What: Fast-fashion sees a decline as consumers become more sustainably aware.

Why it is important: Apparel companies seen as bad for the environment face "reputational risk."

According to a UBS survey, fast-fashion retailers could face revenue declines of 10% to 30% over the next 5 to 10 years as more consumers become aware of the environmental and human costs of apparel production.

Apparel companies in fast fashion, like H&M, are addressing consumer concerns through experimentation with textiles and releasing eco-minded collections.These siloed efforts might not be enough. Consumers are becoming more aware about the impact their clothing choices have on the environment. This has resulted in a change of buying behaviour to focus on buying less and invest in more sustainable pieces.

Fast fashion faces steep declines in the next decade or sooner

What: An innovative development in Culver City offers pointers as to how retail might evolve post-pandemic.

Why is it important: It’s neither mall nor department store, neither traditional Main Street nor high street plumbed with independent owners. It’s an array of these elements, with unusual merchandise partnerships and online connectivity thrown in.

Several of the two dozen stores at Platform are pop-ups with short-term leases, nestled together and connected with meandering sidewalks lined with trees, bushes and benches. Much of the merchandise — and restaurant fare — can be purchased online and picked up at a drive-through.

Familiar stores such as Monocle, Blue Bottle coffee, Aesop or Reformation are sprinkled among Platform’s own shops, including the Optimist, Teller women’s fashions and a beachwear shop called Optimist Beach. The entire development is targeted to appeal to the trendy upscale local neighbourhood. The mix of shops and great places to eat out is also an essential part of the blend at Platform. While restaurants are shuttered all over Los Angeles, those at Platform were busy.

Platform’s approach to leasing and merchandising is where it breaks away from retail industry traditions. The brand shares the risk with the store, but rather than charge-backs, fees and other contractual clauses, Platform’s approach splits sales 50-50. After 120 days, decisions about what to do with unsold merchandise are left up to the brand, which might send it to another store or set a lower sale price.

Platform supposedly offers fashion labels roughly a 20% higher profit margin and more control over merchandising and fast information on what’s selling. The shared control makes it feel like a partnership. “You get the exposure, you get the placement, you get the sales,” Platform explains. “It’s not traditional wholesale. It’s not traditional consignment.”

Is LA’s Platform the future of retail

What: A new state of emergency has been declared for Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo due to a resurgence of Covid.

Why is it important: Sales areas providing daily necessities can be open for business, but the definition of this term remains very unclear, prompting different responses among companies.

For instance, Tobu’s Ikebukuro flagship in Tokyo will operate only a few sections, such as groceries, beauty salon and sections selling glasses and hearing aid devices. Isetan Mitsukoshi continues to operate some restaurants and cosmetics sections. In addition to cosmetics, Daimaru Matsuzakaya will keep open the women’s handkerchief and sock sections during the state of emergency. Takashimaya is operating only the food floors at its Osaka and Kyoto stores, but its Tokyo outlets are operating cosmetics sections.

In Japan, stores are closing again

What: The Italian department store opted for other terms to communicate its values in its latest advertising campaign which will continue for the upcoming two years.

Why is it important: The company’s latest advertising campaign rather resulted in an illustrated manifesto mirroring the shift the retailer made from defining itself as a “house of brands” to a “house of values.”

“We had all our vision and history very clear in our minds but we never narrated it,” said Rinascente’s CEO Pierluigi Cocchini. “We started from the word ‘sustainability’ knowing that we didn’t want to use it because it has been an abused term and I personally consider it a word belonging to the last decade. Today, the concept has been enriched with so many new values that this term alone isn’t enough to express them all.”

For this reason, the company picked five words representing its pillars and grouped them under the common payoff “Keep It Beautiful,” illustrating the retailer’s commitment to preserving and perpetuating beauty. The terms appearing in the ads are: respect, creativity, research, emotion and diversity.

Respect is referenced it to the Italian territory. In fact, what sets Rinascente apart from its competitors is the location of its units, which are all integrated in the city centres, therefore playing a key role for these urban areas not only commercially but also culturally and socially. Cocchini particularly highlighted how the stores are not housed in new constructions but in historic buildings the retailer has revamped.

