Daily LInks
1. Luxury brands brace for a 2023 slowdown: Heading into 2022, the €353bn luxury goods market had reason to celebrate. Covid-19 restrictions had largely eased outside China, shares in luxury brands outperformed the broader stock market for a sixth year in a row. – Read More on the FT
2. How teen brands are making the metaverse part of their retail strategies: Forever 21 is selling the real version of its avatar-centered hoodie, beanie, and t-shirt in stores and on its website. While Forever 21 didn’t disclose how much revenue it has made from metaverse-inspired apparel, it said the items have “sold really well.” – Read More on Modern Retail
3. Retailers Need New Strategies to Counter Discounting Pressures: We also saw another approach exemplified by Dior Beauty; it focused on a four-tier loyalty program that provides exclusive benefits that rewards members’ engagement with the brand to motivate action. – Read More on Forbes
4. Target, Nike, Urban Outfitters Get Jump on January Clearance Sales: Retailers’ ongoing markdowns are happening as consumers are cutting back on their spending. The latest edition of Mastercard’s Spending Pulse found that spending on popular holiday items like jewelry and electronics fell more than 5% between Nov. 1 and Christmas Eve. – Read More on PYMNTS
5. IRS Updates FAQs for Reporting E-Commerce Platform Transactions: The Internal Revenue Service provided clarification Wednesday on which taxpayers would receive a form to report business transactions through e-commerce platforms such as Venmo and Paypal, as well as how to report gains from sales. – Read More on Bloomberg
1. U.S. Supreme Court has busy year ahead for intellectual property law: The copyright world is eagerly awaiting the high court’s ruling in a dispute between Andy Warhol’s estate and celebrity photographer Lynn Goldsmith over their depictions of the rock star Prince. – Read More on Reuters
2. Could Your Next Outfit Be Made of CO2? It’s this sort of trash to treasure process that eliminates emissions and then it turns into a useful product. People find that idea easy to understand, and they’re super excited about it. The challenge is how to do this profitably and in a cost competitive way, and that’s the piece that no one’s really figured out yet. – Read More on the WSJ
3. These climate wins brought some unexpected hope in 2022: U.S. President Joe Biden and China President Xi Jinping agreed to restart bilateral climate talks that had been suspended earlier in the year over trade disputes. And wealthy nations agreed to secure funding to compensate developing countries for loss and damage from climate change. – Read More on S&P Global
4. South Korea Nov retail sales fall for third straight month: South Korea’s retail sales fell for a third straight month in November, government data showed on Thursday, and were set to end the last quarter of 2022 with losses, reversing gains in the third quarter. – Read More on Yahoo
5. E-commerce will go viral on social media in 2023: There’s early evidence that selling goods over live social networking works beyond the People’s Republic. Viewers enjoy interacting with celebrities and so-called influencers, but the ultimate goal is clicks to buy. – Read More on Reuters
1. Japan retail sales up for ninth month led by tourism help: Japanese retail sales rose for a ninth straight month in November, data showed on Tuesday, as the lifting of COVID-19 border controls and the government’s domestic travel subsidy helped consumer demand. – Read More on Reuters
2. China-addicted luxury stocks cheer Beijing’s looser COVID curbs: China will stop requiring inbound travelers to go into quarantine starting from Jan. 8. News of the loosening lifted stock markets worldwide, with luxury shares in particular benefitting. – Read More on Nasdaq
3. Beam Bold advocates ‘buy less, buy better’ to supplant fast fashion with sustainable retail: Brands such as Singaporean start-up Style Theory have been tapping into a growing appetite for sustainable clothing, or circular fashion. – Read More on SCMP
4. Chinese Rush for Exit as Beijing Ends Zero-Covid and Opens Its Doors: The mixed feelings toward visitors from China also serve as a reminder that Chinese tourists are the world’s biggest source of tourism revenue, together spending about $250 billion a year on average in the five years before the pandemic. – Read More on the WSJ
5. A year of acrimonious ESG battles comes to a close with more in store for 2023: Observers say they are seeing little evidence that the 2022 anti-ESG campaign has had a chilling effect on corporate America or its investors. “I think we’re seeing the biggest appetite coming from the U.S. in terms of getting [ESG] done.” – Read More on S&P Global
1. U.S. retail sales grows 7.6% in holiday season: U.S. retail sales rose 7.6% between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, which encompasses a majority of the holiday season, as steep discounts lured deal-hungry consumers, a Mastercard report showed on Monday. – Read More on Reuters
