What: Frasers Group acquired the Studio Retail Group’s online retailer Studio Retail Limited.

Why is it important: Frasers has paid GBP 26.8 million for the business. It's certainly an interesting development and could be a good deal for Frasers given that Studio Retail had previously been on what appeared to be an upward trajectory. The company was increasingly upbeat last year until it was faced with issues such as over-optimistic ordering and supply chain problems.

Frasers Group buys Studio Retail Group

What: Harrods will not be renewing the contract with the department stores as of this year.

Why is it important: Harrods has had a collaboration with the department store to exclusively sell Harrods products since 2006.

Following the end of the contract they will also be shutting down the stores located in Thailand and Singapore. Harrods will be focusing on their two outposts that they have opened in Shanghai and Beijing that provide a members-only private shopping experience Additionally they will be focused on the recently opened Harrods Tea Rooms in Shanghai as part of their expansion into the Asian market.

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Harrods ends partnership with Shin Kong Mitsukoshi

What: In Shanghai, malls including TX Huaihai and Bohui Plaza are opening nightclubs alongside fashion and luxury stores, driving foot traffic and sales to retail centres.

Why it is important: According to a 2019 study conducted by RET China Commercial Real Estate Research Center, nighttime commercial sales in Shanghai account for 62% of spend.

That year, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Chongqing, Nanjing and other cities successively introduced measures for nighttime economic development. The scope of the night economy covers catering, transportation, shopping, exhibitions, entertainment, tourism and other industries.

China’s nightlife scene enters the shopping mall

What: Nordstrom is expanding its advertising opportunities for brand partners through the Nordstrom Media Network, further building on the strengths of the digital-first platform.

Why it is important: Nordstrom Media Network is its advertising program that allows brand partners to connect directly with 32 million Nordstrom customers to drive traffic, sales, and customer engagement. The program enables brands to share their brand story and advertise on Nordstrom’s digital platforms.

On-site channels include sponsored product ads and brand pages. Off-site channels include paid social and display ads, YouTube videos, search and shopping ads, and affiliate campaigns.

Looking ahead, the retailer plans to expand ad placements on Nordstrom.com and NordstromRack.com and to improve reporting and targeting capabilities.

Nordstrom expands its retail media network

What: Buzzfeed, the US-based website, is venturing into physical retail through new stores in US airports.

Why it is important: Every brand is now going into retail to monetize its customer’s awareness. This can be seen both as a threat by traditional retailers, or an opportunity as this could be bringing a new proposal and generate interesting partnerships.

Buzzfeed, the digital media company known for personality quizzes or Tasty videos, has teamed up with Stellar Partners, a travel retail operator, in order to launch Buzzfeed News-branded convenience stores in airports across the US.

The stores will support local businesses and stock up magazines, travel supplies, snacks, beauty products, lifestyle items, and will also allow to stay connected with the world by checking the latest news and entertainment on Buzzfeed monitors throughout the store.

The goal is to “utilise the data-driven research and insights to give consumers a curated travel experience”.

Buzzfeed is moving into physical retail 

What: Alibaba invests USD 60 mn in augmented reality start-up, Nreal, an initiative seen as a first step into the metaverse for the Chinese e-commerce champion.

Why is it important: Nreal, the Chinese manufacturer of augmented reality glasses, receives an investment by Alibaba of USD 60 mn to be used for research and development. Virtual reality and augmented reality are considered key techniques for building the metaverse and like Alibaba, Nreal does not intend to stay on the sidelines of this new technology.

The internet steamroller Tencent is working on its metaverse platform, drawing on its experience in video games in which it is a major player. As for the Baidu search engine, it launched XiRang in December, presented as one of the first metaverse applications in China. Scalded by Beijing's takeover in the technology sector, the Chinese digital companies are fumbling their way into this niche.

Alibaba invests in augmented reality start-up 

What: Sales and earnings are in line with fiscal 2021 outlook, with fourth quarter results demonstrating progress against the department store’s long-term growth strategy.

