What: Central will invest over the next 5 years a bit more than a half of the total Selfridges purchase price in its strategic development.

Why it is important: So far, it is all about stores revamping and expansion, but this might change as new opportunities might arise.

Central Retail Corporation plans to invest $3.03 billion in expansion during the next five years, as the “CRC Retailligence Strategy” plan aims at multiplying the revenue by 2.5 times.

This investment plan needs to be compared to the $5 billion purchase made in cooperation with Signa holding for the Selfridges group, suggesting, as confirmed by the CEO Yol Phokasub that the planned investments will be dedicated to stores revamp and expansion rather than new acquisitions. This needs to be taken with some cautions though, as some opportunities might come on the market (such as the sale of the Fenwick flagship store location in London).

Central Retail plans an investment of $3 billion in the next 5 years 

What: Bergdorf Goodman’s 2022 artist exhibitor Kristin Simmons is bringing a colourful installation to the retailer’s Fifth Avenue flagship. Starting Thursday through March 20, the artist will welcome visitors to her interactive exhibition, “Obsessions and Confessions,” spanning the store’s seventh floor.

Why it is important: Art and commerce have always been a great match, and even more at a time when customers are expecting more experiences from their retailers’ stores.

The exhibition juxtaposes cultural symbols of success, status, power and pleasure with underlying societal critiques. It’s a metaphorical sugar rush of brilliant colours and pithy witticisms that examines conspicuous consumption and also pokes fun at my own appetite for luxury.

Original works on view are available to purchase for $3,000 to $60,000, and for $2 visitors can play the claw game for a chance to win one of Simmons’ works. A portion of proceeds from the exhibition will benefit Free Arts NYC, a non-profit that provides arts mentorship for underserved youth across New York City.

Interactive art at Bergdorf Goodman

What: Beauty consumers are shopping for star ingredients rather than by product or brand names.

Why is it important: As brand names have served as indicators of quality, consumers are educating themselves on skincare ingredients and feel less of a need to buy specific brands.

The internet has transformed the shopping and research experience as consumers can quickly become experts on skincare ingredients, their skin type, and particular needs.

Some beauty brands and retailers are now helping their clients to filter by ingredients because research through search engines has become a vital part of the shopping journey. For instance, Net-a-Porter and Glow Recipe both launched an ingredients tab on their e-commerce pages in 2021.

As power brands continue to retain a high level of trust and customer loyalty, shoppers on Net-a-Porter are now searching for ingredients such as retinol, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and vitamin C. They also noted that salicylic acid overtook niacinamide and hyaluronic acid for the first time, correlating with increased consumer concern for so-called “maskne.”

TikTok is also driving the rapid pace of trend change for the power that it has on beauty trends is undeniable. A single viral post on TikTok can translate into millions of views and thousands of followers. Marketing teams at beauty giants such as Estée Lauder now watch TikTok closely, to respond with appropriate ad strategies. For example, THG’s haircare brand Grow Gorgeous went viral on TikTok when a micro-influencer documented her hair growth, which taps into the science-backed haircare trend thanks to its use of niacinamide and hyaluronic acid, typically used in skincare.

The consumer enthusiasm for ingredients has paved the way for ingredient-led brands such as Deciem, acquired by the Estée Lauder Companies in 2021. Deciem, with its six brands: The Ordinary, Niod, Hylamide, the Chemistry Brand, Hif and Loopha, made about $460 million in revenue in the 12 months to the end of January 2021.

Beauty brands have developed their own formulas linked to star ingredients, but trust and authenticity remain paramount. Clinical trials should support marketing claims.

Beauty consumers prefer ingredients over brands

What: Le Bon Marché gets brands to collaborate and invites radical French artist Philippe Katerine for their “X” exhibition.

Why is it important: Dozens of brands have partnered for the “X” exhibition, including Stella McCartney, Disney, Baccarat, Pokémon, Scholl, Erès, Veja, Marni and many more.

Displays of giant sculptures in bubblegum pink, a series of artworks for sale, and copies of Philippe Katerine’s book “Mignonisme.” Katerine will also lend his voice for store announcements and will perform twice as part of the “Frères Philippe” group he forms with composer and guitarist Philippe Eveno.

