What: The department store brings a distinctive, fashion-focused twist to the category "for the true avant-gardener".

Why is it important: Selfridges, focusing more on locals than tourists, intends to benefit from customers’ growing interest in gardening.

Garden centres have opened in the Oxford Street branch, in Manchester and Birmingham including an exclusive themed clothing offer from Prada, a clothing range inspired by rock band The Grateful Dead, as well as the more usual items such as own-brand compost, plants and garden gnomes.

It’s part of a 2021 theme at the chain called Good Nature and includes a ‘potting shed’ with experts on-site, workshops and events running from 25 June 25 to 11 July.

Horticulture as an activity and related sales boomed during the pandemic with reports of an extra 3 million gardeners entering the segment in 2020, almost half of them aged under 45.

Selfridges launches garden centres with fashion twist

What: The Toronto-based luxury retailer is seeking to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and is dropping fur and exotic skins.

Why it is important: Holt Renfrew wants to be seen as the most environmentally friendly retailer in the country, if not the world.

The Toronto-based Holt Renfrew said it’s the only retailer in Canada to have emissions reductions goals approved by the Science Based Targets initiative, which provides guidance to set science-based emissions reduction targets, consistent with goals of the Paris Agreements.

Holt Renfrew is working to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 65% by 2030, from a 2019 base year. Holt has also targeted a 28% reduction in Scope 3 GHG emissions (generated by vendors and suppliers) by 2030.

In addition, Holt said 67% of its purchased goods and services, and upstream and downstream transportation, will have science-based targets by 2025. The most environmentally impactful materials — cotton, leather, down and feathers, plastic packaging, palm oil, and forest-derived fibres such as paper, wood and cellulosic — will come from certified/verified sustainable sources by the end of 2025. As part of a “zero waste strategy,” Holt said 85% of waste generated in its stores will be recycled rather than sent to landfills.

Holt already started to close its fur shops and has also been working with the Humane Society International/Canada on the wind down of Holt’s businesses in animal fur and exotic skins.

Holt Renfrew Gets Aggressive on Sustainability 

What: Comparing to last year, the retailer developed its capabilities to sell Chugen (July gift season) online, developing more omnichannel solutions to drive sales and manage traffic.

Why is it important: Thanks to new omnichannel solutions, Chugen’s season debut is promising at Isetan Mitsukoshi.

Isetan Mitsukoshi’s online Chugen shopping services make product videos available after scanning QR codes. In order to manage traffic in a responsible manner, the retailer also adopted a system in which customers can book appointments via a smartphone app to pick up gifts.

Department Stores Beef Up Efforts to Sell Chugen Online

What:  Ikea’s CDO interview on digital transformation and what it takes

Why it is important:  Even though she is coming from the tech world, the CDO reminds that tech is at the service of a vision, a purpose, and values supported by the company.

The HBR interviewed Barbara Martin Coppola (formerly at Google, Samsung and Texas Instrument) to understand the challenges of digital transformation in a legacy company. Ikea has tripled e-commerce in 3 years and digital transformation was carried at an intense pace. Since stores act as fulfilment centres, this led to a redefinition of goods flows, supply mechanisms and stores physical structure, and, more importantly, having to learn how to operate at 2 speeds (offline and online) with only one space to operate from. Martin Coppola reminds that digital transformation is not a goal per se, but a tool to transform business and making decisions.

In order to proceed, she makes an analogy with the iceberg: the visible part is what is done to interact with the customers, but under the surface, huge changes are made to the business and operating model.

E-commerce went from 7% of total revenue to 31% in 3 years, thanks to an holistic approach involving inventory management, logistics and fulfilment modernisation on several years.

Coppola Martin also reminds that nothing replaces the sense of purpose. For Ikea, the trust customers place in the company it key to its DNA. In order to keep that trust, digital transformation involved Ikea asking itself how to invent a new approach. As a consequence, there is a data control panel in the app that allows to change the privacy settings at any time. This allows to create a trustful relationship, as customers are able to decide what data they share while increasing the engagement.

Inside IKEA’s Digital Transformation

What: Walmart is held responsible by Yeezy of authorizing third parties to sell fake products on its marketplace

Why it is important: For now, there is no obligation in the US for retailers to police what is sold on their marketplace. However, this could be a strong deterrent for both brands and customers, forcing de facto retailers to control their product offering, in order to salvage their reputation and power of attraction.