Why it is important: Digital sales in the fourth quarter decreased 1% compared with the same period in fiscal 2020 and increased 23% compared with the same period in fiscal 2019. Digital sales represented 44% of total sales during the quarter and 42% of sales for the fiscal year.

In its fourth quarter results report, Nordstrom demonstrates progress against its long-term growth strategy. The company reported net earnings of USD 200 million, and earnings before interest and taxes ("EBIT") of USD 299 million for the fourth quarter. For the fiscal year ended January 29, 2022, net earnings were USD 178 million, with EBIT of USD 492 million.

For the fourth quarter ended January 29, 2022, net sales increased 23% versus the same period in fiscal 2020 and decreased 1% versus the same period in fiscal 2019. Gross merchandise value ("GMV") increased 24% versus the same period in fiscal 2020 and was flat versus the same period in fiscal 2019. Nordstrom banner net sales were flat and GMV increased 2% compared with the fourth quarter of 2019. Net sales for Nordstrom Rack decreased 5% versus the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019, a sequential improvement of 320 basis points over the third quarter.

Sales in the home, active, designer, beauty and kids categories had the strongest growth compared with the fourth quarter of 2019. The company made significant progress on its merchandising strategies throughout 2021, with choice count at an all-time high, increasing 50% over last year, and more than 300 new brands launched during the year. Additionally, alternative vendor partnership models accounted for 10% of Nordstrom banner GMV in the fourth quarter, up from 7% in 2019.

The company has provided the following financial outlook for fiscal 2022:

•    Revenue growth, including retail sales and credit card revenues, of 5 to 7% versus fiscal 2021

•    EBIT margin of 5.6 to 6.0% of sales

•    Income tax rate of approximately 27%

Nordstrom strong fourth quarter

What: Smiley collaborates with Nordstrom and luxury designers to celebrate 50 years of the smiley face.

Why is it important: The Smiley Company created a limited-edition collection of 50th-anniversary products, for sale in stores around the world, including 10 Nordstrom JWN department stores and Galeries Lafayette department stores in Paris, Beijing, and Shanghai.

The pop-in shops will sell apparel, beauty, home decor, and lifestyle products from 30 different brands.

Nordstrom celebrates the smiley face’s 50th birthday

What: Target is furthering its partnership with Levi’s Red Tab products from 500 doors to 800 doors.

Why it is important: The strategic partnership further cements Target as a go-to place for denim.

In addition to adding more points of distribution, Target will increase the breadth of its assortment, now offering more than 180 pieces, spanning both men’s and women’s denim styles. Product offerings will vary by store, but the entire collection includes tops, dresses, jeans and jackets.

Target to increase distribution of Levi's Red Tab products 

What: Macy’s expands backstage store-within-store to 37 additional locations in Spring 2022.

Why is it important: Macy’s will bring its off-price, on-trend styles to additional stores nationwide offering shoppers another way to find and express their personal style at significant savings on their finds.

Macy’s Backstage store-within-stores range from 11,000 to 16,000 square feet of retail space, delivering a constantly changing assortment. With best-in-class fashion for those who love the hunt, customers can find something to fit their style in apparel for women, men, and children; a wide range of toys, housewares, beauty products, designer handbags, activewear and pet accessories.

At Macy’s Backstage, shoppers can earn and redeem Star Rewards and use their Macy’s credit card at all locations, creating a seamless experience for those shopping at both Macy’s full-line and Backstage stores.

Macy’s ‘Backstage’ takes center stage

Macy’s ‘Backstage’ takes center stage

What: Macy’s is now doing about four livestream programs per week.

Why is it important: Macy’s has created livestream programming across several categories, including lifestyle and beauty. Customers are super engaged in the chat box and Macy’s created a system where the hosts and stylists can respond to their questions and comments in real time.

They live on the company’s website, and the host guides viewers through different products, which helps foster a sense of community. The goal is to bring shopping experiences from the physical world into the digital world.

