What: Fashion wholesalers are joining forces in order to generate new opportunities.

Why it is important: Now that bigger brands have velleities of getting independent from department stores, is it a sign that agents coalition could also lead to a similar trend for smaller fashion brands?

Seiya Nakamura (representing brands such as Christopher Kane, Ganni, KNWLS, Marine Serre or Welldone) has made a business and capital alliance with 247 (Kenzo, APC, Missoni, Nanushka…), based in Milan. The goal is to reach a combined sales of $320 and $350 m in 2022.

Wholesale showrooms Seiya Nakamura and 247 to partner 

What: Macy’s, which came almost short of cash before the pandemic, had to raise USD $4.5 bn in 2020 to survive.

Why it is important: The excellent sales results allow the company to start recuperating and refinancing the debt, freeing up capabilities to invest in future capabilities.

Macy’s is revising its debt structure and paying back some debts on the back of strong earnings. In order to weather the Covid-19 back in 2020, the company raised USD $4.5 bn, of which USD $852 mn are expected to be refinanced next week and another USD $280 mn in debt maturing in 2032 the latest, meaning that the company will not have any significant maturity after this year.

The financial policy of the company is of course to get rid of the debt generated during the Covid-19 pandemic, and shift capital into investments able to support future growth.

Macy’s shifts focus to investments after paying down Covid debt 

What: Kohl’s wants to pivot its business model from large department stores units to smaller and hyperlocal ones.

Why it is important: The strategy also aims taming down activist investors who are pushing hard to split online and offline, as already done by Saks and Hudson Bay.

Kohl’s is following suit with Bloomie’s and Nordstrom Local and plans to open 100 smaller and hyperlocal stores aiming at achieving USD $500 mn in sales, in addition to growing the Sephora business to USD $2bn with 650 new stores to be open by next year. The overall goal is to pivot from a department store model to a focused lifestyle concept.

Merchandising strategy is also revised and adapted to smaller locations, with active and athleisure assortments, especially on women’s.

Kohl’s is not a "department store” anymore 

What: Amazon plans to close all 68 of its physical book stores, pop up shops and "4-star" stores in the United States and United Kingdom, ending some of its longest-running experiments in physical retail.

Why it is important: The e-tailer said physical retail remains an important way to reach shoppers and will continue to work on other concepts, such as its recently announced fashion store in greater Los Angeles.

Amazon to close all of its bookstores and '4-star' shops

What: Printemps has launched its first virtual store and NFT operation for its customers in partnership with Arianee.

Why it is important: Arianee is the leading web3 solutions platform for brands and is known for its previous collaboration with Paris Fashion Week and the Richemont Group.

This operation, running for the next 6 weeks, is realized in partnership with Arianee. Any customer who purchases a product eligible for the NFT selection on the Printemps virtual store can be drawn to win one of thirty NFT artworks by self-taught French artist Romain Froquet.

Each NFT contains a unique, animated digital artwork that is accessible from a link in an email sent by Printemps to the lucky winners. At the end of the 6-week period, a final winner will be drawn to receive the artwork in its physical form.

Arianee Press Release (in French)

What: Neiman Marcus announces the appointment of Katie Anderson to Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer.

Why is it important: Anderson will drive all financial functions for the Company as well as risk management, real estate, supply chain, and track progress towards the luxury retailer's growth execution and strategy. Her appointment comes at a pivotal time for the Company as it continues to invest in digital-first, stores, data, technology, and supply chain.

She will join the group leadership team and report to Geoffroy van Raemdonck, Chief Executive Officer, Neiman Marcus Group.

Neiman Marcus names new executive vice president, CFO

What: The Brazilian mall conglomerate acquired 23.08% of in Etiqueta Unica, Brazil's largest e-commerce platform for second-hand luxury goods.

Why it is important: This move not only represents a key avenue of growth for Iguatemi but also a way to appeal to a conscious consumer who is growing increasingly concerned about sustainability.

The transaction secures Iguatemi a purchase option to become a controlling shareholder of the resale site in the next three years.

Founded in 2013, Etiqueta Unica is Latin America’s most prominent luxury resale e-commerce platform, growing 40 percent a year on average. The platform carries over 600 domestic and international labels and over 65,000 products from brands including Gucci, Chanel, Hermès and Louis Vuitton.