“We like to define ourselves as a collection of department stores rather than a chain, because each unit is unique in its design and offering,” said Cocchini. “And that’s why our second word is creativity.

As for the term “emotion,” the executive underscored the importance of offering constant entertainment to consumers, becoming “a stage for unique experiences,” while he highlighted how research permeates every aspect of the retailer’s activity, from scouting new brands to studying new ways to approach customers.

Finally, for “diversity,” Cocchini stressed that the department store is an inclusive, democratic spot by definition, where everybody is welcome to partake in the experience of shopping, having a coffee or just visiting the spaces.

Without disclosing exact figures, Cocchini confirmed that Rinascente closed 2020 with sales down between 30 and 40% compared to the previous year, when it registered revenues of EUR 800 million and reported double-digit growth compared to 2018. Launched last year after a 20-million-euro investment, the e-commerce site is helping to partly offset the losses, but it’s the on-demand service’s performance that has surprised Cocchini the most. Introduced four years ago, the service enables sales assistants to support customers’ shopping experience remotely via WhatsApp messages and accounted for over 10 million sales in 2020.

Rinascente releases ad campaign, which doubles as illustrated manifesto 

What:  A new partnership with a fashion retailer for the iconic American department store

Why it is important: The approach is very different from the previous (and failed) partnership with Jeffrey’s, as Nordstrom is positioning itself as a platform for new brands, rather than using Dover Street Market as a way to emphasize its fashionable positioning.

Nordstrom has announced a new partnership with fashion retailer Dover Street Market and will present seven brands belonging to the DSM incubator in stores and online. Said brands cover Men’s and Women’s RTW, accessories and shoes areas.

Dover Street Market has never partnered with another retailer before and uses Nordstrom as a way to leverage the visibility and exposure of the brands belonging to its incubator.

Nordstrom on the other hand sees this partnership as a way to support newcomers to fashion, as well as to bring unusually and never seen before products and brands to its customers. Very interestingly, this new approach is quite different from Nordstrom’s previous (and failed) buyout of Jeffrey’s, which had the delegated task to bring fashion sense back to Nordstrom. Here, the partnership is all about collaboration for the sake of new brands, without any delegation of any sort.

Nordstrom Space to Offer Dover Street Market Incubator Brands 

What: The sustainably-designed Green Pea mall in the Italian city of Turin claims to be the “first green retail park” in the world.

Why is it important: The mall, created by Eataly owners, differs from a traditional retail park in the way it picks its retail partners.

The five-storey mall structure aims to reduce the amount of CO2 and waste produced by a mall. It does this by harnessing solar power, wind power, geothermal wells and kinetic energy, as well as by building more than 2 000 trees.

In order to be considered as a potential retail partner in the development, brands must sign up to the Green Pea manifesto, which is a commitment to respect the planet and build a more eco-friendly future. On the Green Pea website each partner retailer’s sustainability credentials are spelled out in the “Our Green points” section.

Green Pea is the first green retail park

What: A total of 63 artworks by 26 artists are on display at the store.

Why is it important: The store is part of the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture and Lotte Department Store Gangnam’s project to jointly create a structure that can benefit both the retail giant and local artists hit by the pandemic.

Works of art are among the items that can now be bought at a department store.

Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture said it has opened an “S-store” on the fourth floor of the Lotte Department Store in Gangnam, Seoul.

A total of 63 artworks by 26 artists are on display at the store. The price of the art pieces is reasonable and ranges from KRW 10 000 to KRW 1 million (up to USD 755).

The retail giant said it keeps the distribution fee to a minimum to ensure maximum profit for the artists.

Local artists sell artwork at Lotte Department Store in Gangnam

What: The service is enjoying a surge in popularity as the number of subscribers jumped threefold in 10 months.

Why is it important: The subscription service is part of the “VIP Gold” loyalty program.