2. American fashion brands are finally coming for the high-end luxury market: However, Estée Lauder’s purchase in November of Tom Ford—an American company with super-premium pricing—may indicate a shift in how the world perceives American brands. After fetching a valuation of $2.8 billion, the company has secured a seat at luxury’s power table. – Read More on Quartz
3. Fear, misfortune and Kanye West: how Adidas lost its luster. Adidas is stuck with Yeezy sneakers worth more than $500 million after parting ways with West. The German sportswear giant is now trying to sell the items under its own brand to minimize potential losses. – Read More on the FT
4. Rolex watches a better investment than stocks, gold or real estate if you bought a decade ago: Prices of Rolex watches on the secondary market skyrocketed during the first several months of 2022, before dipping a bit as the year ended. – Read More on SCMP
5. Birkenstocks one of most purchased fashion items of 2022: Birkenstocks, trouser suits and seam-free workout sets were three of the most purchased fashion items of 2022. – Read More on the Guardian
1. China’s Richest Shoppers Hold the Key to Luxury’s Future: As China moves away from its long-held Zero-Covid approach, the luxury industry (and its investors) hopes the country’s reopening will make up for a sputtering US, which has been the engine of high-end growth for the past two years. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. 2022: A Tumultuous Year in ESG and Sustainability. The past year has been a challenging one for companies on the ESG front. Overlapping environmental, social, and political crises — from flooding and wildfires to the first war in Europe in 80 years — have made the jobs of leaders that much harder. – Read More on HBR
3. Apple Watches violate AliveCor patents but import ban on hold -U.S. ITC: Apple Watches with an electrocardiogram (ECG) function infringe patents belonging to medical device maker AliveCor Inc, the U.S. International Trade Commission affirmed on Thursday. – Read More on Reuters
4. Eyeliner Out of Stock? Blame TikTok: From makeup to Dash miniature waffle makers and Stanley water tumblers, items are going viral on TikTok and other social-media platforms, launching seemingly modest products into booming sales and making the items nearly impossible to find. – Read More on the WSJ
5. How virtual clothes could help solve fashion’s waste problem: Digital spaces could be used as a testbed for the physical world. For example, a designer could release an item of digital clothing in 10 colors in the metaverse, and use the sales data to inform which colors to use for the real-world version. – Read More on CNN
1. Amazon Agrees to Settle EU Antitrust Cases, Avoiding Fines: The online retailer won’t pay a fine as part of the settlement, something it first proposed in July, but it will be forced for up to seven years to adhere to commitments to change certain business practices that EU regulators had alleged were harmful to third-party sellers on its platform. – Read More on the WSJ
2. Nike stock surges as its biggest problem may be vanishing: The real standout from Nike’s fiscal second quarter was the company noticeably working down its excess inventory — caused earlier this year by the economic pullback — compared to three months ago. It’s an issue that has plagued profit margins (due to Nike aggressively liquidating merchandise) and the stock price. – Read More on Yahoo
3. Retail traffic data highlights 2022 holiday winners and losers: Among the losers so far are fast-fashion retailer H&M, which waited too long to raise prices, and department stores including Kohl’s and Best Buy, which saw dramatic declines in foot traffic of at least 15%. – Read More on Reuters
4. Will Outbound Travel From China Rebound In 2023? 17 percent of respondents stated they would travel overseas as soon as travel restrictions allow it, with a total of 38 percent planning to travel within six months. – Read More on Jing Daily
5. German eCommerce Sales Buck Christmas Trend, Shrink 16.8%: The worst affected consumer categories were clothing, where online sales were down 28.1%, and entertainment, which saw a 19.5% decline in turnover. – Read More on PYMNTS
1. Justin Bieber slams H&M “trash” merchandise featuring his image: “As with all other licensed products and partnerships, H&M followed proper approval procedures,” an H&M spokesperson said. – Read More on Reuters
2. Christie’s Sells Record $8.4 Billion in Art, Spurred by Big Estates and Young Bidders: The world’s top auction houses are jockeying for the chance to resell blue-chip collections amassed by baby boomers—while also courting younger buyers who want watches, handbags and contemporary artists of their own generation. – Read More on the WSJ
3. Luxury goods provider Lanvin Group shares tumble in wake of SPAC merger: Lanvin shares opened at $7.20 on Monday, slipping to a low of $6.68 in early trading before climbing to a high of $8.57 in late morning. The stock recently changed hands at $7.36 at approximately 2:00 p.m. ET. – Read More on Seeking Alpha