The collaborative assortment exposes the “Su” art installation by avant-garde Turkish artist Mehmet Ali Uysal, who highlights impact of climate crisis on water with large icebergs hanging around the escalators and a giant boat inspired by origami that give the effect of rising waters.

Le Bon Marché’s “X” exhibition

What: Macy’s is using 3D visualisation to help customers see furniture they are interested in, in the context of their homes.

Why is it important: Macy’s thought of this new technology because their customers needed to touch items, and see them in context, to make up their minds. This is especially true when it comes to goods in the furniture sector, which cannot always be displayed in-store due to lack of floor space.

Macy’s 3D Room Planner, See Your Space, allows customers to design rooms according to templates, to create their own space through a build your-own functionality as well as discover new products through inspiration.

Users can browse inspirational photos and drop Macy’s products directly from the photos into their 3D room, as well as customise interiors to recreate the look of their own homes. They can use AR to visualise products in their homes via their mobile phone by using 3D Cloud models, while the instore 3D room planning service allows customers to walk around their newly created rooms.

The “CustomizeIt” sectional configurator feature allows customers to build the perfect sectional sofa, where they can experiment with configuration and design, check the measurements in regard to their room and see their final design in 3D.

Macy’s 3D room planner “see your space” 

What: Walmart’s annual report shows that diversification pays. (well!)

Why it is important: Even though the new activities remain small in comparison with the overall retail-related numbers, their increase and marginal size are becoming so significant that they helped Walmart weathering the increased supply chain costs that were the consequence of a very exceptional year 2021.

Walmart announced that its overall sales increased +6,3% in 2021 to $393.2 billion for the US, and +2.4% to $572,8 billion globally. Interestingly, this growth (supported by the US market as Walmart international net sales decreased 16.8% due to divestments) came at the same time from stores, non-retail activities and from online (which experienced a growth slowdown to a +1% in Q4 2021).

Sam’s Club sales ended the year up +9.8% and membership revenue and other income were up +27% to about $5 billion. Advertising becomes a core business revenue stream as it reached $2.1 billion and helped to offset the unexpected increases in supply chain which were evaluated at $400 million over expectations.

This illustrates according to the retailer that a diversified business model is the new normal for retail as it allows to weather any kind of situation while also generating streams of revenue which are not dependent on traffic and footprint.

Walmart increasingly earns revenue from non-retail activities 

What: In what could have a major impact on the central London department stores mix, the Fenwick family is reportedly seeking to sell its Bond Street flagship store for redevelopment.

Why it is important: The Sunday Times reported that the site is on the market for GBP 500 million “after a plan to sell the entire chain was scuppered by the pandemic”. It was reported that the department stores group was set to be sold to Central Group just before the pandemic struck.

At that stage, it’s unclear whether that means an end to department store retailing on the site or whether developers would make the most of the existing planning permission the company has. The Bond Street store has permission for four floors of offices above the 131-year-old building.

The newspaper said that potential buyers are believed to include luxury giant LVMH — fresh from its La Samaritaine redevelopment in Paris — and Sir Stuart Lipton, who was behind the Broadgate development in the city.

Fenwick’s Bond Street store for sale?

What: Flannels plans on crafting regional retail strategies to drive growth outside of global cities.

Why is it important: Flannels is continuing its expansion, by opening a total of 15 experience-oriented flagships across the UK by 2025.

Flannels opened more than 10 stores in cities that have been typically underserved by traditional luxury players in 2021. With international tourism facing continued disruption in 2022, repatriated luxury spending represents a significant growth opportunity for well-positioned retailers.

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Flannels to open experience-oriented flagships to drive growth

What: Macy’s, beating expectations across several fronts, saw big fourth-quarter gains on the top and bottom lines, and increased its dividend.

Why it is important: The good Q4 results allow the retailer to stick to its Polaris strategy rather than separating its dot-com and brick-and-mortar stores into separate businesses. It involves growing digital, private label offerings and small-format stores Market by Macy’s and Bloomie’s.

For the quarter ended Jan. 29, net income rose to $742 million from $160 million in the year-ago period. Operating income rose to $1.02 billion, or 11.7% of sales, from $401 million, or 5.9% of sales, in the same period a year ago.

Net sales rose to $8.67 billion from $6.78 billion. Comparable sales rose 27.8% in the last quarter from the year-ago quarter, and 6.1% from the 2019 quarter.

