What: Iconic California retailer opens a flagship store in Seoul at the Galleria Luxury Hall.

Why is it important: This opening is part of a partnership with Hanwha Group to expand stores internationally.

Fred Segal has leaned into a retail expansion strategy for several years. As a pioneer of the shop-in-shop concept, the brand’s stores have popped up around the world with stores currently operating in Taipei and Bern, Switzerland.

Brand licensing company, Global Icons, purchased the Fred Segal brand in 2019 and has closed a number of the chain’s international locations. Still, it recently revealed plans to open new Fred Segal flagship in Las Vegas this summer.

Fred Segal opens in Seoul

What: Macy's has begun opening new Backstage locations, with plans for 45 shops within Macy's stores in 10 states this year, on the way to its target of 270 nationwide.

Why is it important: What may look like a good tactical move based on current trending could be a strategic misstep.

Macy's launched Backstage in 2015, as retailers in the segment consistently took market share from department stores. Macy’s is new to off price, and it's unclear how much the effort is taking away from full-line sales. The company is also facing competition from the more mature operations at Nordstrom Rack, TJX Cos., Ross and Burlington.

Being the largest tenant in U.S. retail malls, with 6.2% of total existing square footage, what does the move mean to Macy’s brand value or long-term sustainability? Some hard facts are summarized by Ameritrade Network:

• UBS is estimating 80 000 retail units (mostly clothing and accessories), or 9% of total stores, will shut across the country by 2026,
• E-commerce sales are expected to represent 27% of total retail sales by 2026, up from 18% today,
• Among the 1000 malls existing today, only a third are likely to have long-term viability and they are the most upscale properties,
• The 300 surviving malls will be up-market, experiential, and brand driven (undifferentiated products contributing to mall-fall), essentially the place occupied by the best department stores more than a century ago.

If some points ring true, Macy’s should leave the discounting to the discounters and improve the customer experience, presentation, visual merchandising, and service instead.

Retailers’ future also depends on appealing to Millennials, Generations Z, and the soon to be talked about Gen-Alphas: this represents even more reason for Macy’s to move to higher ground. Transparency, sustainability, humanity, and social justice are their target customer’s core beliefs.

Macy's Backstage opening 45 shop-in-shops 

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• Despite uncertainties, Macy’s foresees a bright future

What:  The largest fine in Chinese history of market regulation

Why it is important:   With these fine, Chinese regulators allow Alibaba to exit the crisis and save the face at the same time, which will allow public opinion to focus on the person of Jack Ma himself instead. It is also a signal that the Chinese government is ready to sanction even the largest and most successful companies if they start taking too much space.

Alibaba has been fined 4% of its total 2019 revenue for having abused its dominant position to force its suppliers to use its own technologies and platforms. This is the largest penalties ever issued in China.

Alibaba Fined $2.78 Billion for Monopolistic Behaviors in China 

What: A new fashion casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic

Why it is important: The group owns several contemporary brands that are represented both in their own stores and in department stores. The Covid-19 crisis consequences are already impacting mid-sized fashion groups, which will ultimately reverberate on department stores’ offer and their ability to sell fashion (one of their biggest contributor to margins).

The Collected Group, owner of fashion brands such as Joie, Equipment, Current/Elliott, filed for Chapter 11 Monday 6th April 2021. While it successfully overcame a first restructuring in 2018, due to a failed implementation of a business management system leading to disruptions in sales, this year’s Covid-19 crisis was a blow to the company. Retail revenue fell by 85% and wholesale by 70%, and the situation was worsened by the bankruptcy of sizeable vendors in the US and UK.

The restructuring plan comes after a failed attempt to sell the contemporary fashion group.

Fashion brand owner The Collected Group files for bankruptcy

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: J.C. Penny added Loom + Forge, a home brand, to its assortment of private labels.

Why is it important: The department store is returning its focus to the home sector through adding another private label to its portfolio.