Macy’s adds more livestream events

What: John Lewis updates its customer promise out of concerns for its brand perception in a moment when cost of living becomes an issue for UK customers.

Why it is important: John Lewis’ promise has been enforced for almost a century. Analysts are concerns it might impact the corporate culture and staff might feel that they are becoming like ‘any other shop’.

John Lewis will retire its “Never knowingly undersold” promise this summer and will invest £500m into a new customer pledge aiming at offering “quality at great value prices”, out of concerns for the increasing cost of living in the UK.

For the retailer, the previous pledge is not reassuring customers enough and does not guarantee trust. It is also presented as a proactive move and not a reaction to other retailers’ prices cuts. The pledge had been introduced in 1925.

The £500m investment represents an increase of +25% compared to the amount John Lewis spends on keeping prices affordable. It aims to guarantee great quality at great prices both online and offline.

The new customer pledge also hopes to capitalize on the “Anyday” range, the most affordable private label range of products available at John Lewis, which is also here to reassure customers. Prices are even advertised in TV spots.

John Lewis introduces a new pledge to customers 

What: Target is expanding the range of services offered at their curbside pickup stations.

Why it is important: While the possibility to order a Starbucks is clearly an incentive for customers to use the kerb side service, the additional option of being able to bring back undesired items could contribute, if well executed and managed, to reduce return rates via other channels and also the costs of processing.

Target is planning to introduce new features on its app, as it wants customers to be able to place a Starbucks order on the way to the curbside pickup station, and also enable them to bring back their returned purchases. This feature would not involve pickup times and membership fees.

The possibility to order a Starbuck coffee at the curbside pickup has been proposed following a survey to Target shoppers, where this appeared to be a top request. Adding up the possibility to return items would probably increase the return rate via this channel, and therefore ease with the associated processing costs.

Target to test Starbucks orders and returns processing at curbside pickup 

What: The Bay has dropped products made in Russia and Belarus from its stores and its marketplace website, 200 items in all, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Why is it important: In response to the crisis in Ukraine, The Bay dropped Russian products, and The Hudson’s Bay Foundation, donated $100,000 to the Canadian Red Cross’ Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal. The foundation is also encouraging Canadians to donate their Hudson’s Bay Rewards points, which will be converted into cash and donated to the Canadian Red Cross to provide aid to impacted Ukrainian communities.

The Foundation will match these donations, up to an additional $100,000. The points donations will be accepted through March 31, 2022.

The Bay removes products made in Russia and Belarus

What: The real estate developer has announced its intention to open the fourth iteration of its fashion and lifestyle concept, Taikoo Li, in China’s ancient capital of Xi’an. It will be the group’s seventh retail property in mainland China.

Why it is important: Taikoo Li has already found success in Beijing and Chengdu, with a growing retail revenue of 27% and 21.9% respectively last quarter. The new retail-led project will have a low density, open plan design, but will also include cultural facilities, a luxury hotel and serviced apartments. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2025 with a total gross leasable area of 269,000-square-metres.

Swire Properties will take a 70% stake in the joint venture with a 30% stake taken by local company, Xi’an City Huanwen. The total investment in the project is expected to reach about 10 billion yuan ($1.58 billion).

Swire to open new Taikoo Li shopping mall 

What: Macy’s is increasingly making its customers loyal through its membership programme which represents now a sizeable portion of the business.

Why it is important: There is a race to increasing total numbers of memberships for all retailers of the world. This is the best way to combine customer knowledge and retention, by acquiring the data allowing to maintain customers’ loyalty through time.

The four-tiered Star Reward programme has become an important part of Macy’s business, as it represented 70% of the total transactions in 2021 (either by being already a member or becoming one while making the transaction). This represented an increase of 3.5m members for Q4 2021 alone and analysts believe that the main reason for enrolling is to guarantee a great instore experience (which is a different motivation than for Amazon, where customers enroll for fast delivery at no cost). This has important implications in terms of loyalty to the brand name.