Yeezy is suing Walmart for selling counterfeit products on its marketplace. However, Walmart is defending itself by mentioning that the products are sold by third-parties on its marketplace, which raises the question of the retailer’s responsibility in terms of responsibility regarding marketplace monitoring.

In 2010, US courts ruled that E-bay did not have the obligation to police counterfeits of Tiffany on its platform. However, since then, the pressure has grown on retailers to set up (voluntarily) programs to confirm the authenticity of products sold in their ecosystems. However, the cost of such programmes can be offsetting, and for now retailers do not have legal obligations to police their products selection. Until when?

Kanye West Walmart

What: Hudson's Bay has so far launched large Forever 21 shops inside two Toronto area stores on Friday and plans to significantly widen the distribution of the brand.

Why is it important: Forever 21 represents opening price points at Hudson’s Bay and will help attracting younger generations.

Hudson’s Bay launched two large “full-line” Forever 21 shops within its Yorkdale and Square One Shopping Centre locations in Toronto. Several additional Hudson’s Bay locations across Canada will offer the Forever 21 brand this fall, either through delineated shops-in-shop or integrated into the women’s fashion areas.

Forever 21 will also be sold on thebay.com starting in the mid-summer. As reported, thebay.com in March converted into a marketplace format, enabling the company to quickly list a much broader spectrum of brands and products. In addition, 5 Forever 21 freestanding stores opened in the country.

In February 2020, Forever 21 was lifted out of bankruptcy through an acquisition by Authentic Brands Group and the Simon Property Group, with each acquiring a 37.5% stake, and Brookfield Property taking a 25% stake.

Hudson’s Bay Brings Forever 21 Back to Canada 

Relove, a combination of a second-hand store and restaurant, opened on the 3rd floor of Stockmann in Helsinki.

Relove will offer all day breakfast and vegetarian dishes in an oasis like environment. In the shop, there are premium and luxury brands, timeless classics, vintage, and trendy products.

Relove founder, Noorq Hautakangas, is happy to see that department stores are shifting their traditional concepts to embrace the demands of conscious customers.

Relove Second hand & Cafe 

What: The French department store will broadcast four 20-minute programmes from its Boulevard Haussmann flagship store via its website and on social media.

Why is it important: While livestream shopping has been slow to catch on in Europe, Galeries Lafayette launched its distant shopping service in November 2020 and Breuninger debuted live shopping sessions in March.

The first show will launch on June 23, followed by shows on July 7, 21 and 28. Each of Printemps’ livestream events will showcase a selection of fashion, beauty and lifestyle pieces. Shoppers will be able to ask questions directly to the hosting personal shopper through a chat function.

Printemps Debuts Livestream Shopping 

What: A joint White Paper from Bain & Co and Alibaba on Chinese customer loyalty

Why it is important: Although China is a specific market, some trends might be reproduced in other ones, such as the group-buying options provided to customers from lower tier cities, leveraging digital capabilities.

Bain & Co and Alibaba released a joint White Paper, “Hyperlocal Retail Brand Growth”, analysing the evolution of the Chinese market, from mom & pop to hypermarket (2000 – 2010), then the massive digitalization (2010 – 2020) and the current competition for customer loyalty. It anticipates a stronger and fiercer competition as the e-commerce market is going more mature, meaning that the focus is not anymore on customer acquisition, but increasing the share of customer spending, thanks to hyperlocal retail, including proximity e-commerce and online to offline sales.

Interestingly, in China, only 15% of customers are loyal category shoppers, dedicated to one specific brand in a given category, and contribute to 20% of the said brand’s sale. 60% are much more spontaneous and tend to increase their options, thus being less loyal to brands and retailers.

There are different preferences according to the regions: in top tier cities, customers favour one-hour delivery, while in lower tier cities, customers prefer to opt for group-buying, in order to lower the prices, instead of paying a premium for speedy deliveries.

In 'new era', hyperlocal retail to be future, finds Bain study

What: Swedish online second-hand shop Sellpy, which is majority-owned by fashion giant H&M is opening in 20 European countries.

Why is it important: The company handles the entire sales process from picking up the goods from sellers’ homes, to photographing, selling and shipping.