J.C. Penny is adding Loom + Forge to its portfolio of private home brands including Fieldcrest and Linden Street. The home sector emerged as a big winner this past year as many consumers shifted to remote work and school.

The department store had originally shifted away from home and appliances in 2019 when the categories had underperformed. But under the guidance of new owners, the importance of private label launches in home indicate that the department store is looking to differentiate itself and create value for its customers.

According to Wlazlo, J.C. Penney’s executive vice president and chief merchant, 2020 was “a big year of strategic investment in our home portfolio.”  While Penney’s has long been known for soft bedding and bath products, Loom + Forge brings a bigger tabletop and decor dimension to the store. Penney’s did carry some of these products but not as expansively as it does now.

J.C. Penney debuts private home brand, Loom + Forge 

J.C. Penney’s Michelle Wlazlo Talks Private Brands and Fall Plans 

What:  Zalando is accelerating on sustainability with several strategic initiatives

Why it is important:  They are giving customers the option to browse the site by values (water consumption, animal welfare…). It might translate into customers expecting this approach in other stores in the near future.

Zalando aims at generating 25% of its Gross Merchandise Volume through sustainable products by 2023. To achieve this, they have launched a series of initiatives:

• Take part to global events such as the Copenhagen Fashion Week (one of the most “green” fashion weeks in the world) with the Zalando Sustainability Award,
• Push the do.MORE initiative launched in 2019, with a plan to reduce carbon emissions by 80% and have 90% sustainable suppliers within 2025
• Invest in pre-owned market, with such an offer now available in Poland, Crez Republic, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Sweden and Germany,
• Make all those commitments visible: customers are now able to browse the site by values (water conservation, animal welfare…)

It is estimated that Zalando’s GMV increased by between 54.5% and 56.5%, to USD 3.8bn during the first quarter of 2021, and its revenue by between 46% and 48%, to USD 2.73 bn.

Zalando Lets Consumers Shop By Values And Expands Pre-Owned Markets

What: Fast-food chains are closing more in-store restaurants as the Covid-19 pandemic accelerates the demise of a once mutually beneficial relationship.

Why is it important: The closures is a challenge for Walmart, which has long counted on revenue from restaurants leasing space inside its stores.

For years Walmart Inc. and large restaurant chains like McDonald’s enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship. Those bonds have frayed as more shopping goes online and fast-food restaurants depend more on drive-through windows for sales, a feature Walmart locations don’t have.

McDonald’s is closing hundreds of restaurants located in the largest U.S. retailer’s stores, the last vestiges of a roughly 30-year-old experiment between the companies. Franchisees of Subway, one of the largest fast-food chains in the world, also say they are closing locations this year, citing diminished foot traffic and lower profits.

The closures also could pose a challenge for Walmart, which has long counted on revenue from restaurants leasing space inside its stores. By contrast, rivals like Costco Wholesale Corp. runs its own restaurant space selling inexpensive pizza and hot dogs; Target Corp. operates its own food-service space under licensing agreements with partners such as Starbucks Corp.

Walmart is working to find new models for its store restaurants, focusing more on meals to-go, delivery and joining with small regional chains that appeal to local shoppers. Walmart is also testing smoothie vending machines in stores.

McDonald’s is closing hundreds of its Walmart restaurants

What: The retailer wants to increase its presence in the retail market by creating noise with Lotte.

Why is it important: Three months after Shinsegae acquired a professional baseball team, the retail giant is making good use of it in marketing campaigns to improve the performance of its retail business.

Shinsegae targeted Lotte Shopping on Clubhouse platform saying "they will have to bite the bullet to catch us." Lotte reacted by putting an online banner on its shopping platform Lotte ON with a written message: "We will quietly meet SSG.com and defeat them”, referring to its baseball team Lotte Giants' game against Shinsegae’s Landers on 4 April.

Celebrating the Landers' first match in the Korean Baseball Organization league, Shinsegae's SSG.com platform launched discount events called "Landers Day" and "Landers Week." Lotte Shopping also started a month-long big sale promotion. This is the first time that Lotte Shopping has offered a discount promotion in collaboration with Lotte Giants.