For all of last year, Macy’s Inc. generated $1.43 billion in net income, versus a loss of $3.94 billion the year before. Net sales rose to $24.46 billion, from $17.35 billion in the prior year.

Digital sales increased 12% versus the fourth quarter of 2020 and increased 36% versus the fourth quarter of 2019. Digital penetration was 39% of net sales, a 5% point decline from the fourth quarter of 2020, but a 9-percentage point improvement over the fourth quarter of 2019.

About 7.2 million new customers shopped the Macy’s brand during the quarter, an 11% increase versus the fourth quarter of 2019. During the fourth quarter of 2021, 58% of new customers came through the digital channel.

Bloomingdale’s comparable sales rose 37.6% versus the fourth quarter of 2020, and 13% versus the fourth quarter of 2019. About 391,000 new customers shopped the Bloomingdale’s brand during the quarter, a 26% increase versus the fourth quarter of 2019 and spent 41% more.

Results were driven by strong sales of luxury handbags, fine jewelry, men’s shoes and contemporary fashions, fragrances and home.

Macy’s Press Release 

Macy’s soars in Q4, no dot-com spinoff

What: Allbirds will offer shoe resale with “Rerun”, an integrated resale platform as part of its push to reduce its carbon emissions.

Why is it important: US customers will be able to trade their slightly imperfect and gently used sneakers for $20 in-store credit by dropping them off at one of three retail locations in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City.

Sneakers will then be refurbished by Trove re-commerce service, before being resold on the Allbirds ReRun for around two-thirds of the original retail price.

While the resale platform will focus on sneakers for now, the brand will consider expanding it to new categories in the future.

Allbirds is entering the secondhand sneaker market

What: Several fashion brands are experimenting with next-generation materials or “livestock-free” replacements for conventional animal-based materials produced in nature-friendly ways.

Why is it important: From Gucci to Salvatore Ferragamo, fashion brands are exploring “livestock-free” replacements for conventional animal-based materials that are also made in nature-friendly ways, in a bid to transform their production models.

Next-gen materials make a distinction from “current-gen” leather replacements, such as PVC, that rely on petroleum and harmful chemicals or manufacturing processes. While the race for the best vegan leather is already on, a similar shift is expected to take hold among other animal-based materials, including silk, wool, and fur.

This change has the potential to reduce fashion’s waste stream and carbon footprint and make it a more ethical industry by reducing its reliance on animals to make materials. Next-gen materials will not solve all of fashion’s problems and will not solve the wider problem of overproduction, but they have the potential to reduce some of the most urgent issues.

Plant-based materials are gaining pace

What: Walmart is the leader in the US when it comes to BOPIS sales.

Why it is important: Even though the total amount of such sales has tripled in 2 years, it still represents 4% of its total turnover, suggesting that there is ample room for growth.

The value of orders sold through click & collect tripled, from $7,2 b in 2018 to $20,4 b in 2020. Such a scheme, dubbed “curbside pickup” in the US, is more efficient and profitable, and therefore considered as strategic for the company, which proposes it in 3,700 stores (out of 4,700 in total).

It also allows Walmart to have the highest market share in terms of click & collect sales, as it represents 25% of the total click and collect sales in the US. Total click & collect sales are expected to grow by 21% in 2022 and 20% in 2023.

Walmart tripled BOPIS sales in 2 years and represents 25% of total US click and collect sales 

What: CEO and chairman David Simon said 2022 will be about preparing for big things next year. That goes for both the landlord’s business leasing space to retailers and its own growing retail operations.

Why it is important: The real estate giant’s fourth-quarter net income increased 85% to USD 503.2 million, from the USD 271.5 million logged a year ago during retail’s first coronavirus Christmas. Occupancy rates at the firm’s U.S. malls and premium outlets advanced to 93.4% as of 31 December, up from 91.3% a year earlier. Retail sales at Simon properties rose 34% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier and were up 8% from the final quarter of 2019.

Simon told analysts that operating earnings at SPARC would be hit as the company becomes the operating platform for Reebok, once ABG closes on the acquisition of the brand this month. Rue Gilt is also going to see more investment while J.C. Penney is spending to build out its beauty business and its digital operation.

