What: Neiman Marcus Group announced that as of Jan. 1, 2022, employees have been offered 16 weeks of paid leave for anyone welcoming a child, including via adoption, surrogacy, or foster care, and up to 24 weeks of paid maternity leave for birthing mothers. And as of Aug. 1, 2022, the new policy will also provide two weeks of paid leave to care for a child, spouse, partner, parent or other family member defined by the Family Medical Leave Act.

Why it is important: In the current labor market, businesses are searching for ways to attract and retain workers. Employers are developing enticements beyond wage hikes, which is now only one factor for people considering where to work.

Neiman Marcus is also offering those employed for at least 1 year USD 3,000 towards adoption to ease costs like placement, legal, or medical expenses.

As store associates and warehouse employees don’t have the luxury of working from home, retailers are offering other incentives such as tuition assistance and better leave benefits.

Neiman Marcus Group expands paid parental leave

What: Saks has launched the second year of its emerging designer accelerator programme, ‘The New Wave,’ featuring eight new brands.

Why is it important: The accelerator programme was launched last year to develop and support high-potential independent brands in accelerating their growth at the designer retailer, as well as across the fashion industry, with an emphasis on BIPOC talent.

Saks has selected six designers that are Black, Indigenous, or people of colour, as part of its diversity, equality, and inclusion roadmap to increase total sales of Black-owned, -designed, or -led brands by nearly 100 million US dollars by 2023.

Each designer taking part in the accelerator will be eligible to receive a 10,000 US dollars grant to support their business operations and growth, alongside dedicated marketing support from Saks. The retailer also added that the programme will also offer an onboarding bootcamp, cross-functional advisory sessions with leaders from across the Saks business, roundtable sessions with industry experts and designers and access to workshops to support brands with small business know-how.

Saks’ accelerator program ‘The New Wave’

What: Harrods is restricting Russian customers spending capacity.

Why it is important: According to The Telegraph, the famous Knightsbridge store has contacted Russian customers warning that it will no longer sell them “luxury goods” worth more than £300.

The move comes after Harrods has gone through its customer database, singling out those with a Russian phone number or who have said they live in the country.

The store sent an email to one wealthy Russian saying: “As you may be aware, the UK authorities have introduced further regulations as part of their ongoing sanctions against Russia which specifically target the sale of luxury goods. The regulations seek to prohibit the supply of many categories of luxury goods over certain values (generally £300) to individuals who are either currently or ordinarily in Russia.” The letter includes a link to the new regulations and encouraged the customer to “review them”.

Harrods sanctions high-spending Russian customers

What: Nordstorm is striving to provide customers with more convenient and interconnected digital and brick-and-mortar experiences.

Why is it important: Nordstrom Inc. continues to be focused and acts with urgency and sees strong evidence that its “Closer to You” strategy is working.

The agenda calls out the Rack off-price chain, the market strategy leveraging physical and digital assets to provide greater services and conveniences, and digital sales as Nordstrom’s biggest growth opportunities for the future.

Nordstrom will report its first-quarter results on May 26, but for the fourth quarter of last year the company showed progress in its strategic initiatives and efforts to recover from some merchandise and pricing misses of previous quarters, reporting a big boost in earnings to USD200 million from USD33 million in the year-ago period, while sales rose 23% to USD4.38 billion versus USD3.55 billion in the same period in fiscal 2020, and decreased 1 percent versus the same period in fiscal 2019.

For 2022, Nordstrom projects revenue growth, including retail sales and credit card revenues, of 5 to 7% versus fiscal 2021; earnings before interest and taxes of 5.6 to 6% of sales, and earnings per share of USD 3.15 to USD3.50, excluding the impact of share repurchase activity, if any.

Keeping Nordstrom focused

What: H&M is seeing if it can succeed where other mass retailers haven’t and make high-tech stores work.

Why is it important: At its COS brand, the company is rolling out a series of technological enhancements across its eleven US stores. They’ll include mirrors on the shop floor that recognise the product you’re holding and recommend items to pair with it. Fitting rooms will know which items you’ve brought in so you can easily request other sizes or colours. Customers will also be able to check out directly from the fitting room if they choose.

Shop associates, meanwhile, will have a real-time picture of inventory they can see on a tablet or other device. They’ll have full visibility into which products, in which sizes, are in the stock room or out on the selling floor, where they can also see how customers interact with them. They’ll know what inventory is available in other stores or warehouses where COS’ system is live, without having to pull it from a back-end inventory management system.

