What: The Australian department store operator revealed a six-month profit of AU $32.3 million ($23.7 million) on sales of AU $1.52 billion and confirmed it would pay its first dividend since 2017.

Why it is important: A combination of the online platform and store network were key contributions to the results, especially during the challenging Covid closures.

The chief executive John King reported a 15.2% increase in sales across the first five weeks trading into the second half, which was enough to push the company’s share price up 24.4%.

When stores were forced to close because of Covid, customers moved online resulting in a 47.5% boost in e-commerce sales. The e-commerce business now accounts for 27.9% of overall sales.

Myer’s share price soars after rare dividend promise

What: Stockmann group is back in the black after a €12,3m loss in 2020.

Why it is important: This positive trend is also benefitting to the department store division although the first half of 2021 prevents the full year results to be positive.

Stockmann, the group owning the eponymous department store and the Lindex brand, has reported a positive 2021 FY with an adjusted operating profit of €68,1m, to be compared with a loss of €12,3m in 2020. Expectations for 2022 remain positive as well as the dynamics around the Lindex brand are positive.

When it comes to the department store division, results are increasing as well, however the consolidated result for 2021 remains in the red due to a low traffic on the first half of the year.

Finnish department store Stockmann returns to profits 

What: The retail arm of Central Group says revenue rose by 15% year-on-year to 58.77 billion Thai baht ($1.8 billion) and EBITDA was up 42% to 8.03 billion baht in its latest quarter.

Why it is important: Net profit for the company soared 124% to 2.5 billion baht.

The group did not break down the performance of its various business units, which also includes retail chains selling groceries, sportswear, stationery, and electronics across Thailand and Vietnam.

Central Retail’ solid fourth quarter (Press Release)

Central Retail’ solid fourth quarter (Business of Fashion)

What: The German luxury e-commerce company, Mytheresa, has joined the Chinese e-commerce giant, JD.com, launching an official e-boutique on its platform.

Why it is important: It has become increasingly common to see international e-commerce players join with local platform players in China, due largely to the dominance of traffic garnered by the likes of JD.com and Alibaba’s Tmall.

JD.com’s active user base had reached 550 million by last September. Rival Alibaba has collaborated with Net-a-Porter and Farfetch, which benefit from its 979 million local active users.

The collaborated online store offers luxury brands such as Alaïa, Balmain, Roger Vivier, Versace and designer brands like Marine Serre, Lemaire and Ganni. All the products will be directly shipped from Mytheresa’s Munich headquarters with Mytheresa providing 30-day free returns and Chinese customer service.

Mytheresa partners with JD.com in China

What: The founder of Showfields reflects on retail and the experience it should bring to customers.

Why it is important: The “inverted business model” where Showfields as a retailer treats brands as final customers and charges them a service rather than buying their product, is an alternative worth being considered for specific parts of department stores (concept stores, dedicated spaces, etc…)

Tal Zvi Nathanael, whom IADS CEO members have met via a video conference in October 2020, explains the concept behind Showfields and his new projects.

He developed Showfields in 2019 out of frustration as retail and the lack of “magic” as he puts it, into a project where surprises lie at the same time in the experience itself but also in the product selection. 60 to 100 brands, in their majority either not distributed or with a DNVB business model, are displayed and renewed every 6 months on the 3 floors of the 1,400 sqm-wide store, with an alternative model: instead of purchasing the products like in a traditional wholesale model, Showfield charges between $12,000 and $36,000 for brands campaigns, caters for the workforce and the VM, and provides data to brands.

There are 4 more stores to be open on the East Coast within 2022.

Showfields’ specific approach to retail 

What: Selfridges has committed to making the shopping experience for autistic consumers more enjoyable with the launch of a ‘quiet' shopping hour in all its branches that will run once a week from 10 am until 11 am on Wednesdays.

Why it is important: The initiative was announced during Neurodiversity week to cater to various customers with specific needs.

Modern stores can be noisy environments with loud music and strong lighting, as well as large crowds of shoppers. This can be an extremely uncomfortable experience for anyone with autism and the introduction of quiet periods has become much more common in recent years in British shops and offices.

Selfridges adds 'quiet hour' for an inclusive shopping experience

What: As part of Metaverse Fashion Week, Selfridges has unveiled a virtual department store in Decentraland.

Why it is important: Selfridges joins more than 70 brands, artists, and designers in creating a new experience, intersecting fashion and technology.

In a LinkedIn post, Selfridges said: “For the first time, you'll be able to view the exclusive UNIVERSE NFTs by Paco Rabanne and Fondation Vasarely in-situ in our flagship metaverse store.”

It added: “This is the first meta department store in the history of Web3 and anybody can visit. Interact as a guest or attach your crypto wallet to access all features, while keeping your in-world progress and digital assets safe.”

