading -10% on the first 9 months of the year compared to 2019, however, in the case of Isetan-Mitsukoshi, the situation is a bit better as they are currently trading at +23.8%, with the Tokyo Shinjuku flagship even projecting to revert to the 2018 record year sales level (other regional stores are reported to be in a different situation as they currently trade at -18% compared to pre-Covid).

Analysts do not expect Chinese tourists to return before at least the second half of 2023, which is even seen as a very optimistic date.

Isetan-Mitsukoshi improves sales but feels the pinch of no Chinese tourists 

What: Louis Vuitton has opened ‘The Hall’, its first restaurant in China which is part of the Louis Vuitton Chengdu Maison, opened at the Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li shopping mall.

Why it is important: As part of the restaurant launch, a local rapper was invited to create an original song for the event to help engage with Gen Z, and an interactive game on Wechat was released the morning of the opening.

Chengdu Maison is Louis Vuitton’s third location in China and spans over 2,000 square metres. Giant panda figures and hat air balloons decorated the courtyard of ‘The Hall’ with images of the sculptures having already gone viral on Chinese social media leading up to the opening. The restaurant serves a seasonal bistro-style menu with pan-European flavours created by rotating Michelin-star guest chefs along with wine from the Jura, the birthplace of Louis Vuitton himself.

Louis Vuitton’s restaurant ‘The Hal’ is located across the street from the three-story flagship story in Chengdu, a major retail hub in China. In addition, The Hall is furnished with furniture and objects from the luxury house’s Objets Nomades collection.

Louis Vuitton opens restaurant in China

What: Harrods is expecting to benefit from the UK Chancellor’s business rate adjustments in the rental market.

Why it is important: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said that the revaluation would go ahead, altering bills in line with changes in the rental market, leading the Harrods’ Knightsbridge store to see its rateable value drop by 45% from 32.73 million pounds to 18 million pounds next April.

The reevaluation will see properties given new rateable values based on how much they are worth. Good news for luxury department stores which will see sharp reductions in the bills they face. As well, over 400,000 small shops will see their rate values fall by 8.4% with rateable values across the entire retail sector falling by 10% overall due to the revaluation.

Harrods to benefit from business rates shake-up

What: Neiman Marcus Group is working to change its working culture to “revolutionise” the luxury experience through inclusion, diversity and belonging.

Why it is important: To revolutionise the luxury industry, Neiman Marcus Group believes in the importance of diverse thinking and backgrounds, which has proven to impact talent satisfaction with Forbes ranking NMG as one of the best places for women to work.

As well, the Human Rights Campaign has characterised the group as the “Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality.” By supporting different lifestyles and providing a united purpose, the group’s workforce is productive and happy, leading to a healthier balance sheet and more technological investments in customer experience. 90% of customers are retained year-over-year with 40% of revenues coming from only 2% of NMG customers.

The NMG CEO highlights the emotional aspect of luxury and this contradiction with the modern transactional era as being part of what has fueled the shift within the group’s working culture. Despite many retailers struggling to find and keep employees, NMG’s retention rates have increased by 20% compared to pre-pandemic figures.

Neiman Marcus Group CEO talks transformation

What: Louis Vuitton announced the opening of a home furnishing and interior design store in Shanghai, a first for the French luxury brand.

Why it is important: The brand is looking to expand the range of products it offers to its wealthy Chinese customers. The store will be accessible by appointment only, making it a new attempt in private retailing.

The store is located in a building near Nanjing Lu, the city's main high-end shopping street.

Louis Vuitton plans a trial period of a few months before making a decision on whether to make the store permanent.

Louis Vuitton tests its first home store in Shanghai

What: Zak Milan will join the John Lewis Partnership as the group’s first chief of transformation and technology officer.

Why it is important: As part of the group’s five-year ‘Partnership Plan’, Joh Lewis will welcome its first executive-level role focused solely on transformation and technology as they work to improve digital capabilities.

Zak Milan has over thirty years of experience leading business transformation and technology teams having most recently world as transformation director at Lloyds Banking Group.

John Lewis hires first chief of transformation and technology

What: As the resale site seeks to position itself as an eco-conscious player in an increasingly competitive market, Vestiaire Collective bans fast fashion leading to the removal of roughly 5% of listings.

Why it is important: The company is targeting profitability, focusing on bigger-ticket items which could more commission per sale.

Over the next three years, Vestiaire Collection plans to extend the brands banned from its platform, working with an external consultant to establish a robust set of criteria, including metrics like product quality, carbon footprint and supply-chain working conditions. The resale company is also working on a policy position paper with The Or Foundation, a charity working in the Kantamanto market in Accra, Ghana, one of the world’s largest secondhand markets and the destination of millions of discarded clothes.