Iguatemi acquires stake in resale platform 

What: Dark stores are increasingly part of the retailers’ strategies in order to fulfil e-commerce orders in a timely manner.

Why it is important: US operators also use this tool as a method to enter new markets or new states without opening traditional stores, a manner to maximize the brand equity and the website value by increasing its potential reach.

E-commerce sales are expected to reach $6,5 trillion by 2023, and new forms of fulfilment, including dark stores, are expected to support this increase. It is also expected that dark stores morph into new models, as retailers start to refine their approach to such a practice.

In the US, dark stores are for instance increasingly used by major retailers and F&B operators to cover territories where they are not physically implemented with stores (the strategy of “ghosting” the territory). Kroger for instance is entering new regions through a partnership with Ocado by building robotic warehouses and micro-fulfilment sites in American states where there are no stores. Thanks to this approach, customers in Florida can be served in 30 minutes.

Such an approach includes partnerships with companies involved in tech and logistics. For instance, Swisslog, a robotic company, equips automated e-commerce fulfilment centres for Giant Direct, the online division of Giant Food, while Instacart helps Kroger to offer a “virtual convenience store” available to 50m households.

Flexibility is key: for instance, in 2020 Whole Foods turned 6 stores into dark platforms, and turned back 4 of them into traditional stores.

Dark Stores: prepare to be ghosted 

What: Neiman Marcus launched its 2022 spring campaign called “Looking Forward, Forward Looking.”

Why is it important: Exuding optimism, the campaign has a strong point of view, promotes glamour and travel, and is digitally driven.

“Looking Forward, Forward Looking” incorporates anticipation for a season of celebration marked by a resurgence of engagements, weddings, birthdays and graduation parties as COVID-19 cases generally decline in the U.S.

It’s a digitally-led campaign where video and social media are key, though there are new visuals, lots of color and graphics, digital and print advertising, and Neiman’s stylists are ready to engage with customers in spring.

Neiman Marcus’ spring campaign celebrates optimism

Neiman Marcus’ spring campaign celebrates optimism

What: With the past year’s outbreak of tech-focused acquisitions, and partnerships, beauty brands are building their tech muscle.

Why is it important: Beauty brands are starting to look a lot more like tech companies, complete with their own tech incubators, artificial-intelligence capabilities, and more. Technology has the power to solve several challenges beauty consumers face, such as finding the right skincare or shade of foundation or trying on lipstick without having to buy a new tube.

Some beauty brands implementing tech include:

• Il Makiage bought hyperspectral imaging computer-vision startup Voyage81
• Ulta Beauty invested in AI retail tech company Adeptmind and launched a new virtual try-on    partnership with Google
• Estée Lauder rolled out AR try-on across its entire portfolio
• Clinique built on a beauty lab in the metaverse to promote a new serum

Beauty companies are growing their technology offerings, not just in product development, having the best gadgets, data, and interfaces but in the services and tools, they offer their consumers. The pandemic heightened the importance of digital channels and touch-free product trials, making technologies like virtual try-on table stakes. To win over consumers, beauty brands must build out technological expertise in everything surrounding the product as well as the product itself.

Certain significant developments have not yet trickled down to consumers due to factors such as mainstream hardware on mobile phones are not up to date, and gaps in knowledge between brand executives and tech developers. As technology becomes an increasingly important part of the industry, beauty executives will need to be more tech-literate.

Beauty industry slowly resembling Silicon Valley

What: Kohl’s will open 400 new Sephora locations as well as add six new brands to the assortment.

Why is it important: While industry reports have been mixed about the partnership performance, Kohl’s chief executive officer Michelle Gass notes that 25 percent of the shoppers of Sephora at Kohl’s are new to Kohl’s, younger, and more diverse than their core consumer base.

Kohl’s is seeing incremental mid-single-digit sales lift to overall store sales in the locations where it has launched and Sephora and Kohl’s are on track to hit their goal of opening 850 shops by 2023.

Kohl’s and Sephora plan on 400 stores in 2022

What: Saks Fifth Avenue will feature Lupita Nyong in digital-first spring campaign.

Why is it important: Academy Award-winning actress, who stars as the voice of Sema in the YouTube Originals series “Super Sema” and in the upcoming summer blockbuster “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” will participate in interviews and videos on Saks’ social media, appear in a magazine ad and custom content, as well as other promotional elements.