The Start Reward project has been launched in 2017 and is opened to any customer, without any obligation to own a Macy’s credit card.

More than 70% of Macy’s 2021 transactions were tiered to its loyalty programme

What: Luxury brands and duty-free retailers are betting on e-commerce, trendier products, and a better shopping experience at airports to make up for the impact of the pandemic.

Why is it important: With the sales of luxury goods at airport shops down with the pandemic, since business travelers, Chinese tourists, and other big spenders are not traveling, airport retailers are testing new store formats and click-and-collect options to generate more revenue from fewer passengers. Concept stores featuring trendier products aimed at younger shoppers are competing with traditional duty-free shops.

Travelers returning to the airport for the first time since the pandemic will find a different retail landscape awaiting them past the security gate. The duty-free shops selling expensive liquor and cosmetics are still there, but they’re refreshing their assortment to cater to Gen-Z and pushing new websites and shopping apps.

Concept stores pitching lifestyle and contemporary fashion brands are popping up alongside mainstays like Dior and Prada. There are also more things to do beyond shopping, from workout classes to movie screenings.

Among the groups still missing are business travelers and Chinese tourists, historically two of the biggest spenders at airport shops. Instead, terminals are seeing young tourists, especially those making short trips, a group that will make up a majority of passengers by 2025.

These travelers aren’t big shoppers, preferring to splurge on food, drinks and entertainment before boarding their flight. On average, a long-haul Chinese passenger spends over $100 on luxury goods, compared to a short or medium-haul European passenger, who spends just $1, according to Mauro Anastasi, a retail and aviation partner at Bain & Company.

Airports are thus introducing experiences beyond shopping to cater to younger consumers. After passing through security at Baltimore-Washington Airport, travelers can make time for a pre-flight workout at Roam Fitness, borrowing Lululemon gym gear and running shoes and using showers stocked with Malin+Goetz products. At Heathrow, a pop-up Chanel store invited shoppers to try a range of the brand’s beauty products using augmented reality on digital screens.

The future of airport retail 

What: Brands like Adidas, Gucci, and The Hundreds are finding that NFT tokens are a great way to reward their superfans.

Why is it important: NFTs offer brands a way to extend holders’ unique privileges, creating a means to foster and reward customer loyalty. Since NFTs still function as high-priced speculative assets, the customer relationship can take work to manage but, the efforts show they could have a place in fashion beyond being just collectibles.

Because NFTs can act as unique identifiers for their owners, similar to an email address but with added features because of the programmable smart contracts underlying them, brands can use them to extend privileges and perks, including freebies and exclusive access to new products.

The Hundreds’ NFT program has been successful because it has created a genuine sense of shared ownership with ABS members. Earlier this year, the brand started issuing members royalties on sales when they used their bombs in products. For now, that means store credit to spend with the brand to avoid running afoul of security regulations.

Brands using NFTs to keep customers hooked

What: Neiman Marcus pledged to phase out animal fur last June and will stop selling it entirely in March 2023,  replacing it with alternatives such as apple leather.

Why is it important: NGM’s CEO stated that the group has already halved its fur inventory and they are keen to prove to those customers that they are “replacing something, not taking something away”.

Alongside its fur ban, the group has committed to increasing its revenue from sustainable and ethical products by 2025. NMG says it extended the life of 350,000 items in 2021 through circular fashion services including alterations, restoration and resale. Part of this positive framing is the transformation of NMG’s 22 in-store fur salons into alterations bars and circular fashion hubs, where customers can access customisation, refurbishment and even resale, a process that is already underway. The group will continue to offer fur storage, restoration and cleaning services – to keep existing garments in circulation for as long as possible and avoid them going to landfills.

Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s have been fur-free since the end of 2020, while Saks Fifth Avenue will stop selling fur by the end of 2022. However, finding plant-based materials that match the quality and feel of fur is posing a significant challenge, as is bringing along on the journey brands and consumers, particularly the most loyal, high-spending clients.

