Daily LInks
1. Under Armour’s D2C Business Sees Shift From Web to Stores: Under Armour said Friday (Feb 11) that its direct-to-consumer (D2C) revenues rose 10% in the fourth quarter, as consumers went back to shopping in-stores again compared to widespread closures a year ago. – Read More on PYMNTS
2. Is the Metaverse Just Marketing? The metaverse is currently stalled by a lack of infrastructure (the hardware/software isn’t ready yet), a monopolistic approach to platform development (the metaverse is likely to require more openness and collaboration) and a lack of clear governance standards. – Read More on the New York Times
3. OOOOO wants to create a $400 billion live e-commerce market in the U.S.: Live e-commerce in the U.S. is expected to reach $35 billion in sales by 2024—not bad until that number is stacked against China, which is on track to hit $423 billion by this year alone. – Read More on Fast Co.
4. The death of the department store: The closure of John Lewis’s store in Sheffield after almost 60 years was a bitter blow. As debate rages over what to do with the huge empty site, the city is becoming a test case for where Britain’s urban centers may be heading. – Read More on the Guardian
5. Eileen Gu Is Dominating the Beijing Olympics—in Skiing and Sponsorships: China has long limited the commercial activities of national team athletes. Until early 2020, China’s General Administration of Sports required athletes to seek approval before taking on any brand endorsements, even offering templates for contracts. – Read More on the WSJ
6. Indian supplier to UK fashion brands agrees to pay £3m in unpaid wages: India’s largest garment company has paid out an estimated £3m in unpaid wages to tens of thousands of workers, after two years of refusing to pay the legal minimum wage. – Read More on the Guardian
1. Justin Bieber’s NFT ape sure looks like monkey business: “The relevant questions include whether the celebrity is actually endorsing a product or service on behalf of a marketer, whether any connection is expected by the endorser’s followers, and would knowing about the connection affect what the followers think about the endorsement.” – Read More on the Verge
2. Why OpenSea’s NFT Marketplace Can’t Win: Its phenomenal growth has brought it more revenue, partnerships, and funding, but at the same time, security issues and endless copycat listings are rife. – Read More on Wired
3. RELATED READ: As NFT Marketplaces Race to Meet Demand, What Are the Legal Issues? Issuers of NFTs and NFT marketplaces would be smart to avoid falling into the same potholes as their ICO predecessors. Wishful thinking will not prevail over securities regulators, particularly if retail investors lose all or a material part of their investment. – Read More on TFL
4. How Neiman Marcus CEO is riding the luxury pandemic boom to rebuild post-bankruptcy: The upscale department store is focusing more intently on splashy, premium products both in stores and online. This pivot comes at a time when some of its rivals are casting a wider net for customers in pursuit of growth. – Read More on Fortune
5. Canada Goose’s Omicron-induced forecast cut sends shares tumbling: U.S. and Canada shares of the company plunged to their lowest in more than a year, clearly reflecting the market’s concerns of intensifying weakness in China and a downbeat fourth-quarter guidance. – Read More on Reuters
1. Facebook, Instagram are hot spots for fake Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Chanel: Online commerce is a key priority for Meta, which has pushed new shopping features that could help grow its revenue as it faces pressures like ads tracking changes and sputtering user growth, and has signaled a hard stance against counterfeiters. – Read More on Reuters
2. How an Old U.S. Antitrust Law Could Foster a Fairer Retail Sector: The Robinson-Patman Act helped level the playing field, allowing consumers to gain the benefits of operational efficiencies and economies of scale while preventing chain stores from using power and exploitation of suppliers alone to win market share. – Read More on HBR
3. Consumer demand for Black brands is rising: Nearly half (45%) of consumers in the U.S. agree that companies should pledge to support Black-owned brands, suppliers, and vendors. Sixty-eight percent say their social values shape their shopping choices. – Read More on WE Forum
4. What China’s Covid-Zero Policy Means for World Supply Chains and Inflation: If consumers and businesses want to continue to buy goods made in China without having to endure shortages and further price hikes, they should want China to stick with its “Covid-zero” policy, as President Xi Jinping does. – Read More on Bloomberg
5. In the battle for luxury goods, secondhand sellers see success: The secondhand market was 20 trillion won in 2020 according to Statistica, with luxury transactions making up for some 40% of the total. The market is expected to rise 25% on year to 25 trillion won in 2021, and big-name companies are also entering the growing market. – Read More on Korea JoongAng Daily
1. Vans Parent VF Works to Lock in Inventory Early as Supply-Chain Issues Linger: VF which doesn’t have its own manufacturing operations, received products from about 265 factories in 36 countries run by independent contractors during the fiscal year ended April 2021, down from 300 factories in 40 countries in 2020. – Read More on the WSJ
2. Risk and resilience in consumer-goods supply chains: Economic insecurity has led to increased price sensitivity, and new shopping habits, including increased deal seeking, trading down to cheaper brands or private labels, and increasing use of value retailers. – Read More on McKinsey