The expansion will take its number of markets to 24 after it first launched in 2014 in Sweden. The H&M group, which is on the outlook for additional revenue streams following a few rough years with slowing sales, bought its first stake in Sellpy in 2015.

H&M has invested more than EUR 20 million (USD 24.38 million) in Sellpy and owns around 70% of the company. Sellpy said more than nine million garments had been sold in total on its platform.

H&M Launches Resale Site Sellpy in 20 More Countries 

What: Department store group owned by the Weston family is said to have received an approach from a potential buyer

Why it is important: The non-solicited offer became a circulating rumour very quickly.

Established by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908, the retailer was acquired by the Weston family for GBP 598 million in 2003 and now comprises 4 Selfridges stores in the UK, Brown Thomas and Arnotts in Ireland, De Bijenkorf in the Netherlands and Holt Renfrew in Canada.

During the lockdown in July 2020, the store laid off 14% of its employees (450 positions)

Credit Suisse has been reported to be appointed adviser after an unsolicited approach. If confirmed, the approach would come at a time of considerable internal change; the family patriarch, W Galen Weston, died earlier this year while Paul Kelly, who had run the Selfridges group since the Westons acquired it, moved to another role in the holding company in 2019. The chairwoman is Alannah Weston, daughter of Galen Weston, and was appointed 2 years ago.

Selfridges up for sale with £4bn price tag 

What: La Samaritaine is carefully crafting its visibility in press to prepare its opening

Why it is important: The reopening of this iconic location has been waited for long, and expectations are extremely high.

Monocle had the opportunity to visit in avant-premiere La Samaritaine to discover what to expect after 16 years of works. Presented as the revival of a neighbourhood rather than a building renovation, the new project includes the first Cheval Blanc hotel into a main capital city, offices, social housing, a nursery, in addition to the department store itself. LVMH likes to present the project not as a new department store, but as a place of discovery, surprises and experience.

The good place 

What: Saks Fifth Avenue doubles down on the unbundling of its online and offline operations

Why it is important: At a moment when all retailers are racing to achieve efficient and frictionless omnichannel operations, the move is not well understood by analysts. What has Saks figured out that the others did not?

Saks Fifth Avenue’s owner Hudson’s Bay is splitting its off price operations on the same pattern than the full price one, by unbundling the website from store operations. Backed by investor Insight Partners, the goal is to establish the Saks Off 5th e-commerce business as a stand-alone operation, valued at USD 1 billion after the operation.

Saks’ off-price real estate footprint remains wholly owned by HBC and will continue to cooperate with the new off-price e-commerce structure. The move is believed to be a prelude to a public offering according to investors.

Saks Off 5th Splits E-commerce and Retail 

What: Betting on travel rebound, the concept store Gatezero will open in November.

Why is it important: Could pop up stores open in department stores, knowing Highsnobiety is no stranger to retail?

The Berlin-based menswear, luxury and streetwear content-and-commerce company will open “Gatezero” on 15 November and sell products across ready-to-wear and accessories from Acne Studios, Ambush, Comme des Garçons, and more brands, as well as Highsnobiety’s own collaborations in these categories. The Zurich Airport location is due to be open for six months, and additional stores in other airports are planned to open in 2022.

Highsnobiety to Open Concept Store in Zurich Airport 

What: One of the most significant real estate owner in the UK reported its 2020 results

Why it is important:  In spite of having suffered a net profit decrease of -21.9%  in 2020 compared to 2019, recovery is not yet in sight and things might get worse in terms of retail occupancy.

Retail landlords such as The Crown Estate (a significant player  owning top notch properties in the centre of London) are expecting the crisis to get worse, even though the number of empty location has already doubled since the start of the pandemic, and difficulties to retrieve rents (cash collection is at 81%).The Crown Estate saw its net revenue profit decrease by GBP 75.7m in 2020 compared to 2019, to GBP 269.3m (-21.9%).

London has been particularly hit, with Regent Street footfall down -75% compared to the previous year, for instance, leading to a decrease of the London portfolio value from GBP 8.4 bn to 7.7b, with 8.2% unoccupancy rate (from 4.7% pre-pandemic).

The Crown Estate CEO mentioned to Bloomberg that they expected the situation to worsen even further, leading him to start considering sales and conversion projects.

