Daily LInks
1. Michael Kors-parent Capri Holdings ditches CEO succession plan: Just months after he took on the role, Joshua Schulman will step down as CEO of the Michael Kors brand. He was slated to become CEO of Capri later this year. – Read More on CNBC
2. Adidas announces new China chief as it looks to revive sales: In Q3, Adidas saw Greater China sales fall 15%, and the company has launched an action plan to try to revive its fortunes in the country. Its business in China has been hit by pandemic restrictions and was targeted during a boycott of Western brands by Chinese consumers. – Read More on Reuters
3. How to Scale AI in Your Organization: AI is embedding itself into the products and processes of virtually every industry. Businesses can help ensure success of their AI efforts by scaling teams, processes, and tools in an integrated, cohesive manner. – Read More on HBR
4. Amazon acquires Veeqo, a start-up that helps sellers manage their online businesses: Amazon is estimated to claim about 40% of the nation’s e-commerce sales, but has long been interested in claiming a share of sales on other digital platforms like eBay, Etsy, Shopify and Walmart. – Read More on CNBC
5. Here’s how retailers are tackling the delivery challenges that come with skyrocketing e-commerce sales post-COVID: COVID-19 has accelerated e-commerce adoption over the past two years. Online sales increased 50.5% since 2019 with shoppers spending $870 billion with U.S. merchants in 2021. – Read More on MarketWatch
1. Busting the five biggest B2B e-commerce myths: Not only are corporate buyers open to e-commerce, two-thirds now rely on digital and remote channels throughout their purchasing journey. – Read More on McKinsey
2. Luxury goods: limited exposure to Ukraine war: Longer term, sanctions are unlikely to have much impact on the sector. Russian exposure is small, below that of the fast-fashion chains. LVMH derives about 1.3% of revenue from the country. Its peers are more exposed, with 2 to 5%, but still not much. – Read More on AFR
3. These Are the Companies Cutting Ties with Russia Over Ukraine: The exits reverse 30 years of investment by foreign businesses, and come amid criticism that banks and companies are doing too little. – Read More on Bloomberg
4. Fashion Embraces the Metaverse: Will 15% of our Wardrobe Become Digital? Driven by a younger audience, 72% of US consumers have accessed a virtual world in the last 12 months, with 50% of consumers expressing an interest in purchasing a digital asset. – Read More on Forbes
5. What does Russia’s war on Ukraine mean for U.S. retail? Twelve days into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the most visible impact on U.S. retail appears to be brands suspending operations in Russia, local calls for boycotts of Russian vodka and a spike in gas prices. – Read More on Retail Wire
1. Gap Sees Stock Rise Despite ‘Muted’ Sales Report: Gap’s flagship store and Banana Republic both saw sales decline in part due to store closures, while Athleta — Gap’s performance apparel brand — saw its Q4 sales rise 52%, with the label expected to hit $2 billion in net sales by fiscal year 2023. – Read More on PYMNTS
2. Retailers start to warn of business impact from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: “There are implications for U.S. retailers in the higher cost of energy, because of the interruption of and disruption in energy markets.” – Read More on CNBC
3. Russian Banks Turn to China to Sidestep Cutoff from Payments Systems: Russian banks that have been cut off from global payments networks are turning to China’s state-owned UnionPay system as the country tries to sidestep boycotts by Western businesses for its invasion of Ukraine. – Read More on the WSJ
4. What Did Your Favorite Brand Do in the War? For some brands, taking a stand was seamlessly consistent with their established values; for many it was a moment to be marked and moved on from; and for a few it was something to be ducked until the clamor died down. – Read More on Bloomberg
5. What Makes a Company Successful at Using AI? Leading companies did an honest assessment of where they were, formed a vision of where they wanted to be in three or four years, and looked for ways to rack up quick wins. More specifically, they outperformed in governance, deployment, partnerships, people, and data availability. – Read More on HBR
6. How Reliance stunned Amazon in battle for India’s Future Retail: The high-profile bitter dispute between corporate titans in which Amazon has sought to block Reliance’s planned $3.4 billion purchase of Future Group’s retail assets is currently before India’s Supreme Court. – Read More on Reuters
1. After a 7-Month ‘Brand Transformation,’ Victoria’s Secret 2.0 is Almost Unrecognizable: As much as VS&Co has outlined an active growth plan for 2022, the $4.8 billion retailer’s stock price has fallen about 7% since its debut in August (vs a 2.6% drop for the S&P 500). – Read More on PYMNTS
2. In China, Fewer Are Willing to Splurge as Economic Worries Mount: Instead of giving cash to consumers, China has focused more on trying to boost consumption by supporting the supply side of the economy, which should create a virtuous cycle of growth in manufacturing and other sectors, fueling more spending. – Read More on the WSJ