3. Luxury items will get more expensive in 2022, say experts: Luxury goods spending will hit record levels, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, while price hikes for luxury products will continue to occur, with some hitting double-digit increases. – Read More on CNA Luxury
4. Nothing sells online like fashion: The online fashion market in Korea expanded 19.1% in 2021 to $11.6 billion in terms of transactions compared to the previous year. E-commerce platforms specializing in fashion saw sharper growth than general ones, which grew 5.8% to 35.7 trillion won during the same period. – Read More on Korea JoongAng Daily
5. Unreal demand? Irregular sales worth billions fire up wild NFT market: The activity has helped LooksRare generate at least $10.8 billion in trading volume since it launched in early January, according to data provided by market tracker DappRadar. “It’s quite likely that [at least some] this is not real demand, that these trades are not organic.” – Read More on Reuters
6. How Alexandre Arnault Is Shaking Things Up at Tiffany & Co: “Alexandre to me is 40 percent analysis, 60 percent gut feeling; he’s about making it happen today rather than waiting for tomorrow,” says Tiffany CEO Anthony Ledru. – Read More on the WSJ
1. How LVMH bounced back with record profits in 2021: LVMH will be “opportunistic” when it comes to M&A, per Arnault. “Just about any deal is open to them, if the potential targets are willing to sell,” Bernstein analyst Luca Solca said. – Read More on SCMP
2. Precision Pricing When Inflation Is Rising: Precision pricing — which is highly targeted and enables managers to base prices on each product’s true, current costs and each customer’s true, current profitability — is custom-designed for this unstable environment. – Read More on HBR
3. Lululemon’s Olympic Challenge to Reduce Its Emissions: Lululemon’s efforts to reduce its scope 3 emissions, which make up the lion’s share of the company’s climate pollution, are not aligned with efforts to limit warming to 1.5 C. “That’s problematic because for a brand like Lululemon, like all other fashion brands, it’s the scope three emissions target that matters most.” – Read More on ICN
4. How Shopify Is Bringing Online Retailers Into the Future: The e-commerce platform now allows its online merchants to launch 3-D and augmented reality versions of their products directly on their websites. – Read More on Inc.
5. Mall-based brands like Gap and Abercrombie are having a ‘renaissance’ on TikTok: TikTok has been a key tool for brands that want the attention of Gen Z consumers. Products that have gone viral on the platform saw subsequent spikes in sales. – Read More on Modern Retail
1. Luxury resale market is on fire and The RealReal lit the fuse: Luxury resale is nearly half as large individually as the three leading personal luxury goods categories – leather accessories ($71 billion), beauty ($69 billion) and apparel ($65 billion) – and grew five-times faster than the firsthand market from 2017 to 2021. – Read More on Forbes
2. Chanel Tests Purse Lovers With $3,000 Price Hikes: Luxury companies have been taking advantage of surging demand to reposition their brands as even more exclusive and costly, according to industry executives and analysts. The practice predates the pandemic, but has received a renewed push in the past year. – Read More on the WSJ
3. RELATED READ: Chanel is Reportedly Putting a Quota System in Place for Some of its Bags. Not the only brand placing limitations on the sale of certain products, Chanel is joined by Hermès, which has notoriously limited the quantities that consumers can purchase of certain “quota” bags, namely, Birkin and Kelly bags, to two bags per a calendar year in furtherance of a “very limited distribution strategy.” – Read More on TFL
4. Dolce & Gabbana takes perfumes and cosmetics business in-house: The move was part of a “long-term strategy which sees us committed to consolidating, cultivating and promoting Italian artisanal and manufacturing excellence.” – Read More on Reuters
5. Amazon and Nike are exploring bids for Peloton, report says: While many investors have become frustrated with Peloton due to a steep drop in its share price, analysts also note that the company may be a difficult acquisition target because of its two classes of stock, effectively allowing insiders to control it. – Read More on CNN
6. Did Your Handbag Help Destroy the Rainforest? Fashion’s extensive use of leather is contributing to deforestation. Most of that leather comes from cattle, and rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon is increasingly being slashed and burned to create more grazing space. – Read More on the New York Times
1. Amazon Marketplace is 25% of US e-commerce: Amazon’s share as a retailer is 17%. However, it would theoretically be the largest online retailer even without the marketplace. Walmart, the closest competitor, is less than half its size. It takes combining Walmart with the next five mass-market retailers to get to Amazon’s size. – Read More on Marketplace Pulse
2. Morocco’s e-commerce boom has outlasted its lockdown: As of 2020, more than 1,000 e-commerce websites were operating in Morocco. That year, such sites saw a 46% increase in transaction volume and 25% increase in amount of money spent compared to the same period in 2019. – Read More on Quartz
3. Clothing repairs are brands’ easier, cheaper path to circular fashion: Part of the appeal of repairs is that they are relatively inexpensive and simple, compared to the more complex process of recycling old products into new ones. – Read More on Glossy
