What: To celebrate Earth Month, Neiman Marcus announces new initiatives, partnerships, and in-store activations that will further the organization's continued progress against its Environmental Social Governance (ESG) strategy.

Why is it important: As part of its efforts to reduce Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 50% by 2025 and procure 100% renewable energy use by 2030, this month, NMG partnered with Trane to replace natural gas-powered chillers with two new 500-ton water-cooled chillers at their Bergdorf Goodman's Women's Store in New York City.

Neiman Marcus stores across the U.S. are driving progress toward the company's goal to partner with customers to raise an additional $3,000,000 for Heart of Neiman Marcus Foundation grantees through point-of-sale fundraising. Proceeds from the campaign will fund creating a new NMG x FSF scholarship for students aspiring to careers in sustainable and ethical fashion.

Neiman Marcus also announced the upcoming launch of the new 'Fashioned for Change' and 'Conscious Curation' edits at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. They will identify items with preferred product attributes made with sustainable materials, including bio-based vegan leathers, as well as products that are responsibly manufactured, give back philanthropically, are made by diverse-owned brands, or promote enhanced transparency through digital product passports from groups like EON.

They will be hosting and sponsoring a variety of speaking events throughout the month to socialize the efforts above with associates, customers, and the broader fashion industry. To continue educating and amplifying the call for sustainable practices in the broader industry, NMG will sponsor the Women's Wear Daily Sustainability Summit and the Sustainable Fashion Forum fireside chat

Neiman Marcus Group celebrates earth month with events reinforcing its 2025 ESG Goals

What: Kohl’s Chief Marketing Officer Greg Revelle will depart the company June 1. Chief Merchandising Officer Doug Howe’s departure is effective immediately.

Why is it important: As the company searches for their replacements, Christie Raymond, who leads customer insights, analytics, and engagement, and longtime Kohl’s merchant Ronald Murray will step in.

Kohl’s stated that it has received non-binding proposals to be acquired and has requested fully financed final bids to be submitted in the coming weeks.

In that report Kohl’s said Q1 net sales and comp sales each fell 5.2% year over year, total revenue fell 4.4% to USD3.7 billion and gross margin contracted 69 basis points. Operating income tumbled 70%, as net income stayed flat at USD14 million. Inventory was up 40%, per the filing.

Two top Kohl’s executives step down

What: Shopify is acquiring Deliverr for approximately USD 2.1 billion in a bid to create an end-to-end logistics platform and expedite the development of its fulfillment network.

Why it is important: Deliverr offers e-commerce fulfillment and order storage services, shipping more than 1 million orders per month in the U.S. from thousands of merchants. The company’s software and asset-light network of warehouse, carrier and last-mile partners will complement Shopify’s large-capacity, self-operated warehouse hubs.

For Shopify merchants, the acquisition will reduce fulfillment complexity and increase access to next-day and two-day delivery services.

Shopify buys Deliverr for USD 2.1B to accelerate fulfillment network expansion

What: Neiman Marcus Group announced that as of Jan. 1, 2022, employees have been offered 16 weeks of paid leave for anyone welcoming a child, including via adoption, surrogacy, or foster care, and up to 24 weeks of paid maternity leave for birthing mothers. And as of Aug. 1, 2022, the new policy will also provide two weeks of paid leave to care for a child, spouse, partner, parent or other family member defined by the Family Medical Leave Act.

Why it is important: In the current labor market, businesses are searching for ways to attract and retain workers. Employers are developing enticements beyond wage hikes, which is now only one factor for people considering where to work.

Neiman Marcus is also offering those employed for at least 1 year USD 3,000 towards adoption to ease costs like placement, legal, or medical expenses.

As store associates and warehouse employees don’t have the luxury of working from home, retailers are offering other incentives such as tuition assistance and better leave benefits.

Neiman Marcus Group expands paid parental leave

What: The Wangfujing Group is set to spend USD134 million to buy the outlet business outright, paying USD24 million in cash and assuming USD116 million due in shareholder debt and interest.