London Retail Situation The Crown Estate announces £269.3 million net revenue profit for 2020-2021

What: A new initiative tested to increase delivery options for customers

Why it is important: Retailers need to be creative to play with the limitations imposed by new technologies. In the case of drones, the limited weight that can be carried was played not as a limitation, but as an opportunity for Kroger to propose themed bundles.

GDR UK, a retail intelligence agency based in London, reported an interesting new initiative in terms of logistics and last mile delivery. US Supermarket Kroger teamed up with Drone Express to test a 15-minutes delivery option via drone.

This option is valid only for a limited number of products in one select location for now, and provides customers with the possibility to order from their smartphone and have the products delivered either at home or in nearby parks and public spaces.

Deliveries are limited to a total weight of 5 pounds, which is the reason why Kroger is proposing bundles of products respecting this maximum limit, with themes: baby care bundle (wipes and formula), “S’mores bundle” with crackers, marshmallows and chocolate.

The 15-minute delivery delay is not a firm promise, however the marketed message heavily insists on it.

This is clearly a test for expansion in case of success and good customers’ response.

Kroger trials curated bundles for 15 minute drone delivery

What:  Westield is divesting in a 4th mall in the US this year, following the plan announced earlier in 2020.

Why it is important:  Large operators are in a situation where rightsizing is not enough anymore. To remain economically viable, they have to divest and focus on profitable part of their assets portfolio.

Unibal-Rodamco-Westfield, owner of the Westfield Broward mall in Florida, is turning over the property to lenders, and operations to a receiver. This move is part of a plan already announced to let go US properties during 2021 and 2022. The group already divested 3 malls, after having suffered a decrease of 44% sales as a whole for its US operations. Unibail seeks to rebalance their real estate portfolio and focus on the most promising ones, instead of reaching a costly critical mass.

Westfield turns over Florida mall to lenders

What: Following Debenhams’ bankruptcy, some of its stores are attributed a new purpose.

Why it is important:  the project is a good example of the new urban deployments, mixing hospitality with entertainment. With the exception of the 20,000 sqm retail space planned in Paris, this project is similar to what La Samaritaine promises to be once it opens.

The Debenhams store, in the Princess building erected in 1869, closed following to the company’s failure, is set to be redeveloped into a hotel and restaurant, expected to open in 2024. The project will cost GBP 50 million and cover all 10,800 sqm of retail space.

It is widely expected to contribute to the local community and city centre life.

Debenhams' Edinburgh store to convert into boutique hotel 

What: John Lewis extends its marketplace operations to fashion brands

Why it is important: The UK department store aims at rejuvenating its brands image through this move.

John Lewis is inviting 40+ brands to “sell their products on John Lewis website”, with a plan to reach 100 brands in the next 12 months. The goal is to increase the number of options for customers to buy branded fashion and the price range. This is the first time that John Lewis does so for fashion, but not as a whole, as the marketplace model was already used for home products in the past.

Pippa Wicks, CEO, mentions that this new step is part of the plans to modernise the brand.

John Lewis to allow fashion brands to sell products directly on its website 

What: The UK retail landscape is hampered by a wave of unpaid rental dues which accrued during the pandemic

Why it is important: Even though negotiations are taking place, 1 out of 7 retailers still have to reach an agreement with their landlords, while the official support ends on June 30.

UK landlords claim that there is approximately GBP 6 billion in unpaid rent to be recovered since the beginning of the pandemic, and that a large majority of tenants have come to an agreement. However, some are resisting talks, including Frasers Group and Boots.

The British government support (bans on eviction and judiciary pursuits for unpaid rent) was enforced in March 20 and is expected to end on June 30. What will replace this set of protection is not clear for tenants yet, at a moment when all retailers are trying to get back to a normal pace of activity, after a 15-month period of difficulties.

Last May, the British Retail Consortium claimed that 2/3 of UK retailers were at risk of legal actions. Following discussions, 1 out of 7 tenants still have to come to an agreement, for a total GBP of 1,84 billion in rental value. Boots argues that retail footfall across retail locations have significantly lowered, impacting trade, while they stayed open during the pandemic. Frasers did not comment.

Frasers and Boots frustrate landlords with hardball rent talks

What: The retailer is investing in DroneUp, a drone services company that it has previously worked with on delivery trials.