4. RELATED READ: Lanvin’s IPO: Can the Chinese Group Make a Name for Itself in Luxury? Its brands lack the scale of other luxury names, and need “significant work” from a consumer perception standpoint. – Read More on TFL
5. Luxury watches — a timeless investment or an expensive hobby? “We do everything we can to avoid selling to ‘flippers’,” said Watches of Switzerland’s boss, Brian Duffy. “Obviously we’re not special investigators, but we do want to sell to people who will love and enjoy the watches.” – Read More on the Times
1. Unilever ice cream saga may sour ESG deals: The saga, which angered shareholders and alienated customers, may make Unilever – and maybe others – think twice before buying up companies holding strong views on geopolitics. – Read More on Reuters
2. Fendi Goes Back to School to Save Centuries of Italian Tradition: In Italy, recruiting younger workers is an issue for luxury brands. The small family firms that produce many of its supplies are facing the same problem and some are going out of business, raising the prospect that Italy could lose that precious know-how that has helped drive its economy for centuries. – Read More on Bloomberg
3. Shanghai releases new blueprint to boost consumption in the fashion industry: By 2025, Shanghai will cultivate a trillion-yuan-level fashion consumption market, with three to five leading firms, with an annual revenue over 100 billion yuan, 20 firms with an annual revenue of over 10 billion, 200 firms of over 1 billion yuan, and a batch of competitive firms with niche markets. – Read More on Shine.cn
4. Retailers Rethink In-Store Tech as Shoppers Return: Retail chief information officers are weighing technology developments that would streamline the in-store payment process, refocusing on an area they say has lagged behind. – Read More on the WSJ
5. What European companies are doing to help workers fight inflation: French fashion giant LVMH announced a bonus payment for 27,000 of its staff in France on Sept. 29 that would range from 1,000 euros to 1,500 euros. – Read More on Reuters
1. Amazon Agrees to Change Some Business Practices in EU Settlement: The agreement may foreshadow changes at Apple, Google and Meta, which are also facing EU antitrust investigations and are racing to comply with new European laws that target the tech sector and take effect by 2024. – Read More on the New York Times
2. Jack Daniel’s, Dior Cry ‘Dilution’ as Toys, Porn Star Copy Marks: Some attorneys argue the separate cause of action is a combination of superfluousness—most dilution claims come alongside infringement claims—and overreach. – Read More on Bloomberg
3. LVMH to build new workshop making Louis Vuitton bags in Italy: The workshop will be the largest in Italy entirely dedicated to making these products for Louis Vuitton, said the region, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding with LVMH. – Read More on Reuters
4. Why Some Lawmakers Want to Ban TikTok: China’s control over the social-media app TikTok is getting new attention, as the Senate passes a bill to ban it on government devices. Meantime, Sen. Marco Rubio wants to stop TikTok from operating in the U.S. entirely. – Read More on the WSJ
5. November US retail sales fall more than expected: Retail and food services fell 0.6%, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Dec. 15. Economists expected that figure to fall just 0.2%, according to a consensus estimate compiled by Econoday. – Read More on S&P Global
1. Lanvin Group to open stores, hunt buys after U.S. SPAC listing: Chinese luxury fashion conglomerate Lanvin Group, owner of the eponymous French fashion brand, said it is scouting for buys and will open new stores, after a New York SPAC listing on Thursday that raised $150 million and valued it at $1.31 billion. – Read More on Reuters
2. Chemists Are Figuring Out How to Recycle Our Clothes: Globally, only 13% of the material that goes into making clothing is recycled. Most textile waste—an estimated 92 million tons from the fashion industry alone—produced each year winds up buried or incinerated. – Read More on Scientific American
3. The Demise of E-Commerce is Greatly Exaggerated: “What we see now is the mix reverting to roughly where pre-Covid data would have suggested it should be at this point. Still growing steadily, but it wasn’t a meaningful 5-year leap ahead.” – Read More on Forbes
4. China’s retail, factory output slump as COVID curbs hit growth: China’s economy lost more steam in November as factory output slowed and retail sales extended declines, both missing forecasts and clocking their worst readings in six months, hobbled by surging COVID-19 cases and widespread virus curbs. – Read More on Al Jazeera
5. H&M Sales Rise but Lag Behind Rival as Growth Slows: H&M said sales in the three months to Nov. 30 had increased 10% on-year, a slowdown that analysts said would disappoint investors. H&M’s shares fell around 4% in early trading Thursday. – Read More on the WSJ