The aim of the technology is to better serve and engage shoppers, whether by suggesting other items they might like based on what they’ve been eyeing in the store or letting them know straight away if an item is available nearby or can be ordered online.

COS is cracking the code on high-tech stores

What: The online luxury platform significantly scaled back its expectations for sales in 2022, as the loss of its Russia business and other factors have taken a toll.

Why it is important: E-commerce companies of all sorts have faced an uphill climb lately as they’ve struggled to top the huge sales they recorded at the height of the pandemic surge last year. Many have seen their stock fall, including Farfetch, whose shares are down 77 percent this year.

Between Russia’s war in Ukraine, Covid lockdowns in China, and the removal of markdown inventory from partner brands pushing for more full-price sales as a factor hampering its business, the year is not shaping up as Farfetch expected.

The company said it now expects total merchandise sales on its digital platform to rise 5 percent to 10 percent above last year. When it gave its previous forecast at the end of February, it anticipated sales would rise 28 percent to 32 percent.

The company sought to reassure investors that growth in other important regions, such as the US, remained strong, however, and that it sees no general slowdown in online sales of luxury goods. While it currently has no plans to resume operations in Russia, it expects business in China to pick up as the country reopens.

Farfetch slashes its outlook for the year

What: Reliance is preparing to separate its e-commerce activities from its marketplace.

Why it is important: China has already enforced such a measure, and now India is moving forward. Is this a new legal measure that should be expected in the rest of the world too?

The Indian retail giant Reliance is moving accordingly to the new regulations the Indian government is setting up, as it seeks to prohibit marketplace operators to have their related parties or associated enterprises as sellers on their platforms. As a consequence, Reliance’s platform, JioMart, is encouraging third-party sellers to join a specific part of its structure which is expected to separate at some stage.

Even though the branding remains to be defined, the new platform will be parallel to JioMart which will keep on being the retail arm of Reliance Retail and will offer categories of products that JioMart does not include.

Reliance to build separate online marketplace for third-party sellers 

What: The 17th iteration of the retailer’s concepts at Nordstrom is a multibrand shop it’s calling Sports.

Why is it important: The space features apparel, footwear, and accessories for golf, tennis, running, training, and cycling inspired by nostalgic sportswear. Five of the 16 brands of men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, shoes and accessories will be available at Nordstrom for the first time. Prices will range from USD7 to USD500.

To promote the shop, Nordstrom produced a campaign featuring a cast of real-life athletes, including tennis player Jordaan Ashley, runner Chris Focus, golfer Hayden Sylte and cyclist Ron Holden.

Concept 017: Sports! will launch May 12 and remain in place through the end of July online and at 13 Nordstrom stores around the U.S., including the men’s store in New York and the Seattle flagship.

Nordstrom’s new sports-inspired pop-up

What: Neiman Marcus Group intends to make an impact on environmental issues across its entire value chain.

Why is it important: In 2021, Ne4iman Marcus worked with merchants to set some preferred attributes and build those into its product management software system with the goal of increasing revenue from sustainable and ethical products.

Circular services with services like alterations and restoration being offered to extend the lives of loved luxury items have also seen a notable expansion in recent years. In 2015, NMG piloted a partnership with The RealReal, followed by an initiative to work with Rent the Runway in 2017. Most recently, NMG has become the first luxury retailer to make a long-term equity investment in resale with Fashionphile.

In further alignment with its customers’ asks, NMG has also made progress in its commitment to go fur-free by 2023, and is working with brand partners to increase revenue from the sale of sustainable and ethical products by 2025.

One brand partner NMG has created a relationship with is Prota Fiori, the luxury footwear company that uses sustainable leather alternatives to manufacture footwear. The brand’s mission is to preserve a connection between craftsmanship and sustainability.

Neiman Marcus Group is leveraging partnerships for greater ESG impact

What: JD.com Inc, beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue on Tuesday, as more people shopped on its e-commerce platform following lockdowns in mainland China to fight a fresh Covid-19 outbreak.

Why is it important: The company reported revenue of 239.66 billion yuan for the quarter ended March 31, compared to analysts’ estimates of 236.66 billion yuan, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders stood at 2.99 billion yuan, compared with a profit of 3.62 billion yuan a year earlier.