The Simon Property Group to develop its retail businesses

What: Nordstrom introduces its first podcast hosted by, president and chief brand officer, Pete Nordstrom. The Nordy Pod is a way for Nordstrom fans to stay up to date and have an inside look behind the scenes.

Why is it important: Podcasts have taken off in recent years. Their appeal is their convenience as they are easy to access and users can listen to audio episodes while running, cooking, cleaning and tackling other tasks. Nordstrom’s podcast comes as brands are increasingly facing pressure to take a stand on social issues, and consumers are seeking to purchase from brands that align with their values. In May 2021, El Corte Ingles also launched a series of podcasts covering cultural topics.

The first episode features lengthy, unscripted interviews at Nordstrom’s New York City store with legendary merchant Mickey Drexler covering his beginnings and career ups and downs as well as advice. As well as an interview with a veteran Nordstrom stylist and a customer whom Nordstrom helped after her daughter had a “potty training” accident in the store.

More interviews are promised with employees, customers and “prominent industry voices.”

Nordstrom’s podcast: “The Nordy Pod”

What: Dillard’s posts its sales and earnings growth in their fourth quarter.

Why is it important: Retail sales increased 37% to 2.078 billion dollars, while comparable retail sales increased 12% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.

The gross margin for the quarter improved 40.8% of sales compared to 31.1% for the prior year’s fourth quarter.

Net income was 862.5 million dollars compared to a net loss of 71.7 million.

Consolidated gross margin for the year improved to 42.3% of sales from 28.6% of sales for the prior year.

Dillard’s fourth-quarter results

What: M&S is set to increase their minimum wage by more-than-5% and add other benefits including access to an online GP service, health check screening, and advice on financial management.

Why is it important: At the beginning of April, more than 40,000 staff in the UK will see their base rate of pay increase by GBP 0.50 an hour to GBP 10, with rates in London rising to GBP 11.25 from GBP 10.75.

This will put M&S workers just ahead of the new legal minimum wage of £9.50 an hour for those aged 23 and over.

M&S to increase the minimum wage and add worker benefits

What: Seven & I Holdings plan to sell SOGO and Seibu as part of a strategy to shift its focus on, 7-Eleven Japan Co.

Why is it important: Sogo & Seibu was reported to have been struggling since the pandemic as consumers went online and operating hours of physical stores were impacted by regulations.

While Seven & I has not confirmed a sale process, it stated it was looking into all possibilities regarding changes to the business portfolio, including the sale of shares in Sogo & Seibu.

The sale of Sogo & Seibu follows campaigning by institutional investors who want to see the company focus on its core convenience-store business, but it comes in the midst of a moderate recovery in Japan’s department store market.

Seven & I Holdings to sell Sogo & Seibu 

What: Nordstrom is releasing a merchandise collection by the popular K-pop group BTS.

Why is it important: The BTS collection with Nordstrom is the latest merchandise collection the band is releasing. BTS has been a formidable force in the fashion industry, known for their matching high-fashion style.

The fashion collection includes a range of apparel items such as T-shirts, fleece sweatpants, jackets, hoodies and other outerwear, as well as accessories like stickers, face masks, snow globes, key chains, and bags featuring BTS’ popular song titles, such as “Butter,” “Mic Drop” and “Boy With Luv.”

For apparel, the collection’s hoodies and sweaters are inspired by a collegiate style with the song lyrics featured on the garments to represent college names. Many of the hoodies are made with contrasting fabrics juxtaposed on each other.

Nordstrom will release the collection starting Feb. 25.

Nordstrom to release BTS collection

What: JC Penney introduces its first men’s denim lifestyle collection, called Mutual Weave.

Why is it important: After two years of refocusing, relaunching and adding new private brands, Mutual Weave, the men’s private label collection. The denim collection has six fits, 34 washes and 59 sizes.

It also offers sun-washed slub fabrics, curved hem shirts, oxford shirts, chambray shirts, vintage fleece hoodies, jackets, accessories and footwear, and comes in regular, big and tall, and adaptive sizing. There are nearly 300 items in the collection. Prices range between $20 and $60 excluding a few higher-priced items.

Mutual Weave aims to attract a wider range of ages and men with varying style preferences and is inclusive in sizing. It is being merchandised next to Levi’s, Lee and Arizona, which Penney’s considers its “powerhouse” jeans brands.