This marketing strategy proved right. During Landers Day between 1 April and 4 April, E-mart's meat sales skyrocketed by 133.3%, year-on-year. Lotte Shopping's supermarket brand Lotte Mart also saw its sales soar in the wine and egg sectors by 104.8% and 101.4%, respectively.

Shinsegae, Lotte capitalise on baseball to enhance market presence

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: Online shopping vs. in-store shopping were discussed at the 2021 Altagamma Retail Insight webinar.

Why is it important: Despite the increasing importance of online shopping, retailers still bet on physical retail thanks to a renewed customer experience, which might be difficult to sustain.

Luca Solca, senior research analyst, Global Luxury Goods at Bernstein identified potential elements of weakness for Italian luxury companies producing at reduced scale compared to international competitors, including the “enormously increasing fixed costs,” a higher dependency on the multibrand wholesale channel, which is “today in a terminal crisis,” and lagging behind in the digital transformation. Social media, influencers and multibrand digital e-commerce are further exacerbating traffic and productivity challenges.

Solca said the need to create capsules, exhibitions, pop-ups and other methods of differentiating flagships with high-touch service are expensive, resulting in a higher incidence of fixed costs, which are difficult to sustain.

While admitting the increasing importance of online shopping, Michele Norsa, executive vice chairman of Salvatore Ferragamo, was “less optimistic” about the online quota in the future, underscoring the quality of physical experience. “The retail experience is a founding value of the luxury system in addition to being a vital impulse for traveling. Would you rather eat at a starred restaurant or [the same menu] delivered at home?”

On the contrary, Chris Morton, founder and CEO of shopping search platform Lyst thinks “it’s more of a luxury experience to be able to buy remotely from your sofa with a glass of wine rather than having to run across town to a store”.

Nicola Pianon, managing director and senior partner of Boston Consulting Group, said luxury companies will have to respond to an environment in which consumers, at least for a few years, will be traveling closer to home. While paying close attention to the online channel, “brick-and-mortar stores will continue to have a key role”.

The Luxury Retail Evolution in Wake of COVID-19 Pandemic 

What: The apparel market in France expects a rebound in the second half of the year.

Why is it important: In the first three months of the year, activity increased slightly by 1.9% compared to 2020, but actually a 15% drop compared to the same period in 2019.

2021 could be +5% compared to 2020 and -11% compared to 2019. "This favourable scenario is based on an improvement in the health situation, thanks to the ramp-up of the vaccination campaign," the observatory said.

‎March 2021 was + 67.7% compared to March 2020 (first lockdown enforced), but decreasing by 21% compared to 2019. March online sales jumped 92.2%.‎

Textile-habillement: l’IFM énonce ses projections d’activité pour 2021

What:  The former CEO of Selfridges and current vice-chairman of La Rinascente gives his views on how department stores remain relevant

Why it is important: All eyes will be on adaptation and answers to specific and local needs: all stores will be different, answering to different communities.

Vittorio Radice emphasizes the local specificity of any department store: La Rinascente Milan is different from La Rinascente Firenze, for instance, and this translates not only in different location and building, but also a different offer (customers are not expecting the same products and services in all cities), especially when it comes to local brands, a different perspective brought by carefully trained sales associates, and attention to details (windows).

Focus is clearly on local customers: according to Radice, “you want the city’s inhabitants to have an association with your retail address”.

Interview Vittorio Radice

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• The rebirth of local retail

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: 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 

What: Tightening job market is forcing Walmart to create ‘careers’ for its employees.

Why is it important: The retailer’s making more of its workers full time as well as investing in a self-driving car company show ambition to seek dominance in e-commerce

The retailer’s exercise to build its e-commerce business follows its projection in February that its e-commerce revenue will surpass USD 100 billion in the next two years. Walmart said it plans to make more of its U.S. employees full time, resulting in roughly two-thirds of its U.S. hourly workforce becoming full time over the next year.