Why is it important: The Hainan Outlets Tourism Development business was listed for sale by its former owner Juyuan Xincheng, , after suffering a loss of USD4.5 million last year on a turnover of about $USD10 million.

The investment marks Wangfujing Group’s entry into the travel retail and duty-free sector. The company was granted a duty-free licence in June 2020 but has yet to use it.

China’s Wangfujing Group acquires Hainan Outlets Tourism Development

What: In a surprise move, Belk has to find a replacement to its brand new CEO.

Why it is important: Investors are more nervous than ever when it comes to traditional retail companies, and expect leaders to make visible and fast decisions just after being appointed.

Nir Patel resigned from the Belt CEO position after having been promoted from his former job of Chief Merchandising Officer, to pursue other interests. The president, Don Hendricks, is taking the interim until a replacement has been found.

Patel was expected to change the whole company after emerging from bankruptcy a year ago, but according to experts, not much has happened: no new products, new offering or sales channel.

Belk, a 134-year-old company, has 300 stores in 16 US states, mainly in the South.

Belk CEO steps down less than a year after taking the job 

What: H&M is seeing if it can succeed where other mass retailers haven’t and make high-tech stores work.

Why is it important: At its COS brand, the company is rolling out a series of technological enhancements across its eleven US stores. They’ll include mirrors on the shop floor that recognise the product you’re holding and recommend items to pair with it. Fitting rooms will know which items you’ve brought in so you can easily request other sizes or colours. Customers will also be able to check out directly from the fitting room if they choose.

Shop associates, meanwhile, will have a real-time picture of inventory they can see on a tablet or other device. They’ll have full visibility into which products, in which sizes, are in the stock room or out on the selling floor, where they can also see how customers interact with them. They’ll know what inventory is available in other stores or warehouses where COS’ system is live, without having to pull it from a back-end inventory management system.

The aim of the technology is to better serve and engage shoppers, whether by suggesting other items they might like based on what they’ve been eyeing in the store or letting them know straight away if an item is available nearby or can be ordered online.

COS is cracking the code on high-tech stores

What: The Saks “ecosystem” of dot-com and stores is sustaining momentum as their assortments grow, diversify and capitalize on a pickup in women’s luxury fashion sales.

Why is it important: Sales at Saks.com, on a gross merchandising value basis for the first quarter of fiscal 2022, increased by 69% compared to the “strong” first quarter of 2021. On a two-year basis, GMV was up by 107%.

The Saks Fifth Avenue “ecosystem,” (Saks.com and the Saks Fifth Avenue stores) GMV was up 50% compared to the first quarter of 2019.

By diversifying the business model, Saks can more quickly add categories and brands it previously did not sell and expand those where it sees opportunities.

Women’s fashion is back in a big way. Respondents shared that they are spending more time in the office, and shopping for both travel and events. Furthermore, across the Saks Fifth Avenue combined digital and physical ecosystem, there is an ongoing appetite for luxury fashion; as such, women’s ready-to-wear, particularly dresses, and accessories were top-performing categories in the first quarter.

Saks is putting in place several initiatives to further customer service and personalization and an array of recent events and experiences to engage customers, including a post-purchase “ambassador” service program for higher-spending customers, a 360-degree campaign featuring Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o, and a New York Fashion Week dinner at L’Avenue at Saks.

Saks’ Women’s Fashion is back in a big way

What: M&S has just launched on Europe-wide premium activewear site The Sports Edit, where it will sit alongside more than 50 brands on the platform.

Why is it important: Since the launch of Goodmove in 2020, M&S said it has become the UK market leader for full-price sales in the women’s activewear category selling 1.6 million Goodmove items annually.

The Sports Edit will offer Goodmove’s best-selling womenswear products including the ‘Go Move’ “squat-proof” leggings in a variety of styles and colours, which M&S claims it sells 5,000 in black every month, as well as the Extra High Impact sports bra.

M&S Goodmove makes Sports Edit debut

What: An English retail expert advocates for a complete review of the retail portfolio in the UK.