 Saks' spring campaign

What: Roblox, a digital space where young people play, learn and communicate in a world that is user-generated is gaining steam and a number of brands like Gucci, Nike and Forever 21 are on it.

Why is it important: The ability to purchase both digital and physical clothing creates different touchpoints for teen customers and can be an additional revenue opportunity to build brand recognition. Roblox is a means for companies to engage with the metaverse and get their brand identities in front of a younger audience.

The company has three major arms, roblox client, roblox studio and roblox cloud. Roblox Client, the application that allows users to explore 3D worlds, Roblox Studio, which allows developers and creators to build, publish and operate 3D experiences, and Roblox Cloud, which includes the services and infrastructure that powers the platform. Users create a unique avatar that can go across experiences, like games and events.

With 12 million daily active users on the platform in 2018 there were 31.1 million people were on the platform every day — and 54% of those users were under the age of 13 by 2020. When the company reported recent earnings, daily users increased to 45.5 million average daily users for fiscal 2021, an increase of 40% year over year.

Signing up for Roblox is free, along with most of the platform's experiences but users can use real-world currency to purchase Robux, the platform's digital currency. Robux allows people within the universe to purchase experiences and items for their avatar. If a retailer sells a digital hat with a logo, the user will wear the hat while visiting different experiences on the platform, and thereby show off the brand. Just like in the real world where people can sport labels and be influencers, avatars can wear items that are valuable within the digital world.

With so many young users on the platform every day, big brands are joining to create experiences for the plugged-in audience.

Jenn Szekely, managing partner at Coley Porter Bell says, “By getting to these younger audiences early, they are building affinity to brands they most likely would not be aware of yet. A presence on the platform demonstrates to existing audiences that a brand is on the pulse of immersive technologies.”

Retail is evolving, and as the metaverse moves forward, omnichannel is not only about physical retail and e-commerce. It’s now also the web 3.0, and a persistent digital world where millions upon millions of customers are spending significant time.

Retailers joining Roblox is a sure strategy to increase brand awareness and sales, as well as a great long-term plan that should be considered. Young consumers are no longer spending their time at the mall anymore, they are online and more and more in this digital space.

Roblox, an opportune marketing tool for retailers

What: Neiman Marcus intends to make hybrid working permanent, and a perk for new recruitments.

Why it is important: As a result, the company builds a new “office hub”, which is not specifically described in the article, but which replaces 2 office buildings that were closed during the pandemic. Hybrid working, in addition to being a competitive advantage, can also be a manner to limit structural costs.

Neiman Marcus is planning to open a new “office hub” in Dallas with the goal to foster creativity and cooperation. To do that, the projected hub will place hybrid working at its core in terms of workspace structuration.

According to Neiman Marcus, the ability of proposing hybrid working is a key feature and a competitive advantage for the company when it comes to attracting talents, and they want to keep it on the long run. This is a major change when compared to the company’s HR practices 4 years ago. According to the company, since the implementation of hybrid working, turnover rate has declined by -20%, time for recruitment decreased by -32% and 1,200 people were recruited in 2021.

Hybrid working is not limited to HQ positions, as a specific app, “Connect”, has been developed to enable sales persons to work with their customers whenever and from wherever then want.

Neiman Marcus is designing the new Dallas offices taking into account remote working 

What: La Samaritaine is putting on an exhibition exploring fashion’s creative process, themed “Atelier Mode.”

Why is it important: The department store is launching its first store-wide exhibition.

In the store’s central stage until May 12 is the “La Mode Est Un Jeu” exhibition, dedicated to fashion photographer Erwin Blumenfeld. It will explore his radical approach to composition, optical illusions, and depth of field using techniques such as translucent screens or putting negatives in the refrigerator.

La Samaritaine will also offer more hands-on opportunities, from do-it-yourself kits in the “Boutique de Loulou” selection, to workshops including live sketching sessions on weekends that include designing a look virtually through a sketching app or IRL, with a selection of fabrics from deadstock platform Nona Source or learning how to do makeup like a runway pro in the beauty department.

Brands like Dior, Destree and By Far will also get in step with the program by being given free rein for a week to showcase their creative universes through in-store events.

The store-wide exhibition will roll out in-store and online for 12 weeks starting February 17th.