Drew Holler, senior vice president of Walmart U.S. People Operations, said: “our growing pickup and delivery business calls for us to create more full-time job opportunities as our stores increasingly operate as both fulfilment centres and retail spaces.” The move follows its investor meeting in February where the retailer said it was increasing pay for some 425 000 additional workers.

Walmart U.S. president John Furner also addressed the company’s investment in Cruise, the self-driving car company, describing it as an asset at a time when the company is fine-tuning its delivery mechanisms and striving to cut emissions by 2040. “As delivery has become a staple in our customers’ lives, we’re focused on growing our last mile ecosystem in a way that’s beneficial for everyone — customers, business and the planet.”

In E-commerce Race, Walmart Eyes Its Workforce and Delivery Tech 

What: Amazon claims it is making it easier for customers to buy sustainable products through labelling them on its site, but critics are not convinced it is enough.

Why it is important: Amazon is hoping the programme will encourage brands to follow the actions of those already participating.

Amazon is expanding a programme that was launched in September that marks products as “Climate Pledge Friendly” if they have at least one certification from a number of organisations working on environmental and social issues.

Though consumers are showing increased interests in buying sustainable products, critics believe that the solution of lumping products into a broad category is not scalable or measurable. Overconsumption is fashion’s biggest issue and Amazon is an at-scale retailer that is trying to find ways to use its business model for good, while meeting its customers’ demands.

Amazon promises more “Climate Friendly” products.

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: Macy's executives show great optimism during J.P. Morgan presentation.

Why is it important: Jeff Gennette, chairman and CEO of Macy’s said the department store “fundamentals” continue to improve, including margins through improved pricing analytics. There’s greater full-price selling, faster turnover, a healthy stock-to-sales ratio, a lower SG&A rate, and expense discipline. Genette cited an influx of new customers — 7 million in the fourth quarter — and an opportunity to capture market share, particularly in digital, to get to USD 10 billion by 2023.

Currently, compared to 2019, Macy’s sees the rate of increase in new customers at about 14% ahead, and that the company is spending 8% more. Digital remains very strong: it was up 24% in 2020 and accelerating in the first quarter of 2021. The company has been working on search relevancy, improving personalisation, simplifying pricing, promotions, the checkout experience, and providing new payments options, including Klarna.

Gennette stressed that Macy’s is selling more with less inventory, that regular price sell-through is up and average unit retail price is up about 7% this quarter versus the same period in 2019.

Macy’s store fleet transformation activities are focused on rightsizing the number of stores, making omnichannel investments in remaining stores, testing the potential productivity and profitability of smaller off-mall formats (Market by Macy’s, Backstage and Bloomingdale’s the Outlet) and monetising real estate assets wherever possible. Last year, Macy’s said it would close 125 “neighborhood” doors, and now has about 60 locations left to close.

With Backstage, Macy’s also growing off-price business, 45 in-store departments are planned this year, and there’s a resumption of opening freestanding Backstage stores. A handful opened for the first time in 2015.

To improve margins on digital sales, Macy’s has been developing ways to encourage store pickups to save on delivery costs, reducing the number of packages per order, and linking the best shipping offers more directly to the loyalty program and Macy’s proprietary credit card to reward bigger spenders.

Macy’s Inc. Sees a Brighter Light in a World of Uncertainty 

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: 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 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 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: Cartier and Prada joined Aura, a blockchain platform launched by LVMH

Why it is important: The luxury giants aim to fight counterfeiting and improve visibility through the supply chain.

LVMH’s blockchain platform, Aura, is a product verification and tracing system. Cartier and Prada joined the platform, which is a rare instance of the rival luxury brands working in concert.

The platform is now open for all luxury brands to join to help fight against counterfeit by keeping tamper-proof ledgers containing all the information about the item. The platform also establishes an industry-wide blockchain system, providing the transparency needed to give fashion items a second life as resale popularity continues to rise.

Cartier, Prada Link Up with LVMH in Blockchain Alliance