Why is it important: In e-commerce quest, last-mile delivery is key and requires new solutions to reduce costs and lead time.

The retailer, whose executives have spent the past year emphasizing its e-commerce ambitions and strategies to shorten delivery times, said it is investing in DroneUp, which offers data collection services using drones.

The company said it would be unrolling its first operations with the company in Arkansas, and indicated plans to scale the operations over time. Drone deliveries, still a while from being scaled to mass use, are being viewed as a way to circumvent traffic, and as part of a shifting retail model.

Walmart Invests in Drone Deliveries in E-commerce Quest 

What: The retailer has broadened the responsibilities of Denise Magid and Dan Leppo, both executive vice presidents and general merchandise managers, in the wake of the departure of Stacie Borteck, senior vice president and general merchandise manager.

Why is it important:  Rather than replacing Stacie Borteck, the department store is reorganising its merchandising structure.

Additionally, Jennifer Jones, vice president and divisional merchandise manager of women’s shoes, has been promoted to senior vice president of centre core, a cluster of categories encompassing fashion accessories, shoes and fine jewellery. Jones will report directly to Magid, who adds centre core to her responsibilities while continuing to head up women’s ready-to-wear, concessions and outlets.

Leppo will add the cosmetics division to his responsibilities while continuing to head up the men’s, home and young world (kids) divisions.

Bloomingdale’s Resets Responsibilities of Top Merchant 

What: The interview of Pavilion Malaysia’s CEO, Joyce Yap.

Why it is important: Experience is now a must-have on all markets across the globe, and no retailer is spared with the necessity to address the omnichannel topic, wherever and whatever the culture.

Even though 2020 has been a challenging year, Pavilion is expecting a rebound in terms of traffic and turnover, based on previous experiences (1997, 2007), the short-lived reopening period in June 2020 (traffic went back to 75-890% of 2019 levels and turnover to 50-60%) and what is happening in China with revenge shopping.

The challenges were not on the tenancy rate (which remained stable thanks to newcomers) but internal negotiations with brands led to putting Pavilion’s cash management on a tight rope.

Malaysian customers are now asking for personalisation and experience, like in the rest of the world. For that reason, Pavilion is planning to use technology to leverage that aspect of the business and know better their customer. This also translates into making e-commerce a complement to brick & mortar which, in Yap’s view, is here to stay due to the customers’ hunger for experience. However, omnichannel, like in the rest of the world, is not anymore a question nor a luxury, but a bare necessity.

In terms of projects, Yap described the new Pavilion Bukit Jalil mall set to open in the southern corridor of Kuala Lumpur. Mixing retail, residential and office space on a gross area of 3,48 million square feet, including a bit less of half dedicated to retail, it aims to provide local community with direct access to immersive experiences and leisure.

It will include the newest Parkson department store in Malaysia, a Dadi Cinema, a new concept supermarket and a series of experiences revolving around the South-East Asian cultures.

How pavilion is connecting with its customers

What: The retailer’s ad business rebranded as ‘Walmart Connect’, saw a triple-digit growth last quarter, a high-margin endeavour capitalizing on mountains of shopping data.

Why is it important: Walmart is leveraging its capabilities by using its data asset.

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Walmart has continued to expand its access to consumers by ramping up kerbside pickup and delivery services, and unrolling its Walmart+ subscription delivery program. The retailer estimates that each week, roughly 265 million customers visit its stores and online all over the world. The company has increasingly sought to leverage this base by rolling out and expanding offerings beyond retail, including in advertising, financial services and health care.

Walmart has been in the advertising business in some form for decades, where its thousands of stores in the U.S. facilitated various exercises in brand advertising. Having a specific new branded platform around those advertising efforts makes it easier to promote that advertising business in a more focused way.

What Walmart has sought to highlight to brands is not just its access to consumer data based on shopping transactions, but also the technology to process that data. Such technology can help to draw connections between the on- and offline behaviours of consumers, and to analyse the purchase journeys of millions of consumers to identify patterns and anticipate needs. The appeal of such a service is especially strong for small businesses whose marketing resources are limited.

This kind of ability to synthesize a large volume of consumer information also introduces some privacy and security concerns for consumers. Walmart said in a statement that the retailer neither provides data about individual customers, nor sells that information.

Walmart Leverages Tech, Proximity to Shoppers to Boost Ad Business