Selfridges launches ‘first meta department store in history of Web3’

What: Colombian powerhouse Maluma is launching his first fashion collection for men and women exclusively with Macy’s.

Why is it important: Royalty by Maluma, designed in partnership with Reunited Clothing, is an exploration of his lifelong admiration for the artistry, and high fashion as well as furthers his mission to bring lasting style to his community through accessible collections.

Available in sizes XS to XXL with prices ranging from $39.50-$179.00, Royalty by Maluma is now on macys.com, Macy’s mobile app, and at select Macy’s nationwide.

Macy’s exclusive line by Maluma

What: Macy’s has committed to spend USD 5 billion by 2025 on efforts to ‘create a more equitable and sustainable future’.

Why it is important: The social purpose initiative plan ‘Mission Every One’ was created to drive social change in three main pillars for the upcoming years: communities, people, and the planet.

Macy’s has outlined their investment plan for each pillar:

•    People: will be investing in underrepresented designers, brands and partners across its namesake and Bloomingdale's brands. They will also invest in education benefits for their employees and boost minimum hourly pay to $15 per hour by May 1 of this year.

•    Communities: Macy’s has announced that they will be investing another USD 2 million to support scholarships for underrepresented youth in fashion, design and sustainability programs. Additionally, they will be donating more than USD 100 million to nonprofit organizations.

•    Planet: This pillar is focused on incorporating more sustainably sourced raw materials and fibers into its private brands, and investing in means of reducing, reusing and repurposing materials to eliminate waste.

Macy's stated that its movements towards a more inclusive future is "enterprise-wide" and that the company wants to leverage its position in the industry to make larger changes in the world.

Macy’s announces commitment to spend USD 5 billion on social responsibility efforts 

What: A new concept placing the Ikea brand as a community space in malls.

Why it is important: Ikea is testing several store formats and brand formulation iterations. By doing this, they are gathering data from different sets of customers, and also exploring options that could serve as examples for other retailers looking to expand their store format portfolio.

Ikea is planning the opening of a new store format in Hammersmith mall in London, and this format is planned to be extended to the US and Canada. Interestingly, they are adding a new format to the traditional big box format (which will also be the format used for their first city centre store in the former Topshop location in London) and the “close to you” convenience store.

This new concept, called “Livat” (lively gathering in Swedish language) is specially adapted to malls with a reduced product offer (1,800 available to take away and 4,000 on display), only self-service checkouts options, and designed to be community spaces where people like to gather.

Ikea opens urban London mall with San Francisco and Toronto next 

What: Established in the 70’s to compete with Galeries Lafayette’s famous “3J” promotional sales, Printemps launches the "8 jours en or" (8 golden days) promotion for the last time.

Why it is important: As for “3J” at Galeries Lafayette, "8 jours en or" was happening early October and early March every year, and was fully part of the department store identity for decades. Over the years, Such promotions have been declining in traffic and sales volume. It unknown whether Printemps will replace with another promotion.

Printemps to discontinue its "8 jours en or" promotion

What: Macy’s aims to launch a self-service marketplace in H2 2022.

Why it is important: Retail Media is the rage in the US, and while it was initially a low-end, bigger size and more grocery oriented kind of retailer which was launching this kind of initiative, Macy’s is the second high-end department store company in the US to venture in such an initiative, after Nordstrom which announced it earlier this month.

Macy’s, which unveiled its “own your style” customer-facing brand platform recently, is launching a retail media initiative and plans to launch a self-service marketplace in 2022, out of the existing Macy’s Media Network platform.

Macy’s Media Network was released in 2020 and generated in 2021 a net revenue of $105m. Advertisers count grew 2.8 times year on year in Q4 2021. According to the retailer, the most popular tools among advertisers are on-site, sponsored and display ads. Macy’s also proposes modular campaign landing pages with basic templates, style guides and shop the look initiatives, and fully customized packages for larger brands. Macy’s also leverages programmatic display, video-connected TV, online video, email advertising, instore screens, package inserts and the NYC Herald Square billboard.

Going beyond, Macy’s is working out on building a toolkit with automated features proposed to advertisers who can build themselves a set suiting their own needs.

The media group represents a team of 40 headcount, 90% of them coming from outside of the company.

Inside Macy’s plan to scale its retail media business 

What: Macy’s rebrands with the new ‘own your style’ platform to help customers find and buy fashion that best suits their personal style.

Why is it important: Macy’s has stepped up personalization efforts, revamped its website, formed a style crew for fashion tips, and is creating in-store areas filled with apparel and accessories designated as “must-haves.” This strategy is geared to project some fashion authority and serve customers on a more individual basis.

Macy’s also changed its dress code for its colleagues, so they can better express their personal style and encourage customers to do the same.

“Own your style” will be integrated into macys.com, the Macy’s app, social media, and Macy’s stores. There will be digital screens providing style guidance to customers and displays of shoes and bags cross merchandised with outfits to give further suggestions.

