Even as many national retailers have been opening bigger and bigger stores -- Super Centers, Combo Stores, Hyper Markets and all variations of Giant and Mega -- other companies are going in the opposite direction, exploring the concept of the retail campus. Clustering From big chains like RH to specialty operations like Magnolia Home, the concept of clustering a group of individual stores together to create a single-branded shopping complex represents the first new take on physical retailing in generations. Not since Toys’R’Us invented the …
The Buy Now, Pay Later Disruptors
With news that both Melbourne, Australia-based Afterpay and Minneapolis native Sezzle are planning IPOs on U.S. stock exchanges in the months ahead, joining San Francisco-based Affirm which bowed on the Nasdaq in January, it’s clear that the Buy Now, Pay Later sector has matured from that of novel fintech startup concept to one with major staying power. And the repercussions of this trend on how customers pay will have a lasting and fundamental impact on the U.S. retail landscape, and beyond. BNPL For anyone not familiar with Buy Now, Pay …
Amazon/MGM – Not What You Think
Over the past decade I’ve been blathering on about this being the distribution century, meaning that consumers and retailers, both armed with technology, would drive multitudes of different avenues of distribution. These new distribution channels are more convenient and faster for consumers; and more efficient, effective, and competitively advantageous for retailers and brands. Shared Platforms So, in trying to explain the distribution thesis more pragmatically, and with clarity, I describe how all retailers and brands could achieve targeted …
High Tech Elevates Activewear
After a year that saw more than a few people sapped of their motivation, the warm weather of spring is inspiring many of us to get up and get active again. Inevitably, consumers will mark the occasion with some new workout wear. Of course, many school and work-from-home outfits featured activewear pieces, making it safe to say the athleticwear trend will remain strong for some time. Activewear Trending That's why those in the activewear market should take note of the latest trends and performance technologies that are offered in consumers' …
Why Outlet Stores Are a Big Boom for Unexpected Retailers
Conventional retailers are increasingly deciding they don’t want to let TJX and its off-price brethren have all the close-out fun Way back in the bad old days of retailing, every store in the country had a bargain basement…or at least some sort of a close-out area where the outcasts and leftovers from the main selling area ended up. Over the generations, these areas gradually went away, replaced by a whole new channel of distribution called off-price where overruns, never-runs and the runts of the litter were disposed of. It has gone on to …
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Shoppers Activate Tribalism
Tribalism runs deep. Affinity behavior has been with us throughout history but with an assist from social media, we have achieved a new level of us-versus-them-ism that extends to our consumption habits. A recent Axios/Harris poll shows that brands with a clear political identification are becoming more popular with aligned consumers. Both Patagonia and Chick-fil-A have benefited from their public positions with consumer groups. G Kofi Annan, V.P. of Consumer Experience and Brand Strategy at JUICE in San Francisco has proposed that as we …
Macy’s Beyond the Numbers
Wow Macy’s...at least for now. Q1 results surprised and exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. Furthermore, as CEO Jeff Gennette boldly stated about Macy’s Q1 financial results, “We don’t see this as a short-term pop.” Full of optimism, he said, “There will be a gigantic gift holiday. We are approaching it that way.” In fact, his ebullience over Q1 and outlook through back-to-school and the Holidays, prompted Macy’s to raise its full-year guidance for 2021. Behind the Numbers I’m going to skip past the actual numbers. You have probably already …
Why Outfits Matter
Nice outfit! Thanks, an algorithm styled it for me. Controversial? Maybe. If you ask a fashion editor (like I was for most of my career) it might all sound a bit suspect. Not to mention worrying. The same might be said for brand merchandisers and online content creators. They’d be forgiven for asking you and your outfit styling algorithms to politely step aside from their carefully crafted on-brand creations. How do you quantify creativity after all? And what about style? But that’s just it: when it comes to the power of AI and automated …