J.C. Penney launches men's private label

What: The group will continue to expand investments into its e-commerce businesses, including urban air mobility (UAM) services and the metaverse, despite its growing losses from online shopping.

Why it is important: While Lotte Shopping sales and operations profit dropped, the department store business put up a good defense.

Last year, Lotte Shopping marked sales worth KRW 15.58 trillion and an operating profit of KRW 215.6 billion, down respectively by 3.7% and 37.7% year-on-year. Its e-commerce revenue declined by 21.5% to show KRW 108 billion, while its operating loss increased by 64% to reach KRW 156 billion in the same period.

UAM is a transportation service using small aircraft, such as flying cars that can take off and land vertically. Lotte plans on utilizing its drones to deliver online orders to isolated areas that cannot be reached easily by road.

Lotte Group's convenience store brand, 7-Eleven, will also play a key role in strengthening its e-commerce. The retailer plans to utilize some 6,000 stores in the country as distribution centres for delivering online orders within an hour of purchase. It also recently acquired Mini Stop, which has 3,000 stores ― a move expected to boost Lotte Shopping's quick commerce initiative.

For its metaverse service, Lotte is almost finished developing its online platform. Lotte's goal is to connect all of its retail subsidiaries with its metaverse service. This connection will enable customers to try out various items in the virtual world prior to making purchases online.

Lotte continues investing in digital transformation 1

What: For Amazon to keep cash flow, they will be raising prime subscriptions from USD 119 to USD 139 per year, making it their first price increase since 2018.

Why is it important: Amazon believes Prime offers more value now, with the rollout of Free Same-Day Delivery to more places, more Prime-eligible products in the marketplace and expansions across prescriptions, Amazon Music, Prime Reading and Prime Gaming.

Reason for excitement, however, include Amazon’s investment in electric vehicle company Rivian, which went public in November and Amazon’s ad business breaking out revenues for the first time reporting USD 9.7 billion for a growth of 32%.

The upcoming opening of Amazon Style is another reason to look forward. The physical apparel store in Los Angeles that plans to use machine learning for tailored recommendations as people shop also plans to give customers tech features, such as the ability to send items to a fitting room by tapping a button in the app.

Whether shoppers immediately flock to brick-and-mortar Amazon apparel stores Amazon has padding its wallet, like the Prime price increase.

Amazon to raise prime subscription in the US

What: Central’s real estate arm is doubling down on the investment announced by the retail sister company earlier in February 2022.

Why it is important: Central Group goes all-in in terms of projected development over the next 5 years and the acceleration is quite significant.

Central Pattana, the largest Thai mall operator and a subsidiary of Central Group, plans to invest $3.7 bn over the next 5 years in order to both upgrade existing properties but also build new ones. This announcement, which does not precise if the announced amount includes already committed projects, follows Central Retail’s earlier announcement to be ready to invest $3.03 bn  during the next five years.

Central Pattana operates 36 shopping centres located in 30 Thai provinces. The plan is to expand to 50 centres by 2026.

Thailand’s largest mall operator plans a $3.7 bn investment programme in the next 5 years 

What: Saks is organising its introduction on TikTok in parallel to the launch of its new stylist service.

Why it is important: TikTok is presented by Saks as a new media touchpoint for the customers, as the purpose is to attract attention, create engagement and generate purchases directly on the platform.

Saks Fifth Avenue is gathering a team of creatives, celebrities, and influencers to engage audience on TikTok. Saks presents it as a new touchpoint to discover the “on-demand style inspiration”. The target is to make the most of TikTok ascendent dynamic.

This move follows the launch of Saks Stylist, a redesigned personal stylist and shopping service on saks.com and mobile.

Saks Fifth Avenue takes on Tiktok 

What: Spain’s fashion spending in 2021 has surpassed 2020 with the high purchases of intimates and swimwear, although still lower than pre-pandemic.

Why it is important: Spanish 2021 textile consumption grew by 15.7% compared to 2020, but it was still 14.3% less than in 2019. Intimate apparel, both for men and women (up 15%), and hosiery (up 20%) led the recovery.

E-commerce has continued to grow and represents 20.8% of total consumption (in 2017 was at only 6%).

With these numbers, Spain is confident that fashion consumption will return to pre-pandemic levels as soon as social life fully recovers.

2021 Spain fashion consumption was led by Intimates and swimwear purchases