Vestiaire Collective bans fast fashion

What: The eBay ‘Luxury Exchange’ in New York’s Diamon District sets out to be a location for shoppers to have their jewellery, watches and handbags appraised, with the possibility to exchange them for items of items from eBay’s top luxury sellers.

Why it is important: Visitors to eBay’s ‘Luxury Exchange’ can appraise items, exchange items for products from eBay’s top luxury sellers, or use the on-site photo studio to list their items on eBay.

The ‘Luxury Exchange’ comes on the heels of the expansion of eBay's 'Authenticity Guarantee' from jewellery to sneakers, watches, handbags, and trading cards. The store reflects eBay’s daily practices of authentication, appraisal, and second-hand/resale commerce.

The location will be open during Jewellery Week in New York, on 16 and 17 November.

eBay opens ‘Luxury Exchange’ store in New York

What: Sogo & Seibu, which merged in 2003, will be sold to a non-Japanese company next year.

Why it is  important: A foreign investor fully focused on maximising its exit might contribute to shaking and modernising the Japanese department stores landscape.

Sogo & Seibu will be sold to US investment fund Fortress Investment Group by Seven & I in February 2023 for $1,73bn. The plan is to revamp the Sogo & Seibu department store by teaming up with appliances retailer Yodobashi Camera Co (which will become a major tenant in the 10-large store fleet) and review costs.

Seven & I, which bought the Sogo & Seibu company in 2006, operates a chain of outlets selling cosmetics within Sogo & Seibu and this business will not be sold. Seven & I will focus on its Seven-Eleven convenience store business.

Seven & I to sell Sogo & Seibu to US fund Fortress Investment 

What: This time, a federal court in Missouri is suing the Swedish fast-fashion company for misleading ‘green’ claims, which it believes “illegally and deceptively” seek to capitalise on consumers’ desires to be sustainable.

Why it is important: Due to increased consumer awareness regarding climate issues, H&M’s false and misleading claims are being viewed as a deception to convince consumers to buy its Conscious Choice products.

The federal Missouri court filing iterates the misrepresentation of products and highlights the premium price H&M charges for its Conscious Choice products, clearly demonstrating that capitalises on the deception of consumers.

H&M sued again for greenwashing claims

What: Close to 2,400 luxury shoppers participated in the “Saks Luxury Pulse” survey sharing their holiday shopping plans.

Why it is important: Saks executives are feeling confident with survey data revealing that 76% of respondents plan to spend the same or more on holiday shopping this year, only 3% less than data from 2021.

65% plan to start holiday shopping before Thanksgiving and 43% plan to shop mostly online. Saks’ aspirational consumers which are marked by incomes of USD 100,000 or less have shown a little less enthusiasm as Saks’ typical consumer, yet the outlook remains strong.

Analysts project smaller gains for the 2022 holiday season due to the threat of a recession, but Saks does not expect much change in sales between 2021 and 2022. 61% of survey respondents plan to shop for formal attire with 32% planning to dress up in formal attire this holiday season (doubled compared to 2021 results).

Gifting results ranged from gift cards at 69%, clothes at 64% and hobby-related items at 51%.

Saks online survey reveals consumer spending plans

What: Chilean retailer Falabella posted its third-quarter report showing a net loss of 24.87 billion pesos (25.7million dollars) compared to its 183-billion-peso profit in 2021.

Why it is important: Hit by a decrease in margins and an increase in expenses, Falabella reported a net loss of 25.7 billion dollars despite its net revenue growing 2.4% (2.97 trillion pesos).

Falabella posts net loss of USD 26 million in Q3

What: Kohl’s is in search of a new CEO to execute its plans of staying the course of its strategy of driving sales in a promotional environment and uncertain landscape.

Why it is important: Kohl’s heads into the uncertain holiday season with declining profit, while searching for a new CEO following reports of Gass’ departure to Levi Strauss & Co.

The retailer’s customer has been hit hard by inflation leading to a 60% drop in net income from USD 243 million in 2021 to USD 97 million this year. Analysts had been bracing themselves for even steeper declines and had predicted 78 cents per share, 4 cents worse than the result.

Revenue for the three months ended Oct. 29 decreased by 7% to USD 4.3 billion from USD 4.6 billion.

Kohl’s reports 60% profit decline, looks for new CEO - Source 1

Kohl’s reports 60% profit decline, looks for new CEO - Source 2

What: Lotte Shopping has signed a contract with British-based retail tech company Ocado to become a top online grocery mall in Korea.

Why it is important: To capture the 135 trillion won market for online grocery in Korea, Lotte plans to invest 1 trillion won in smart logistics and adopt the Ocado Smart Platform (OSP) to all its e-commerce sector operations.

The OSP uses automated customer fulfilment centres (CFCs), self-developed robots, artificial intelligence and big data to carry out rapid and accurate delivery. Lotte Shopping plans to build six CFCs over the next eight years and make changes to its mobile shopping platform by collaborating with Lotte Department store.