Why it is important:  If such a reassessment was to be done, that might be an opportunity for English department stores to become central again, after a four decades old of competing with brands’ retail networks.

Sir John Timpson, owner of the UK shoe repair chain Timpson and member of the UK government’s high street experts panel, advocates that the high street retail scene is still too crowded in the country, and not diversified enough.

For him, the whole property portfolio needs to be reviewed and reassessed, even if this means that high street retail leaves room to other types of activities, such as leisure, entertainment, hospitality or medical services.

He appeals to the government to make decisions and new regulations, and believes that such a situation is the natural consequence of the appearance of supermarkets, retail parks and e-commerce, badly hitting city centres.

Is the UK about to downsizing the number of high street retail units? 

What: US department stores are increasingly leaving malls and opening smaller units in local communities.

Why it is important: This is a global trend with most of the largest players in the department store business making experiments on their own (Galeries Lafayette, Falabella and others).

Following Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s examples of smaller stores with fewer products and more digital services to cater for local communities needs, Macy’s has opened five Market by Macy’s locations over the past 2 years in Texas. Those stores span over a total surface comprised between 2,200 sqm and 5,800 sqm, a fifth of the average Macy’s store surface.

During Q4 2021 sales in these units surpassed Macy’s expectations, and the group plans to open 10 off-mall locations this year, including some Market by Macy’s units, in addition to Macy’s Backstage (off-price), Bloomie’s and Bloomingdale’s outlets.

Macy’s is accelerating on the smaller store format 

What: Online retailers have competed to offer cheaper, more convenient shopping experiences but one of the world’s biggest apparel sellers may stop the trend.

Why is it important: Zara had earlier this month begun charging UK customers GBP1.95 to return online purchases by mail. The policy, in place in 37 other countries, doesn’t apply to online orders returned in stores.

Many shoppers took to social media to complain. Some talked about long queues and slow service when they attempted to bring items back to Zara’s stores. Others argued that Zara should improve its sizing and fits if they were going to charge for returns. A few applauded the new policy, saying it would nudge consumers toward more mindful consumption habits.

The environmental case for Zara’s switch is iffy as a delivery van picking up multiple returns will likely generate fewer emissions than individual customers driving to stores to avoid the fee

Online shopping, which boomed over the pandemic, has a much higher rate of customer returns than in-store purchases. Shipping and processing returned items create mounting logistical costs, as well as carbon emissions. However, many shoppers have become accustomed to free and easy returns.

Cutting overproduction, or the volume of clothes discounted at end of season, from 40% to 30% every year could save 158 million tonnes of carbon emissions. While reducing an e-commerce return rate from 35% to 15%, could save 12 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year.

Regardless, charging for online returns will no doubt reduce the number of orders sent back. Incentivising in-store returns, which immediately puts products back in circulation, can also prevent waste.

Other tactics include improving product pages and virtual sizing technology, or letting customers know about fit and styling advice if they start to add multiple sizes of the same item to their online cart. Some retailers offer repair and alteration services, hoping some minor adjustments to fit will ward off some returns.

Are free returns coming to an end?

What: Liberty London has linked up with Future Workforce to support the rollout of robotic process automation tech from UiPath, meaning that the e-commerce team will get products launched on the webstore more quickly.

Why is it important: The automated robots can gather images from brands, find product codes and rename images quickly to make them ready for publishing on the site.

The partnership has been a great way to improve the speed and efficiency of some legacy, manual processes, and they will use the time saved within the Trade teams to create and promote new customer offerings that will increase revenue and improve conversion.

Liberty London uses robotic process automation 

What: Coresight reviews the reasons why the horizon is not bright for mass-market retailers.

Why it is important: Department Stores should take notice and focus on two parallel strategies, the first one being to nurture luxury and less price-conscious customers, and the second one being to review the assortment for the most price-conscious ones, in order to compensate by volumes the margin that will not be achieved otherwise.