JD.com beats quarterly revenue estimates 

What: Backstage launches on the 8th floor of Macy’s Herald Square, furthering the footprint of Macy’s burgeoning off-price format.

Why it is important: Backstage is growing rapidly. From April through June this year, Macy’s is bringing Backstage off-price departments to 37 of its department stores, so by the end of June, Backstage will be inside 300 Macy’s stores across the country. Last year, Macy’s brought Backstage into 45 of its department stores.

In Herald Square, Backstage has taken more than 15,000 square feet of space on the eighth floor. It feels like a store within a store, with its own entranceway; distinct blue and white signage and myriad T-stands on wheels for flexibility with the merchandising and display.

The off-price sector is among the most consistently profitable in retail, and actually growing in appeal in light of soaring inflation and consumers being desperate to save money by bargain hunting. Backstage is part of Macy’s efforts to diversify its brick-and-mortar portfolio, from being mall-based with large department stores to also having a significant off-mall presence by layering in smaller, specialized formats such as Market by Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s The Outlet and Bloomie’s.

Backstage departments range in size anywhere from 11,000 to 18,000 square feet. Eighteen percent of those visiting Backstage also visit the full-line departments at Macy’s, and spend 29% more.

Macy’s Backstage opens at NYC Herald Square flagship 

What: Hong Kong’s retail sales plummeted 13.8% in March due to the string of heavy virus restrictions.

Why it is important: The February-March period was the first time since the end of 2020-into-2021 that retail sales declined for two straight months.

The city has recently imposed strict social curbs — including a ban on dining in restaurants after 6 p.m. and closing gyms and beauty salons — to contain a deadly Covid outbreak.

Things are now looking up for Hong Kong, which is accelerating plans to ease curbs by reopening beaches and swimming pools and extending dining in-hours, among other measures.

The government has started handing out consumption vouchers to help growth. A similar program last year helped boost monthly retail sales by double digits.

The damage to the economy in the first quarter was still far deeper than many economists anticipated, suggesting a potentially lengthy road to recovery.

Hong Kong’s retail sales continue to fall

What: Harrods has finally appointed its first chief financial officer in five years.

Why is it important: Tim Parker will join the business after 10 years at Hong Kong-based, London-listed conglomerate Jardine Matheson.Parker’s knowledge of international markets will help with Harrods growth initiatives which include boosting its presence in China and the Middle East.

Harrods names new finance chief 

What: After such success of its pop-up concept store, Gate Zero, Highsnobiety has signed a joint venture deal with travel retail giant Gebr Heinemann with the goal of opening permanent stores at airports.

Why is it important: The store, currently being tested via a pop-up in the Zurich airport, carries products from over 15 luxury fashion brands not usually seen in duty-free shops, which are typically a mix of big brand-heavy beauty, handbags, and fragrances.

The business will be largely concessions-based with a mix of wholesale for smaller labels.

The rethink on travel retail comes as the channel struggles to return to pre-Covid levels with big spenders like Chinese tourists and business travelers still limited. To thrive in the coming decade, brands and retailers need to change not only how they sell but what they sell.

Highsnobiety and Heinemann’s goal is to scale the Gate Zero business internationally, starting with a first retail permanent space in Copenhagen’s Kastrup International Airport on 13 May.

Highsnobiety’s strengths lie in curation and merchandising, apparent in Zurich’s store retail success, noting that bestsellers include sneaker collaborations such as Comme des Garçons and Converse, Acne Studios scarves and beanies, and Byredo and Aesop beauty products.

Highsnobiety has also produced souvenirs like hoodies, T-shirts, caps and tote bags designed specifically for the Zurich airport.

Gate Zero bringing trendy brands to airport malls

What: In a surprise move, Belk has to find a replacement to its brand new CEO.

Why it is important: Investors are more nervous than ever when it comes to traditional retail companies, and expect leaders to make visible and fast decisions just after being appointed.

Nir Patel resigned from the Belt CEO position after having been promoted from his former job of Chief Merchandising Officer, to pursue other interests. The president, Don Hendricks, is taking the interim until a replacement has been found.

Patel was expected to change the whole company after emerging from bankruptcy a year ago, but according to experts, not much has happened: no new products, new offering or sales channel.

Belk, a 134-year-old company, has 300 stores in 16 US states, mainly in the South.