3. Beauty tech firm Perfect to go public in U.S. via $1 bln SPAC deal: The PIPE round included existing investor Snap Inc, as well as French luxury group Chanel, software firm CyberLink and Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido. – Read More on Reuters
4. RELATED READ: As SPACs Gain Steam, How Can Companies Mitigate Liability? Given the marked rise in popularity of SPACs, which are not actually novel and in fact, date back to the 1990s, it “seems almost inevitable that a substantial amount of litigation regarding companies taken public via de-SPACing transactions will follow the current volume of SPAC IPOs.” – Read More on TFL
5. How Lifestyle Changes Affect Luxury Brands: “The uniqueness and authenticity of brands will be significantly more important than they are today now that consumers use brands to curate their self-images.” – Read More on Jing
1. Amazon Set to Close Bookstores, Other Shops in Retail Shift to Groceries, Fashion: The company has been developing a store concept revolving around apparel, akin to some department stores. One such store—Amazon Style—opened earlier this year near Los Angeles. – Read More on the WSJ
2. Complaints growing over luxury items sold online: The problem is that it is hard to authenticate luxury goods, except for the products from big brands like, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Hermes. For other brands, there is often a lack of data on their items. – Read More on Korea Times
3. Big retailers are getting into the secondhand market: Resale can’t solve fashion’s environmental problem on its own. It will have to be paired with other means of recirculating clothes, including repair, rental, and recycling. – Read More on Grist
4. Amazon Filing Criminal Complaint Against Future Retail: The retail giant says it plans to initiate criminal court proceedings against the department store chain for allowing the transfer of assets to a rival despite a court ruling blocking such moves. – Read More on PYMNTS
5. Target to invest $5bn to increase retail growth: Target was one of the few retailers that prospered during the COVID-19 outbreak. As physical stores selling non-essential goods closed temporarily or permanently during the depths of the pandemic, homebound people turned to Target’s online services. – Read More on AlJazeera
6. Abercrombie warns of weak margins as holiday sales disappoint: Abercrombie & Fitch Co warned of weaker margins in 2022 after missing holiday-quarter sales and profit estimates due to product shortages and COVID-19 curbs. – Read More on Reuters
1. Nike Should Be the Next Luxury Fashion House: By turning away from mainstream retailers and making its hottest sneakers harder to find, Nike is on its way to becoming more a top-end name, like Gucci or Louis Vuitton, than a mainstream product. That’s of immense value to both the sportswear giant’s brand equity and its profits. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. L Catterton Hires Goldman, Morgan Stanley for Possible Summer IPO: LVMH affiliated L Catterton manages roughly $30 billion, and its portfolio includes a swath of well-known consumer companies. – Read More on the WSJ
3. RELATED READ: From Everlane to Equinox, a (Running) Timeline of the Investments of Private Equity Titan L Catterton. From the multi-billion-dollar bidding for Birkenstock to the latest funding round for Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty lingerie venture, L Catterton is one of the must-know names in the private equity space when it comes to fashion and retail more generally. – Read More on TFL
4. Victoria’s Secret is leaning more into comfort — and women are taking notice: In addition to product revamps, the company has been in the process of remodeling its retail stores around the United States, and is also testing a smaller, off-mall format. – Read More on CNBC
5. Adidas Halts Partnership with Russian Football Union Over Ukraine Invasion: The sportswear giant said that it’s immediately suspending its partnership with the Russian Football Union following that country’s invasion of Ukraine. – Read More on Bloomberghttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-01/adidas-halts-partnership-with-russian-football-union-on-ukraine
1. Ukraine invasion chills IPO market: Chinese fashion retailer Shein has put its plan to list in the United States on hold due to volatile capital markets, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. – Read More on Reuters
2. Global Consumers’ Surprising Resiliency Is Tested Anew by War: Energy and food prices, both key forces behind inflation, may be pushed even higher by the conflict. That will ripple back to households across Europe and the U.S., where shoppers have already faced sticker shock on no shortage of goods. – Read More on Bloomberg
3. Japan’s E-Commerce Giant Rakuten Launches NFT Marketplace: The marketplace also features a “one-stop” platform providing intellectual property holders with the ability to build their own website for the issuance and sale of NFTs, the company said. – Read More on Blockworks
4. How Your Brand Should Use NFTs: Recognize that releasing collectables is a good place to start, but it’s also just a first step. Next, look for ways to tie your NFT project to your brand and core product. Finally, experiment, but with authenticity. – Read More on HBR