Those subscribing to the service for a monthly fee of KRW 220,000 (USD194) can have a selection of seasonal fruits delivered to their doorstep on a weekly basis.

In January last year, Shinsegae Department Store’s also launched a bread subscription service, allowing shoppers to take one baked good from one of its bakeries every day.

Shinsegae Department Store’s fruit subscription service proves popular

What: Lunar New Year’s holiday in early February and the opening of Seoul’s biggest department store The Hyundai Seoul triggered pent-up demand.

Why is it important: Sale suggest pent-up spending of the richer in South Korea.

According to the data from Statistics Korea on Monday, department store sales gained 33.5% in Feb against a year-ago period in the biggest year-on-year surge since the data became available in 1995.

The seasonally adjusted retail sales index, which plunged to 105.7 in Feb last year when the first wave of Covid-19 outbreak hit the country, bounced back to pre-pandemic levels at 115.2.

The rise in the retail sales index was driven by increased purchases of cars, home appliances and furniture. The sales index of semi-durable goods like clothes, shoes and bags stood at 98.0 versus 105.0 a year ago. The sales index of nondurables was also lower than pre-pandemic levels partly due to sluggish cosmetics sales at duty-free shops.

Korea’s department store sales jumps 34% in record on-year surge in Feb

What: French luxury brand strikes an innovative deal with JD.com

Why it is important: Louis Vuitton but will not sell its products via JD.com’s platform.

One of the last major luxury brands to have kept out of China’s main platforms, prioritizing direct access through its own e-commerce, Louis Vuitton partners with JD.com in a unique arrangement to expand e-commerce in China.

Chinese customers searching for Louis Vuitton on JD.com’s app will be redirected to a page dedicated to the brand, then on to Louis Vuitton’s official WeChat mini program to purchase products. This allows Louis Vuitton to access JD.com’s 472 million active customers while retaining control of the actual shopping experience.

The flexible model should also allow JD.com to attract other luxury brands in a bid to compete with Alibaba-owned Tmall’s dominant Luxury Pavilion.

Louis Vuitton Partners with JD.com to Expand E-Commerce in China

What it is: Shopify shows significant growth

Why it is important: The company is thriving as a platform for brands and retailers offering frictionless services

The Shopify platform, which provides retailers and brands with the tools they need to sell online has benefited from the rush to e-commerce with quarterly revenues up 110% to $988.6 m from processing orders with a gross merchandise value of $ 37.3 bn. According to Shopify’s president, “the centre of gravity is now online”. He added that the company is emphasising reducing friction for customers so they can build strong customer relationships and more easily manage the increasing complexity of their back-office operations as they scale.

Discovering new buyers is a pain point for Shopify as the cost of customer acquisition increases. In this respect, it has found it useful to make unexpected connections such as with recently bankrupted Lord and Taylor which has now launched on Shopify. For some observers, Shopify is a sign that there exists e-commerce beyond Amazon. The company has expanded its ecosystem and noted that roughly 45 800 partners referred a merchant to Shopify over the past 12 months, an increase of 73%. It has also been building its fulfilment network to help retailers handle their inventory with more flexibility.

The managing director, EMEA, of Shopify is presenting at the IADS CEO meeting on 29 April 2021.

Shopify Sales Double as E-commerce Gains 

What it is: A new perspective on customer relations issuing from the covid experience

Why it is important: It represents a way of attaching value to customer data as well as offering a bridge between online and offline shopping.

Clientela, the omnichannel customer relationship management solutions provider, has been defending the concept of “relational shopping” as opposed to “transactional shopping”. The idea is to prioritise customer relationships and converting a shopper who would not have otherwise completed a purchase; build on interaction to convert an undecided shopper later; and upsell an existing new shopper using a more personalised service.

It is not intended to replace existing services and relations with customers, but rather to complement them through a chat or video experience in which data is captured. This takes place through the Clientela system which, according to the company, is highly adaptable, scalable and customisable for retailers, allowing it to be launched and integrated quickly.