Belk CEO steps down less than a year after taking the job 

What: The leader of buy now pay later services is accelerating in finding additional features to overcome the difficulties currently encountered on this market (hampered by inflation and fear of rising prices).

Why it is important: It is yet another service already offered by other operators, and forcing retailers to include a new platform in their systems. While this offer might be interesting for smaller scale retailers, not sure that this feature is of interest for department stores provided they are already advanced enough in their omnichannel development.

Klarna is launching a virtual shopping service for its customers, connecting them to experts in physical stores through live video and messaging. This officially aims to empower retailers to create immersive experiences and increase customer engagement.

The program already includes 300+ brands, and Klarna wants to offer this service to 800,000 retailers. It is currently available in 18 markets, including the US, UK and most of Europe.

Klarna launches virtual shopping 

What: The Chinese e-retailer has noticed that sales growth slowing from the beginning of the pandemic, just as it faces mounting pressure to live up to a $100 billion valuation.

Why it is important: While revenue last year was overall in line with company expectations, what is concerning for the top executives is that expansion was strong in the first half of the year but decelerated at a worse-than-expected pace in the second half, with the slowdown continuing into 2022.

Shein saw annual sales growth slow to around 60 percent in 2021 which is a drastic change from the significant 250 percent growth in 2020, when the arrival of Covid-19 turbocharged e-commerce demand from consumers stuck at home.

The deceleration also comes as the company gets caught between the polar opposite pandemic approaches of the US and China. While life in America normalises to pre-Covid norms and shoppers venture out more, China’s rolling Covid lockdowns as the country continues to try and stamp out all infection.

Shein's difficulty in maintaining high growth reflects a wider problem for China's cross-border e-commerce sector, which in 2020 outpaced traditional exporters to grow by 40% thanks to tax breaks and Western consumer demand. Last year, growth slowed to 24.5%.

Shein’s growth slows

What: The online retailer struggles to build off the dramatic gains it made early in the pandemic. Revenue will be USD $116 billion to USD $121 billion in the period ending in June, Amazon said in a statement.

Why it is important: That’s the slowest pace of growth since 2001, and marks the first time Amazon has ever recorded back-to-back quarters of less than 10% revenue growth.

Amazon has been grappling with rising energy and labor costs and changing shopping habits as people return to pre-pandemic activities. Despite those pressures, Wall Street analysts have been nearly unanimous in their optimism about Amazon’s prospects, citing the company’s massive investments in package handling and delivery capacity and continued growth in its highly profitable cloud-computing and advertising businesses.

The company also reported a net loss of USD $3.8 billion, or USD $7.56 a share, compared with profit of USD $8.1 billion, or USD $15.79 a share, in the period a year ago.

Amazon projects slower growth

What: The Dutch retailer is cutting down on products with the goal to sell less but more qualitative and sustainable products.

Why it is important: This is also a perfect opportunity to maximize synergies with the owner of the group, Jumbo, who bought Hema in 2020.

Dutch retailer Hema is going through the second corporate reorganization in three years, following the appointment of a new CEO, Saska Egas Reparaz, a year ago.

The new plan involves cutting down 100 jobs at the headquarter in Amsterdam, with 40 people made redundant and the rest moved to another department or position. This follows the exit of the UK and Spanish markets, and also the desire to remove management layers and simplify the organization.

In addition, the product range will be reduced, with 200 products reviewed. Hema is exiting entirely the food and drink market by closing the category.

However, less is more: Hema plans to sell less products but of higher quality, invest in its shop experience and its operations sustainability.

Hema cuts down on jobs and product offer 

What: The Chelsea store was a laboratory for Google in order to venture into retail. Now they are rolling over the plan.

Why it is important: The strategy appears to be to cover territories via low-scale but service-full hubs, just like what Nordstrom is doing with Nordstrom local. For now, no information has been released about a potential expansion to Europe.

Google has announced the opening of a new store in Brooklyn, one year after the opening of the Chelsea store in New York. This is the first of a new breed, called “neighborhood stores”, aiming to offer similar experiences as in the flagship store, but in a more intimate setting.

The store features art installations from local artists, a Here to Help desk (a feature that was appreciated in the Chelsea store), and the possibility to test products on site, in addition to a grab and go service.

Google is expanding "neighborhood stores” 

What: According to a survey conducted by ThredUp, the global secondhand goods market is expected to grow by 24% in 2022.