Neiman Marcus replaces fur with apple leather 

What: As Nike accelerated its DTC growth, the brand has moved away from select wholesale partners and moved into the second phase of its marketplace strategy.

Why is it important: In pursuit of a direct-to-consumer strategy, Nike will begin testing Jordan-branded stores in North America in fiscal 2023.

Nike revenue grew 5% to $10.9 billion in the third quarter, on the back of 17% growth in Nike Direct and 22% growth in digital. Nike Direct made up 42% of the retailer's sales in the quarter, reaching $4.6 billion, according to a company press release.

Nike continues to push its DTC strategy, but also seeks to emphasize that wholesale is still a significant part of the company's business.

Nike plans for stand-alone Jordan stores

What: Saks Off 5th receives USD 200 million investment from Insight Partners’ to enhance its digital experiences, expand the assortment, add talent, and escalate marketing initiatives.

Why is it important: The investment by Insight has put Saks Off 5th in a position to invest in things that matter for their customers. Including, marketing and driving brand awareness as well as customer acquisition, enhancing the app and website experiences, improving logistics and distribution to get products to customers faster, and attracting talent to the team.

The marketing of “Where Fashion Takes Off,” its 2022 spring marketing campaign and new brand tag line, includes paid social media, display advertising, website ads, email, and online video podcasts, and covers both Saksoff5th.com and the 100 Saks Off 5th stores.

Saks Off 5th rebrands

What: Gap has opened its first branded shop-in-shop within Next’s Oxford Street store in London, in a return to the British high street, following the closure of all its UK stores in 2021 after a strategic review of its business.

Why is it important: The first Gap shop-in-shop is located within Next’s largest West End store on London’s Oxford Street and will be the biggest branded shop within the store, covering 4,000 square feet of retail space. The concept store has been designed to embody Gap’s reinvented approach to retail in the UK, and features an open, modern, and minimal design, and includes its own entrance onto Oxford Street.

The Gap shop-in-shop will sit alongside other brands stocked in the Next store including womenswear brand Lipsy and stationery brand Paperchase. It will also offer embroidery, badging and monogramming customisation stations for Gap customers to personalise their purchases.

Next will operate Gap’s business in the UK and Ireland as a franchise partner, managing its e-commerce business and establishing Gap-branded shop-in-shops within Next. The move is part of the American brand's plans to amplify its omnichannel business to better serve its customers within the UK and Ireland.

Gap opens shop-in-shop within ‘Next’ 

What: Data from Placer.ai shows foot traffic rising above pre-pandemic levels in Ulta Beauty, Bath & Body Works and select Sephora locations.

Why is it important: Beauty is making a big comeback in the brick-and-mortar retail channel. Data from Placer.ai, which monitors foot traffic across the retail industry, reported steady growth across Ulta Beauty and Bath & Body Works‘ entire store fleets, as well as the four, tracked locations of Sephora in California, Colorado, Tennessee and Georgia.

Placer.ai’s vice president of marketing said the interest is reflective of the pandemic fading as well as a growing interest in beauty. Although all three retailers have robust store footprints, Sephora’s expansion beyond urban areas is pivotal for foot traffic.

For instance, Ulta Beauty increases in foot traffic by month, as compared to 2020, before the pandemic-related store closures.

Ulta Beauty:

• February 2022: +7.5 percent

• January 2022: +11.1 percent

• December 2022: +16.1 percent

Beauty’s physical store comeback

What: Selfridges will now have access to DHL’s ‘Just Right Returns’ service.

Why is it important: Ahead of the supply chain meeting, this news about optimizing retail is noteworthy.

Returns are trackable to consumers through the DHL Parcel app and, through the new partnership with ZigZag to create a fast easy quality return solution, retailers will also be able to track returns via ZigZag, providing visibility throughout the process.

Selfridges uses new DHL fast return service