La Samaritaine’s storewide exhibition themed: “Atelier Mode”

What: Printemps’ first overseas store is scheduled to open in the Doha Oasis complex in September

Why is it important: After closing its last overseas outpost in Tokyo in 2017, Printemps is expanding in Doha, Qatar, as part of an omnichannel strategy to double the size of its business over the next decade

The new department store will be in the historic district of the Qatari capital, located within the upscale Doha Oasis complex that includes a five-star hotel, luxury residences, an amusement park and numerous leisure facilities such as restaurants, a 4D cinema, and a bowling alley.

The 323,000 square feet spread over three floors, will be the second-largest location, after the Parisian flagship on Boulevard Haussmann. It will be home to some 550 brands, with 30 percent of the offering earmarked as exclusives.

In addition to physical retail, Printemps’ e-commerce platform will be open to Qatar-based consumers, who can shop and preorder from the Doha store as well as the Haussmann flagship.

Recent developments have included livestream shopping, the extension of its Printania loyalty program to overseas customers, and the opening of a circular fashion floor on the seventh floor of the Haussmann flagship.

Printemps’ first overseas department store plans on opening in September, a few weeks before the FIFA soccer world championship.

Printemps plans to open store in Doha

Printemps plans to open store in Doha

What: Shinsegae reported USD 80.7 million in consolidated net profit, an increase of USD 54.4 million year-on-year.

Why is it important: This improvement helped convert a full-year loss of USD 57.8 million in 2020 to a profit of USD 327 million last year. Annual sales rose by 32.4 percent to USD 5.28 billion.

Sales at the company’s fashion and lifestyle division, Shinsegae International, rose by 9.7 percent in its latest quarter, driven by a 22 percent lift in apparel sales and 25 percent in cosmetic sales. Sales of luxury goods rose by 41.9 percent and of overseas fashion labels were up by 32.5 percent year-on-year./nbsp]

Shinsegae’s rise in quarterly profit

What: Costco is appointing a new leader coming from its own ranks.

Why it is important: The new president has a strong merchandising experience, which resonate as his appointment has been announced the same week when Walmart presents its new “store of the future” which aims to elevate the instore experience.

Costco has named Ron Vachris, 56, as president and COO of the company. He previously held the position of Merchandising COO at Costco which he joined in 2010, and before that, worked in the real estate industry.

The exiting president, W. Craig Jelinek, 69, will continue to serve as CEO and member of the company’s board of directors.

Costco increased sales by +18% in 2021, reaching a total turnover of $192bn and a net profit of $5bn. It currently operates 572 stores in the US and 828 globally.

Costco names new president and COO 

What: Marks & Spencer reveal a new deal with Clinique, the beauty brand that will be sold both in-store and online.

Why is it important: This partnership is part of Mark & Spencer’s ongoing strategic ‘Brands at M&S’ plan, which sees the rolling out of third-party brands through its stores.

The development of their beauty offer is part of Mark and Spencer’s focus to reshape its identity, helping it to become more relevant to its customer base.

Clinique products will be available through Marks & Spencer, with a Clinique counter including on-hand experts. Forty stores will have Clique’s products displayed in fixtures, with each experience curated specifically to the retailer’s consumer needs.

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Marks & Spencer partner up with Clinique

What: A new position designed to reinforce the appeal of the John Lewis Partnership at a moment when it is morphing into more than retail.

Why it is important: All retailers need to rethinK and redesign their branding strategy now that it is not possible anymore to rely on customer loyalty and historic weight to generate purchases.

The Jown Lewis partnership has created the first pan-Partnership customer director position, and recruited a veteran from Co-op and previously from the BBC and McCann.

She will be in charge of developing a customer strategy at the partnership level and develop the brand’s customer capability.

John Lewis creates the position of Customer Director 

What: American Dream super mall in New Jersey, drained a reserve fund to make a bond payment as it struggles to attract shoppers and tenants with the pandemic.

Why is it important: The American Dream, which features an indoor ski slope, amusement park and water park, nearly emptied a reserve account to make a $9.3 million payment due on about $290 million of debt.

Failure to make a payment on the sales tax debt doesn’t constitute a default or require the mall to pay back the loan immediately however, American Dream wasn’t complying with obligations to provide updates on project costs and performance

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American Dream mall drains reserves

What: Chinese sales associates often go above and beyond and are key to brands hitting increasingly ambitious sales targets.