Lotte partners with Ocado to become best online grocer in Korea

What: JCPenney owner, Simon Property Group, has been dragged down in the third quarter following costs linked to the beauty launch for JCPenney, declining y-o-y sales and the group’s investment in Reebok.

Why it is important: The Simon Property Group owner remains confident in the mall business as customers return to stores and occupancy rates increase yet analysts are uncertain about the group’s recent investments dragging down the overall Q3 report.

While the CEO has reported that the 2020 purchase of JCPenney is providing a 60% ROI, it would remain valuable even if that number falls leading some to ask questions. Simon Property Group claims that e-commerce has been flatlining, yet the US Department of Commerce has reported that e-commerce’s percentage of total sales is equal to 2021 at 14% which is still higher than pre-pandemic numbers.

The group reports that its “better brands” such as Brooks Brothers, Lucky Jeans and Nautica are performing well, although specific results are not released and thus cannot be fully substantiated.

JCPenney posts poor Q3

What: The FT predicts that once the inflation distortion is stripped out, the season will show a decline in sales and revenue year on year.

Why it is important: While the crunch in Europe and the rest of the world is expected for Q1 2023, these predictions for the US might have some consequences on customers’ morale a few weeks before the much-expected Christmas season.

The Financial Times reports that retailers are facing their first real-terms fall in revenue since the global financial crisis, as Black Friday starts in a unusually high inflation period (the highest since the early 80s). While the newspaper expects a growth of +4.5% y-o-y, this means -1.2% when the inflation effects are stripped out.

In addition to retailers selling at a higher price to offset their own costs, customers will be looking to promotional offers and make the most of their credit card borrowings, all of which will be eroding retailers margins this season.

US retailers face first sales slowdown since financial crisis

What: Nordstrom is partnering with Morehouse College, a Historically Black College and University (HBCUs) in Atlanta, to launch product management courses along with a mentorship programme for students.

Why it is important: The courses, which will be available within the Atlanta University Center Consortium and the broader regional network of higher education schools, will focus on product management with an emphasis on technology to drive diversity in the sector.

Product management, according to the senior director of engineering at Nordstrom Inc., is one of the fastest growing roles in technology which is proven to be critical in enhancing consumer experiences.

The partnership is the latest initiative around growing diversity and developing careers that Nordstrom has launched with HBCUs.

Nordstrom launches college mentorship programme & product management courses

What: Peek & Cloppenburg is using the Christmas season as an opportunity to launch its new brand identity as part of the transformation initiative to become Europe’s leading multi-brand omnichannel fashion retailer by 2026.

Why it is important: Peek & Cloppenburg will begin focusing on the ampersand (&) in marketing to highlight its goals of being an internationally hybrid brand that creates congruent worlds online and offline.

The Christmas campaign entitled “Merry Moments” tells the story of an unforgettable Christmas through an episodic approach. Characters will have outfit changes through jump cuts triggered by different audio which finally leads to “a suitable look for everyone at every moment.”

The episodes have been running on major broadcast stations across Germany and Austria with plans for print, street, online and social media placements to come.

Peek & Cloppenburg unveils new brand identity

What: JD.com Inc. net revenues hit 134.2 billion dollars in the Q3, an increase of 11.4% compared to 2021’s Q3 results.

Why it is important: Net service revenues increased by 42.2% in the third quarter, and annual active customer accounts increased by 6.5% to 588.3 million.

The operating margin of JD Retail before unallocated items for the third quarter of 2022 was 5.2% compared to 4%.

JD.com revenues increase 11.4%

What: After a seven-year hiatus, the Neiman Marcus Group is reviving its prestigious Neiman Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion, awarding it to Brunello Cucinelli in March of 2023.

Why it is important: Neiman Marcus’ CEO states that the NMG Awards differentiate from other fashion awards as they are a multimillion-dollar investment in open-to-buy and retailtainment platforming recipients by showcasing and connecting them with the retailer’s customers.

Reviving its fashion award for pioneers, innovators and leaders aims to reinforce Neiman Marcus’ partnerships with designers and opens the way for NMG Awards next year.

Neiman Marcus renews ‘Distinguished Service’ Fashion Award

What: Central Retail expects the Thai demand to continue supporting the positive 2022 trend.

Why it is important: Optimism is based on a positive situation in Thailand, but no mention is made of the other markets where Central is present.

Central Retail corporation projects its revenue will grow by 20% in 2022 for the full year, after 9 months of continuous positive performance in every channel (online, offline, omnichannel). The main reason for this renewed optimism is a positive situation in Thailand, with Covid-19-related consumption boosters helps local Thai consumers, in addition to welcoming tourists again now that borders are reopen.

Central Retail forecasts 20µ revenue growth FY 2022