According to CEO and co-founder Lorenzo Benazzo, the relational shopping concept emerged from the pandemic when many retailers created or added a direct contact between customers and sales associates, especially if they were not sufficiently omnichannel-ready to compensate for store closures.

In addition, Clientela argues that relationships with prospective customers has been a neglected avenue for the creation of additional revenue. The value of a company is now becoming more closely connected to the richness and quantity of its customer data.

The CEO Lorenzo Benazzo gave a presentation to the IADS Academy 2021 participants on 28 April 2021. Among other points, he argued that relational shopping involves an important human element which means that time should become part of the new set of KPIs.

Relational Shopping — Clientela

What: The brand was one of the few successes last year.

Why is it important: Selfridges’ choice confirms eco-athleisure surge.

The unisex label, whose name comes from Pan (all inclusive) and Gaia (mother earth), generated USD 75 million in revenue in 2020, and now for the first time since its inception in 2019, is launching pop-up store at Selfridges.

Given that the Pangaia’s luxe loungewear formed the basis of fashion lover’s pandemic uniforms, the pop-up store will stock tracksuits in its seven core colours, as well as introduce some new offerings including note books and a partnership with Ocean Bottle.

The brand has pioneered self-cleaning T-shirts made from seaweed; puffer coats filled with wildflowers; and lab-produced pigments made from a flower’s DNA. The Pangaia pop-up is a continuation of Selfridges’ Project Earth initiative, which it launched last summer.

Pangaia launches first ever pop-up at Selfridges 

Related item:

• Selfridges unveils its “Good Nature” campaign

What: The technology-enabled “store of the future” is developing now, in several different directions.

Why is it important: The brick-and-mortar store is evolving, customer needs changing and technology advancements blurring the lines between channels.

Here are three store of the future concepts that customers don’t have to wait to experience.

• 21st-century vending machine

Travel retailer Hudson is rolling out an automated airport store concept it envisions as a miniature shopping mall. Interactive touchscreens showcase merchandise images and provide product information, while personalized augmented reality (AR) technology provides eyewear customers with a fully-immersive, virtual try-on experience.

It is also worth mentioning the eight-story automated “car vending machines” offered in at least 29 locations across the U.S. by online used auto retailer Carvana. Customers receive a commemorative, oversized Carvana coin to insert into the machine, activating the automated vending process, and then watch their vehicle descend.

• Digital-only stores

Taco Bell just opened its first digital-only U.S. location in New York, where customers can use one of 10 self-service digital menu kiosks or order ahead digitally. Meanwhile, Chipotle is piloting a store concept called “Chipotle Digital Kitchen. Customers must order in advance via the Chipotle website, app, or third-party delivery partners, and pick up their food from a lobby.

Starbucks was a pioneer in digital-only stores, opening its first-ever Starbucks Pickup store in New York City’s Penn Plaza in late 2019. This location uses the mobile order & pay feature of the Starbucks app as the primary ordering and payment method for customers.

• The store comes to you

Another interesting future store concept comes from Northeast grocer Stop & Shop (an Ahold Delhaize USA banner), which has piloted driverless vehicles that act as stores on wheels. Shoppers summon the vehicles with a smartphone app, head outside, unlock its doors, then personally select the grocery products they would like to purchase.

Three ‘store of the future’ formats you can visit today 

What: The department Store gears up for reopening with sustainable window displays.

Why is it important: The retailer is also rolling out an outdoor gym with SoulCycle and a new concierge service to lure more customers back to the store.

The Oxford Street windows integrate concepts of horticulture, outdoor activities such as camping, climbing and foraging, and symbolic elements of formal garden traditions, like mazes or topiary with new season products. The retailer said this window design’s sustainable approach is a direct response to the store’s Project Earth initiative launched last August.

In order to lure customers back, Selfridges’ reopening includes a partnership with SoulCycle to open its first outside studio in the U.K., behind the Oxford Street store, and the launch of Experience Concierge, a new gifting service offering curated experience packages ranging from floristry workshops and pampering sessions, to out of hours children’s parties in the toy department and private screenings at The Cinema at Selfridges.