5. Will China’s Blockchain Help or Hurt Luxury’s Counterfeit Problem? China sanctions could force luxury brands to tag a product with an NFT at the point of sale rather than at its origin, by which time there’s already been ample opportunity for counterfeiting. – Read More on Jing
1. U.S. Consumer Spending Rose 2.1% in January & Inflation Accelerated Amid Omicron Wave: After adjusting for inflation, consumer spending was up 1.5% in January while household income after taxes was down 0.5%. – Read More on the WSJ
2. Alibaba shares decline as earnings show slowing e-commerce growth: Alibaba had previously warned about the negative impacts of competition and the macroeconomic landscape during its prior earnings report, when the company lowered its full-year forecast. – Read More on MarketWatch
3. The New Rules of Data Privacy: After two decades of data management being a wild west, consumer mistrust, government action, and competition for customers are bringing in a new era. Firms that generate any value from personal data will need to change the way they acquire it, share it, protect it, and profit from it. – Read More on HBR
4. RELATED READ: Do Fashion Brands Need Chief Privacy Officers? With e-commerce continuing to grow as a proportion of total retail spending, and with such personalization and predictive benefits in mind, companies are increasingly seeking out greater data points. At the same time, many customers are exercising heightened caution about sharing data. – Read More on TFL
5. Robust consumer spending, core capital goods orders highlight U.S. economic strength: U.S. consumer spending increased more than expected in January, offering the economy a strong boost at the start of Q1, but price pressures continued to mount. – Read More on Reuters
1. Retailers seek real-world profits in the metaverse: Instead of having stores in every city, a major retailer might build a global hub in the metaverse that is able to serve millions of customers. “How you present yourself or how you allow your brand to be utilized in this environment is critical.” – Read More on the FT
2. OPINION: The Metaverse is a Dead-end for the Fashion Industry. We have to ask whether acquiring digital clothing is a sincere move into the future, or simply the behavior of a few opportunistic players wanting to cash in on the latest digital hobbyhorse. – Read More on Newsweek
3. Yeezy x Balenciaga Collection Is Gap’s Second Chance at Luxury: Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga is the latest drop from Yeezy, the apparel business of Kanye West, now known as Ye, with eight items available on YeezyGap.com and Farfetch. – Read More on Bloomberg
4. Agility or Cost Advantage: A Supply Chain Dilemma for the Fashion Industry. Fashion retailers must now shift focus and bring permanent changes to their supply chain strategies to build resilience, avoid inventory pile-up and streamline operations. – Read More on EuroMonitor
5. Allbirds shares fall as sneaker retailer reports widening losses, despite 23% jump in sales: Retail store openings and the bulking up of its headcount led to higher expenses year over year, the company said. Other headwinds included logistics costs and temporary labor shortages due to the Covid-19 pandemic. – Read More on CNBC
6. Estée Lauder Suspends Executive John Demsey After Backlash Over Instagram Post: Mr. Demsey’s posts include fashion images and numerous memes poking fun at heiresses, celebrity women who date younger men and poorly applied eyeliner, to jokes about being unmotivated and depressed. – Read More on the WSJ
1. The Future is Metaverse: Gartner predicts that about 25% of people by 2026 will spend at least one hour on the Metaverse doing everyday things ranging from shopping, socializing to education and work. – Read More on Digital Info World
2. The Global Glut of Clothing Is an Environmental Crisis: The U.S. throws away up to 11.3 million tons of textile waste each year—around 2,150 pieces of clothing each second. “The single biggest concern in the fashion industry is that there is too much clothing.” – Read More on Bloomberg
3. Fashion set heads to Milan for live shows — for real this time: Carlo Capasa, chairman of Italy’s national fashion chamber, acknowledged the “uncertainty” that still weighed over the sector. But the 58 physical shows and nine digital offerings for Fall/Winter 2022/2023 are “a strong sign of optimism and positivity, which infuses new momentum into the industry.” – Read More on France 24
4. Why an LVMH Acquisition of Ralph Lauren Is a Good Idea: LVMH has also demonstrated the unique skill of maintaining the luxury level of its owned brands without cheapening their market position to generate short-term gains. The practical implication is that Ralph Lauren’s earnings, when added to LVMH’s, will make the LVMH stock price go up immediately. – Read More on Forbes
5. Meta’s Zuckerberg unveils AI projects aimed at building metaverse future: Zuckerberg is betting that the metaverse, a futuristic idea of virtual environments where users can work, socialize and play, will be the successor to the mobile internet. – Read More on Reuters