Why it is important: Re-commerce companies, including The RealReal, Poshmark and ThredUp, are expected to comprise 18% of the clothing industry by 2031.

According to a new ThredUp survey of 3,500 U.S. adult consumers and 50 fashion retailers conducted by GlobalData, it is estimated that the U.S. secondhand market will more than double by 2026, reaching $82 billion.

Sixty-two percent of Gen Z and millennial consumers said they look for items secondhand before buying new. And almost half of Gen Z and millennial consumers (46%) consider the potential resale value of an item before purchasing it, per the report.

Secondhand goods are also seen as a way people can stretch their dollar further. Fifty-eight percent of shoppers say that resale has helped them in some way during a time of inflation.

Secondhand US market to reach $82B by 2026: ThredUp

What: Amazon's new 30,000-square-foot store is powered with technology and experiments with algorithms and apps to make shopping easier.

Why it is important: The first Amazon Style store, which opened at the Americana at Brand shopping center outside of Los Angeles, makes perusing for clothes and accessories more like an online experience but with the ability to touch, feel and try on the product.

The store displays racks of men’s and women’s clothing and shelves of shoes, jewelry and beauty products, but there is not more than one sample of an item on the rack or shelf.

From the time a customer enters the store to the time they exit, they can shop with the Amazon app, which helps personalize their buying experience and makes shopping easier by programming in their size and fashion preferences as well as their credit card number for easy checkout.

When a shopper sees something interesting, they take their smartphone app to read the QR code on the tag. Up pops a list of sizes and colors stored in the back, which can be sent to their personalized dressing room or to the cashier. They can keep shopping until they want to try on their selections, which have been placed in a fitting room whose number pops up on their screen when they indicate they are ready. They can take their app to unlock the fitting room, and they’re ready to try on clothes. If not happy with your size or color selection, customers can tap a fitting room screen and a store employee will deliver more sizes and colors to a locked closet attached to the room. Once done shopping, the shopper can take the items to the check-out area, scan the QR code and pay with the credit card filed on their app or with another credit card, cash or a check.

If they are not into spending much time in the store, they can also shop online at Amazon.com, have their box shipped to the store and then try on those items. If they don’t like what they bought, a store employee will take care of returns. For those who don’t want to download the app, they can shop the old-fashioned way with the help of a store employee.

Merchandise on the store floor is also displayed differently. There is a section where outfits have been selected by various influencers to give them an idea of what is trendy. There is also a section for premium brands, including Vince, Theory, Equipment and Rebecca Taylor as well as a section for popular brands including Calvin Klein, Levi’s and Lacoste. Amazon’s own brands are also for sale, but currently don’t make up the majority of items on the floor.

With that in mind, there is a section called “Sales & Deals.” A consumer can scan the QR code and find what is on sale in the store, with personalized items listed too.

Amazon Style is open 

What: Target revealed earnings, increasing top-line revenues but falling short on profits due to continued pandemic-related headwinds.

Why is it important: Total revenues for the three-month period ending April 30, were USD25.1 billion, up from USD24.1 billion a year ago. Comparable sales grew 3.3% during the quarter, year-over-year, on top of 22.9% growth last year, while guest traffic rose 3.9% during the quarter, thanks to strength in food and beverage, beauty, and household essentials. Same-day services, which include buying online, pick up in stores, drive-up, and Target’s delivery service Shipt, accounted for more than half of digital sales growth.

Excess inventory and higher freight and transportation costs lead to reduced earnings per share. Target’s first-quarter GAAP earnings per share fell 48.2% to USD2.16, down from USD4.17 the same time last year. The company logged just over $1 billion in profits, as a result, down from USD2.09 billion during 2021’s first quarter.

Target ended the quarter with 1,933 stores, in addition to its e-commerce business, USD1.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents, and roughly USD13.3 billion in long-term debt.

Target’s declining profits

What: Coca-Cola has opened its first European flagship store in London where fashion and experiences will share the limelight.

Why is it important: The all-new “fashion hub” is in Covent Garden and is the first of its kind in Europe, offering a range of limited-edition fashion collections and exclusive designer collaborations, plus gift items alongside unique drinks creations.

The London store features exclusive clothing collections that include sportswear, workwear, and a sustainable apparel and accessories collection made from recycled plastic.

In addition to a wide range of fashion accessories, the store's assortment includes limited-edition collectibles and special collections, such as for Pride in June.

Coca-Cola opens fashion hub store in London