Macy’s launches new brand platform

What: Hudson’s Bay Co. has made a bid for Kohl’s Corp.

Why is it important: Hudson’s Bay’s bid was reported to be above the USD 64 to USD 65 a share previously offered by other interested parties. The last-minute entering of Hudson’s Bay, sent shares of Kohl’s up 17.3% to USD 63.13, giving the company a market capitalization of USD 8.8 bn.

Hudson’s Bay would be interested in opening Kohl’s stores in Canada, and also possibly separating the Kohl’s brick-and-mortar store business and the kohls.com digital business into separate companies, similar to how HBC separated The Bay divisions into separate physical stores and dot-com businesses last year. They could also perceive value in Kohl’s real estate, and possibly sell off some locations and lease them back.

Hudson’s Bay bids for Kohl’s

What: Flannels is making space for a Barry’s fitness studio inside its new Liverpool store, a first for both companies.

Why is it important: Partnering with a gym club can represent a great opportunity to drive traffic while maximizing store space.

The Barry’s studio will offer classes, protein shakes, and a place to test drive clothing and equipment from brands including Lululemon Athletica. Flannels and Barry’s also plan to host joint events for their overlapping customer base, while Flannels will be treating its own staff to Barry’s classes.

Barry’s will be 7,000 sq. ft. and will sit in the “World of Active” conceptual space. Flannels believes this tie-up will appeal to “luxury consumers and fitness fanatics” who will now be able to shop for fashion, and do their HIIT workouts, all in one place.

The new studio will have high-tech Woodway treadmills alongside equipment including dumbbells, and benches, high-end changing facilities, including complimentary towel service, and luxury beauty and grooming products. A Barry’s Fuel Bar will offer a menu of post-workout shakes by the brand Hermosa.

Flannels flagship to open a Barry’s fitness studio

What: It’s not only gamers buying digital fashion, as technology and knowledge improve, so does the data-backed understanding of what people want to buy and wear virtually.

Why is it important: People who buy digital fashion aren’t all gamers or young male crypto enthusiasts, many are women, and many are interested in shopping virtual stores. With the broader fashion industry looking for opportunities in the metaverse, new data shows not only what people want to wear in other worlds, but also how much they are willing to pay.

Digital fashion is a key component to how people shape virtual identities, and while moving from niche to passionately hyped, experts say real uptake by brands depends on separating fact from fantasy, especially as brands evaluate if digital apparel can manifest into a potential revenue stream.

A survey conducted by The Dematerialised fashion marketplace included 3,000 people across eight global markets (US, UK, Germany, Mexico, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and UAE) and reached a mix of people who didn’t all identify as tech enthusiasts. Half are millennials and the others are Gen Z or Gen X, evenly split between men and women. Survey indicates that 82% have already purchased a virtual item and one-third had purchased digital fashion. 47% interested in digital fashion are not crypto users.

CEO of Geeiq, which analyses metaverse platforms based on social media followers, saw that Zepeto’s social media audience is two-thirds female and 70% are younger than 24. Most are interested in luxury fashion brands. Followers are 13 times more likely to follow brands like Prada, Gucci, Fendi and Balenciaga. Within Roblox’s various spaces, 70% of users are 24 or younger, and the majority are male. Aeropostale, Gap and Forever21 are among the brands with the most affinity.

Virtue found that one in five active Roblox users updated their avatars on any given day, including the body, face and accessories. People who are established in the metaverse, with cryptocurrency and have an avatar, are three times more likely to have purchased more than 30 virtual goods.

Digital fashion will become mainstream within five years, according to two-thirds of those Virtue studied. Respondents expect nearly half of their overall wardrobe to be digital in five years.

Metaverse fashion is taking shape 

What: Walmart will launch a beauty accelerator program dubbed Walmart Start to discover up-and-coming beauty brands.

Why it is important: Beauty accelerators have become a popular way for retailers to broaden their assortment and keep a pulse on innovation in the segment.

Walmart will choose five beauty brands to receive various resources and operational support to help prepare them for a potential product launch in store and online.

The beauty brands (which will be announced in May) are expected to launch in Walmart’s stores and online at some point between December 2022 and March 2023.

Other players that have their own brand accelerators include Sephora, Target, and Ulta.

Walmart launches beauty accelerator, Walmart Start

What: Allbirds had previously partnered with Nordstrom, but they plan on moving into other retailers starting in the second quarter.

Why is it important: Beginning in the second quarter, Allbirds will selectively enter third-party retailers. The goal is to build awareness and credibility for Allbirds, along with showing up in the right places with the right consumers.

While other retailers will also carry their brand, it will not lead to a huge rise in sales and only moderately bring growth to their business this year.