4. RELATED READ: Companies are Pushing for Circularity and Raising Legal Questions in the Process. To date, refurbishment has ruffled feathers in instances where trademark-bearing products are modified and then subsequently sold without the original manufacturer’s authorization and/or without proper disclosure to alert consumers of such modifications. – Read More on TFL
5. Can Meta and the Metaverse Save Retail? No longer seen as strictly a game, the metaverse is being viewed by more and more investors as a serious real estate investing opportunity. Likewise, an increasing number of retailers have been gradually making their way into the metaverse. – Read More on Motley Fool
6. From Roblox to Red Sox, 55-Year-Old Ralph Lauren Is Reinventing Itself: “Our better-than-expected results across all three regions are a testament to the outstanding work our teams have done to fundamentally reposition our business, elevate our brand and pivot to offense.” – Read More on PYMNTS
1. As physical retail resurges, these ecommerce leaders are doubling down on digital: Target and Walmart are bringing in a lot of digital native brands into physical store. They recognize these high growth digital brands are where the growth is coming from. This is why winning the ‘digital shelf’ is important.” – Read More on Forbes
2. Capri plans price increases at Michael Kors, Versace as luxury fashion booms: Capri reported a 24% jump in holiday-quarter sales and raised its full-year outlook, saying it would further increase prices across its brands to take advantage of soaring demand for high fashion. – Read More on Reuters
3. RELATED READ: Not Merely Softening the COVID Blow, Brands are Boosting Prices as They Aim to Move Up-Market. Aims to soften the blow of COVID-era spending – or better yet, a lack thereof – have certainly behind many brands’ pricing strategies as of late. But there is more to it for brands that that are looking to position themselves more favorably, and boost their brand image and their margins in the process. – Read More on TFL
4. Young Consumers More Environment-Minded in China, India Than in Rich Countries: Gen Z and millennial consumers in China, India and other emerging economies are more environmentally conscious, more likely to buy sustainable products. – Read More on Bloomberg
5. Breakdown: Real profit and loss in the metaverse. The potential is there. Metaverses can expand the availability of certain activities (and products), since there are no limitations relating to accessibility, travel or public health. – Read More on Reuters
1. Chinese Gen Z will drive sustainability conversation in fashion, as Covid-19 heightens a sense of responsibility: “The pandemic has made people in China reassess their relationship with the environment,” and young Chinese consumers are shopping differently now, which could be the change the industry needs. – Read More on SCMP
2. Retail workers have a new ally in their fight for paid sick leave: Activist investors filed shareholder proposals against CVS, Kroger, Target, and TJX, the owner of TJMaxx and Marshalls, demanding that these companies ensure their employees—including part-time staff—can accrue paid sick leave. – Read More on Quartz
3. A look at the year ahead in fashion industry trends and technology: Luxury brands are increasingly turning to NFCs embedded in their goods to offer additional safeguards. – Read More on Forbes
4. Metaverse real estate sales top $500 million, and are projected to double this year: A report from BrandEssence Market Research found that the metaverse real estate market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 31% a year from 2022 to 2028. – Read More on CNBC
5. Sales at Italian fashion group Zegna rise 27% in 2021: Sales at Italian fashion company Zegna rose by 27% to 1.29 billion euros ($1.45 billion) last year, the group that recently listed on Wall Street said on Tuesday, forecasting revenue growth of at least 13% for this year. – Read More on Reuters
1. Spain Tax Fraud Crackdown Will Target E-Commerce, Wealthy: “In light of the increase in value of e-commerce, the tax authority will exercise exhaustive controls to ensure the correct taxation of these businesses, thereby avoiding either tax fraud or unfair competition.” – Read More on Bloomberg
2. Top 10 Retail Brands to Watch in 2022: Allbirds will likely be able to raise its average selling price and margin rates even further, as Nike, Adidas, and other larger brands drive an industry trend towards higher-quality revenue – which should allow Allbirds to scale into an incredibly favorable industry backdrop. – Read More on Placer
3. A Chinese Competitor Tried to Trigger a Backlash Against Chanel. It Backfired: Mr. Sun framed the French take on the red camellia as an affront to Chinese national pride, in hope of enlisting consumers in his tussle with the foreign brand. Instead, he triggered a backlash against himself and his company. – Read More on the WSJ
4. Dolce & Gabbana to drop animal fur starting in 2022: The Milan fashion house joins other luxury brands, including Armani, Gucci, Prada and Moncler, in adhering to guidelines set by the Fur Free Alliance, a network of animal rights groups around the world. – Read More on CNBC
5. RETRO READ: Fashion or Faux Pas: Why Swearing Off Fur is Good for Business. Brands’ moves to abandon fur are not likely impacting their bottom lines in any significant way, as while fur may appear on the runway and on some e-commerce shelves, most of these brands’ stock was never heavily dependent on fur in the first place. – Read More on TFL