The department Store gears up for reopening with sustainable window displays

Selfridges' press release

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• Selfridges unveils its "Good Nature" campaign

What: Hudson’s Bay is embarking on an ambitious plan to upgrade its flagship properties in its home country of Canada.

Why is it important: The retail group announced that it will build a 25-story office tower, as well as “transform” its existing retail space in downtown Montreal.

The mixed-use real estate project is expected to be underway by 2023, with its completion targeted for 2027. According to president and CEO Iain Nairn, the development will include a “curated assortment” of merchandise in a “digitally connected store with elevated service.”

The office tower will align with LEED standards. “This project presents an opportunity to establish a multi-functional store that continues to offer the brands and services that Canadians trust us to deliver, while developing new uses for space, such as showrooms or concierge services, that reflect the modern lifestyles of our customers and the vibrancy of downtown Montreal,” Nairn said.

Hudson’s Bay Flagship in Downtown Montreal to Undergo Transformation

What: Platforms such as Zalando, Asos, and Amazon are stepping up their sustainability game.

Why it is important: E-commerce giants are dropping brands that are not sustainable and that don’t respect labour laws.

Boohoo has been dropped from multiple e-commerce platforms included Asos and Zalando due to exploitative conditions for ferment workers. This has led to a third of Boohoo’s market value to be lost in just two days.

Zalando became the first platform to start using an online measurement tool called the Higg Brand and Retail Module, and it taking it seriously as they have already “offboarded” five brands from being able to use their platform. Zalando believes that only sustainable businesses will exist in the future, and they are trying to collaborate with player that are doing their part.

Online Giants such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon have been criticized for their monopolistic behaviours. As e-commerce is growing, Amazon is trying to appeal to sustainably aware shoppers through its Climate Pledge Friendly shopping programme.

According to a PwC customer insights survey from March 2021, 55% of people from 22 countries claimed they "shop from businesses that are supportive or protecting the environment". Many shoppers have become healthier and more safety conscious during the pandemic, and this integrity has expanded  how their habits impact the environment and society.

Could Platforms Force Badly Behaved Brands to Be More Sustainable

What: The department stores want to better collaborate with younger generations thanks to simplification and paper consumption decrease.

Why is it important: The company introduced the new system knowing that 80% of its employees are Millennials and Gen Z people.

Hyundai Department Store has taken the initiative to change its reporting system as part of efforts to transform into a better workplace for the M-Z generation, which refers to those born between 1980 and the early 2000s as a combination of millennials and Generation Z.

The company introduced a simplified electronic reporting system that is available not only on PCs but also on mobile devices. Employees can now report to senior colleagues simply by sending notes through a messenger app. The company also introduced a group chat function.

In a survey it conducted last year with its employees, 67.4% said that reports were the most difficult part of their work.

Hyundai Department Store Upgrades Reporting System in Favor of MZ Generation

What: Shinsegae Group’s e-commerce firm SSG.com has acquired Korea’s leading online fashion platform W Concept.

Why is it important: It’s a new move designed to beef up its online fashion business.

The retail giant, one of Korea’s largest department store operators, already has a membership program five million strong and sells a number of fashion brands exclusively while also operating its own Frontrow brand.

W Concept, meanwhile, has a 30% share of Korea’s online womenswear market, according to estimates cited by The Korea Times, and has been upgrading its products and price point to a higher-end positioning recently.

The deal is still contingent on approval from the Korea Fair Trade Commission.

Shinsegae’s E-Commerce Arm Acquires W Concept 

What:  An essay from a Forbes’ contributor on the value system leading brands to stop working with specific retailers and customers

Why it is important: This seemingly counter-intuitive move might reflect a shift in retail and the way brands (and retailers) might address their own audiences.

Patagonia is mentioned as an example of a company putting forward its value on top of its economic interest, as it announced it would not sell its products to certain companies (including B to B co-branded products with banks, for instance). The reason given at the time was that they would prioritize mission-driven companies instead of partnerships at any costs.