Why is it important: During the first lockdowns in China, sales assistants at luxury boutiques found ways to stay in close contact with their clients, mostly via WeChat, offering special services and promotions. Even as stores re-opened the initiative continued and their rapport with clients deepened. In some cases, luxury consumers in China now consider their sales associates to be someone with whom they have a meaningful relationship. Asking how beneficial it is for the luxury brand is complicated.

These communications aren’t limited to products and promotions but cover day-to-day topics. SAs are welcomed by consumers, who see it as a sign of how valued they are, by their SA and by the brand they are working for.

Luxury brands have recognised the growing importance of these staff members, and it’s difficult to overstate how important SAs have become as part of the Chinese luxury consumer journey over the past few years. Wages, in some cases bonuses, for frontline retail staff in China have risen significantly in recent years as a result.

It’s easy to see how the boom of China’s unique luxury service culture can be a win-win for both the sales assistants and customers.

These relationships are of course very beneficial to help boost sales, and for local management. However, this intimate customer service dynamic can present significant challenges as it places the relationship with the customer in the hands of the sales assistant, giving the brands less direct control.

Another headache for brands, an arguably more pressing and potentially contravenes some luxury companies’ ethics policies, is the gifting that goes on between customers and their SAs in order to seek favour.

The solution starts with added awareness of the problem and brands having the managers put a higher priority on the wellbeing of their SAs. They should provide more support for SAs and shift KPIs to consider the out-of-hours work sales assistants do, the conflict of interests that is sometimes inherent and the high expectations placed on them by consumers.

Sales Associates and China’s luxury retail boom

What: Conversational commerce may be proving brands better ways of connecting with their clients.

Why is it important: Messaging apps and shopping may be the sweet spot known as conversational commerce that is already being exploited in regions such as Africa,Pacific Asia and South America.

Brazilian brand, Triya, grew annual sales fivefold on Whatsapp after its presence on the platform and South American brand calls WhatsApp their favourite messaging tool to handle customer requests, send order information, receipts and tracking numbers. Wechat, Apple Business Chat and Facebook Messenger are all players in the chat commerce sector, along with traditional email and phone marketing.

A few examples of known brands who have tested the waters of conversation commers include:

•    Estee Lauder, using chatbots to scale its Whatsapp presence

•    Louis Vuitton’s ‘Client Advisors’ using Whatsapp to assist customers

•    L'Occitane using it for skincare consultations with clients

However, they are behind brands and retailers who are going beyond digital clienteling and use the messaging platform to conduct business on a mass scale.

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, total daily conversations between users and businesses on Facebook Messenger and Instagram platforms grew by more than 40% as consumers and brands used it as a key communication tool.The option to converse one-to-one with a brand easily and directly has a global appeal. Whatsapp has provided an entry point for small- to medium-sized businesses that cannot afford the costs of running a website or a physical store.

Customers can interact with brands in a way that feels colloquial and non-transactional, and companies say the financial impact is encouraging.

Will conversational commerce catch on?

What: The pandemic has changed corporate life as we know it, and while many companies are going all-in on a return to the office, others are embracing new hybrid or fully remote working models.

Why it is important: Neiman Marcus, which has allowed employees to work fully remotely for two years, says this flexible working policy has boosted employee retention and happiness. The department store said that its goal is to allow employees to determine their work schedules and office set-ups to maximise effectiveness.

Based on internal polling and assessments, Neiman Marcus found that flexibility was one of the top three drivers of employee happiness and productivity. Since implementing certain remote working policies, Neiman Marcus’ turnover rate is down 20% from 2019. The company, which filled 1,200 roles in 2021, also said its time-to-hire rate has gone down 32% compared to 2019. These boosted employee retention rates are even more salient, given a general work environment characterised by high levels of resignation./nbsp]

While encouraging whatever model works for an employee, Neiman Marcus is also gearing up to move to a new integrated office in Dallas, which will also foster an environment for hybrid work. Corporate employees will be able to work remotely from anywhere and come into the office when they want to collaborate in-person. For store associates, Neiman Marcus offers a remote selling tool called Connect, which helps some workers connect with customers remotely.

Neiman Marcus says remote work boosted retention rates