Deborah Weinswig, the editor in chief of Coresight, reviews the current situation in the US, as most retailers have noted that customers passed up higher-margin and big-ticket items (home furnishing, apparel) in favor of essential or low-margin items (groceries, beauty). This is mainly due to the rising inflation and affecting mostly low and modest incomes, as luxury retailers (Nordstrom) appear to be unaffected so far.

On a worldwide basis, the situation in China is complicated as retail has been hit by the Covid lockdowns in Beijing and Shanghai, and this adds up to the renewal of trade barriers and fears of a global food shortage.

As a consequence, Weinswig expects that mass-market retailers might keep on suffering for the next year or so.

The current market might favour smaller tickets and margin products 

What: Dillard’s reported that total retail sales (excluding the company’s construction business) rose 22% to USD1.6 billion, with store comps up 23% year over year.

Why is it important: Retail gross margin expanded to 47.3% of sales, a record high, from 42.6% a year ago, per a company press release. The strongest categories were men’s apparel and accessories, women’s apparel, and junior’s apparel.

Net income rose 59% year over year to USD251.1 million. Dillard’s ended the quarter with USD862 million in cash after the share repurchases.

Dillard’s apparel sales strengthen Q1 revenue and margins

What: The online luxury platform significantly scaled back its expectations for sales in 2022, as the loss of its Russia business and other factors have taken a toll.

Why it is important: E-commerce companies of all sorts have faced an uphill climb lately as they’ve struggled to top the huge sales they recorded at the height of the pandemic surge last year. Many have seen their stock fall, including Farfetch, whose shares are down 77 percent this year.

Between Russia’s war in Ukraine, Covid lockdowns in China, and the removal of markdown inventory from partner brands pushing for more full-price sales as a factor hampering its business, the year is not shaping up as Farfetch expected.

The company said it now expects total merchandise sales on its digital platform to rise 5 percent to 10 percent above last year. When it gave its previous forecast at the end of February, it anticipated sales would rise 28 percent to 32 percent.

The company sought to reassure investors that growth in other important regions, such as the US, remained strong, however, and that it sees no general slowdown in online sales of luxury goods. While it currently has no plans to resume operations in Russia, it expects business in China to pick up as the country reopens.

Farfetch slashes its outlook for the year

What: The Chelsea store was a laboratory for Google in order to venture into retail. Now they are rolling over the plan.

Why it is important: The strategy appears to be to cover territories via low-scale but service-full hubs, just like what Nordstrom is doing with Nordstrom local. For now, no information has been released about a potential expansion to Europe.

Google has announced the opening of a new store in Brooklyn, one year after the opening of the Chelsea store in New York. This is the first of a new breed, called “neighborhood stores”, aiming to offer similar experiences as in the flagship store, but in a more intimate setting.

The store features art installations from local artists, a Here to Help desk (a feature that was appreciated in the Chelsea store), and the possibility to test products on site, in addition to a grab and go service.

Google is expanding "neighborhood stores” 

What: The leader of buy now pay later services is accelerating in finding additional features to overcome the difficulties currently encountered on this market (hampered by inflation and fear of rising prices).

Why it is important: It is yet another service already offered by other operators, and forcing retailers to include a new platform in their systems. While this offer might be interesting for smaller scale retailers, not sure that this feature is of interest for department stores provided they are already advanced enough in their omnichannel development.

Klarna is launching a virtual shopping service for its customers, connecting them to experts in physical stores through live video and messaging. This officially aims to empower retailers to create immersive experiences and increase customer engagement.

The program already includes 300+ brands, and Klarna wants to offer this service to 800,000 retailers. It is currently available in 18 markets, including the US, UK and most of Europe.

Klarna launches virtual shopping 

What: Le Bon Marché transforms its alleys into a holiday camp and celebrates sunny days with a new highlight called "Un air d'été", which gives pride of place to nomadic adventures and song.

Why is it important: Le Bon Marché focuses on its French roots by joining forces with the Breton music festival Les Vieilles Charrues, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

Since April 30 and until June 19, the point of sale has played it bohemian and camping chic by hosting a series of pop-up stores and exclusive products steeped in this theme.