What was a bold move two years ago is now becoming more and more the norm for companies: the author mentions a competitor to Patagonia or a smaller backpack brand as companies that want to lead by example and be attractive by displaying the values they stand for.

Why is this important now? For years, brands defined themselves by their sales channels, with retailers answering to a clear segmentation. Things have changed: first, online sales disrupted the system and forced brands to reflect more on their self-definition, their “why”, second, segmentation between retailers became somehow blurry. Therefore, brands became aware that it was crucial for them to onboard their representative customers, wherever these were, instead of trying to sell a bit of everything to the maximum number of people. As a mirror effect, selling to the wrong partner, or to partners who do not explicitly share the same values as the brand, might prove counter-effective by damaging customers’ beliefs in the brand.

The author goes further by predicting that retailers might very well end up doing the same and only sell brands that meet their values and criteria. Is that farfetched? Tomorrow’s key for department stores is to create and nurture an audience, which might very well be achieved through clear and bold choices in terms of product offering.

Why Brands Like Patagonia (Sometimes) Kick Out Their Customers

What: The retailer will close its fur salons and stop selling products made with animal fur by early 2023.

Why is it important: This is part of a broader trend by US department stores to stop selling such goods.

The move will apply to both stores and e-commerce. The retailer will keep faux-fur on its shelves, along with products that include cattle hide, shearling, down and leather.

The movement against fur clothes has picked up momentum in recent years amid concerns of animal abuse, with department stores including Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom halting sales. Neiman Marcus continues to sell fur.

Saks Fifth Avenue Moves to Halt Sales of Fur Products

What: Descriptions of neglected stores reopening across the US

Why it is important: Stores have not been the main focus during the pandemic. But they need to be ready to welcome customers back.

CNBC has reported on neglected and unwelcoming stores reopening across the country. Retailers have been facing many challenges during the pandemic. These include supply chain delays as well as a focus away from stores towards e-commerce. Some Walmart and Macy’s stores have been pictured selling crumpled clothes, from half-empty empty shelves with piles of unopened inventory on the floors. Especially when the stores have been used for kerbside pickup.

The coming months may be very important for retailers as they try to get shoppers back into stores, where sales tend to be more profitable. Some consumers have money they’ve saved on commuting costs, eating out and traveling. Some have stimulus cheques waiting to be spent. These shoppers may start looking for merchandise that has been off their radar for months: dresses, jackets, more formal shoes, swimsuits and cosmetics.

As Americans return to shop in stores, some retailers are still a mess

W. Galen Weston, the UK-born member of the Canadian Weston family has died after a long illness. He led George Weston Ltd, now run by his son Galen Weston Jr., which controls the Canadian chain Loblaws, the pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart, as well as the Selfridges group operating Selfridges in the UK, Brown Thomas and Arnotts in Ireland, de Bijenkorf in the Netherlands and Holt Renfrew in Canada. Selfridges is headed by his daughter, Alanah Weston.

The British part of the family operate Associated British Food which also owns Primark. Another part of the family empire, Wittington investments, owns Fortnum & Mason.

Retail Entrepreneur Galen Weston Dies at 80

What: The retailer is designing a delivery fulfilment system based on customer loyalty.

Why is it important: Prioritizing most valuable customers could be a way to manage fulfilment costs.

Under the system, delivery speeds will be tiered as gold, silver and bronze, to "manage fulfilment costs effectively while pleasing our most valuable lifetime value customers," said CEO Sonia Syngal.

As the pandemic shifted shopping from in store to online, retailers have had to figure out how to meet demand and implement processes to best fulfil online orders. With Gap's online sales reaching over USD 6 billion last year — a 54% YoY growth — company leaders said that leaning on its "powerful omni-channel platform" is the reason they've done so well with e-commerce.

The retailer listed elevated airfreight expenses as a factor, with total distribution fulfilment costs at roughly USD 40 million for 2020. The company expects roughly USD 800 million in capital expenditures for 2021, including investments in digital, its customer loyalty program and increasing distribution centre capacity for online.

Gap designs fulfillment system to prioritize 'most valuable' customers