They plan to start wholesaling primarily in the U.S. as well as a small number of European retailers, with Asian stores in their future plans. The stores will not be given full access to the full Allbirds assortment but select products that are most appropriate for those market segments.

Allbirds to partner with department stores

What: Walmart is about to offer its Walmart Plus membership free of charge to all its full time and part time workers.

Why it is important: Walmart is increasingly working on its employer brand in order to make sure they remain attractive on a market where workforce is scarce.

Walmart, after having raised the salaries of 565,000 store workers and announced that they would cover 100% of college tuition and book costs, announced that the company would grand a free Walmart+ membership to its whole workforce.

The value of the membership is USD $98 a year and offers free delivery, fuel discount and priority check out lines, as well as a 6 month Spotify premium membership. It currently has 30 mn members and such an addition could include 1.6 mn additional members (the total workforce at Walmart).

Walmart gives free Walmart+ memberships to its employees 

What: Neiman Marcus sets its sight on pop-ups and takes the concept to new, immersive, and experiential heights designed to have customers back in-store again.

Why is it important: The group has hosted over ten pop-up retail experiences across all 37 stores, including exclusive collaborations attracting the public back. The mix of curation, exclusivity, and heightened experiences adds to "retailtainment."

The most recent collaboration was held at the Los Angeles store, where the Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills team met rapper, producer, and entrepreneur Tyler the Creator at their Golf le Fleur* event and began to discuss a partnership. The pop-up offered signature suitcase bags along with a fragrance and a three-bottle nail polish set that had a 100 percent sell-through. On day two, Tyler the Creator was on hand to greet fans which added to the immersive experience.

The most important focus is always going to be the unique relationships with customers – whether it be in-store, online, or through digital selling. Thus, building and deepening the customer relationship through experience, service, and product is a top goal.

The next few months will bring more pop-ups with "well-known European luxury houses." The activations may draw customers into the store, but the fresh mix will certainly catch their eyes they hope their wallets too.

Neiman Marcus focuses on pop-ups

What: Nike Inc. beat quarterly revenue estimates on Monday, helped by robust holiday demand for its sports shoes and apparel in North America.

Why it is important: Despite doubts from investors about the retailer’s performance due to continued store shutdowns due to Covid in China, major factory shutdowns in Vietnam, and the pull out of business in Russia, Nike was able to boost sales in North America.

Nike’s shares rose 4.4 percent to $136 in extended trading.

Sports and casual apparel have become a more intrinsic part of everyday fashion since the onset of the pandemic, as people ditch office attire for sweatpants and joggers, boosting sales at Nike and rivals such as Under Armour and Adidas.

Nike’s sales in North America, its largest market, jumped 9 percent in the company’s third quarter, also boosted by the return of school sports and price increases.

Nike beats quarterly revenue estimates boosted by North America demand

Supply Chain Woes Accelerate Change at Nike 

What: Walmart and Space NK join forces in the battle for the prestige beauty shopper and will launch in early summer with 250 locations.

Why is it important: Walmart is the latest mass market giant to join in the market share battle for prestige beauty dollars. They are partnering with Space NK, a U.K.-based specialty retailer, to bring high-priced beauty to its shelves.

The concept will launch on Walmart’s website on March 15 and bow in 250 Walmart locations starting in early summer, with most locations consisting of a branded endcap and an adjacent aisle. Fifteen brands are participating at launch, and there will be more than 600 stock-keeping units, to begin with between brick-and-mortar and online extensions of the partnership.

Walmart teams up with Space NK

What: Neiman Marcus partnered with women-founded NFT project 'Boss Beauties' to unveil Neiman's co-founder NFT among the new "role models" collection on International Women's Day.

Why is it important: In honor of Women's History Month, Neiman Marcus, a woman co-founded luxury retailer, announced new activations and initiatives to support the next generation of women leaders through partnerships with both Runway of Dreams and Boss Beauties.

The new "Role Models" NFT collection, is designed to share the story of women who have shattered the glass ceiling throughout history and inspire the next generation of women and girls. The assortment featuring 25 one-of-a-kinds NFT's will be launched March 9-12 on OpenSea and includes an NFT of Neiman Marcus co-founder Carrie Marcus Neiman alongside other female leaders such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Katherine Johnson, and Frida Kahlo.

Neiman Marcus partners with NFT Project 'Boss Beauties'

What: After reporting their fourth quarter earnings The RealReal is not expected to be profitable until the end of 2024.

Why is it important: The company has reported that the net loss for the company has increased to USD 236 million compared to last year which was USD 176 million. As resale marketplaces are an interesting circular business model to watch, it seems that profitability in such a business model takes time.

The RealReal did see some improvements with an increase in gross merchandise value with a total USD 437 million and net of sales by 50% reaching a total of USD 1.48 billion.

The RealReal claims that regardless of these claims they will have a healthy and strong upcoming year for 2022.

The RealReal net loss continues