The Céline house offers a beach corner entitled "Plein Soleil", the Brazilian label Farm Rio reveals its colorful and gipsy universe, while the clothes of the Antik Batik camp advocate "a return to the roots.”

On the music side, in partnership with the festival to be held from July 14 to 17 in Carhaix, a series of free mini-concerts are organized every Tuesday evening for seven weeks. Le Bon Marché is continuing its event strategy there to stage its sales area while preparing for the start of the school year with an immersive live show, “Au Bonheur des Dames".

Le Bon Marché celebrates sunny days with the Vieilles Charrues

What: Galeria is strengthening its team in order to accelerate the Covid-19 recuperation.

Why it is important: Galeria is turning back to former talents in order to steer the changes within the company.

Olivier Van den Bossche is leaving the Dutch cosmetics player Rituals where he was COO, to join Galeria as the Managing Director Sales for the group. Van den Bossche had already been CEO of Inno (part of the group) from 2014 to 2017, and then of Galeria Kaufhof from 2014 to 2017, prior to the merger with Karstadt in 2018.

The current Sales Director, Engelbert Thulfaut, will be dedicated to the store concept, while a new head of e-commerce, Michael Drexler, has been recruited to launch the webshop during the summer 2022.

Changes at Galeria management 

What: Hudson’s Bay hired Nadira Singh as its new CFO.

Why is it important: Singh will report to Wayne Drummond, president of Hudson’s Bay.

HBC has been shifting its physical and digital operations over the past year. In June, the company announced it would separate Saks Off 5th’s digital arm from its brick-and-mortar stores after receiving USD200 million from Insight Partners and other investors. About two months later, the company made the same decision for Hudson’s Bay and dubbed its online business The Bay. The moves illustrate the parent company’s attempt to manage its real estate holdings as the retail industry shifts toward e-commerce.

Hudson’s Bay appoints CFO

What: Neiman Marcus is establishing regional "corporate hubs" but will still maintain a significant corporate presence in Dallas.

Why is it important: The majority of the NMG corporate workers will remain in Dallas, though hubs are being established in New York City, as well as in Bangalore, India, where NGM has its shared services functions, and elsewhere.

In Dallas, NMG is expected to receive USD5 million in incentives to open a corporate hub in Tower at Cityplace on North Central Expressway just north of downtown.

However, the luxury retailer will maintain its three levels of office space at the downtown Dallas Neiman Marcus store.

NMG’s leadership team meets physically at a different store around the country every month. For example, the team met last week in Florida, at the Bal Harbour store, as well as at the Coral Gables unit.

Neiman Marcus decentralizes

What: John Lewis has partnered with The Little Loop to enter the childrenswear rental market.

Why is it important: John Lewis said the partnership will give parents access to the biggest wardrobe of rented kids' clothing in the UK.

Launching on Thursday, fifty-one products for babies to age 12 will be available, with special consideration for sustainable raw materials.

Clothes can be rented and swapped at any point, with customers receiving credit to use on future bundles. All returned items get professionally cleaned, and if needed mended, then are rented out again at a price that reflects their condition. Plans start at 18 pounds per month with customers able to rent 6 -7 products at a time.

John Lewis enters kidswear with The Little Loop

What: Amazon will impose an average 5% fuel and inflation surcharge on merchants to warehouse and ship their products in the United States, in response to rising costs.

Why is it important: It is Amazon's first such surcharge and follows months of higher wage and labor-related expenses that have chipped away at the online retailer's profit.

Amazon will charge an average USD .24 cents more per unit it stores and ships through its Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service. The surcharge, which is not permanent, is a mechanism broadly used across supply chain providers.

Amazon has only announced a surcharge in the United States. While sellers can avoid the higher cost by shipping goods to customers directly, many rely on FBA for eligibility in Amazon's fast-delivery club Prime.

Amazon will charge merchants a 5% surcharge