The Best Of The US In December
Shop Talk
I t was another fascinating year for retail, sadly with many casualties, yet with much innovation too. The rising cost of customer acquisition led brands to pivot towards subscription-retailing, offering demonstrable perks — such as in-store experiences — to foster cost-effective repeat purchases. Big box retailers like Walgreens invited subscription retailers to set-up shop-in-shops; a symbiotic relationship of footfall and exposure. DTC continues to open pop-ups and is even forcing malls to rethink leases. Ikea announced its first small-format “planning studio” in Manhattan to “meet customers where they are”. REI are going one step further, creating an “outdoor experience center” in New Hampshire, where customers can try-out gear and join workshops. Few industries are embracing tech like sneaker brands (from exclusive drops to dodging bots) and everyone can learn from the beauty, which leads the way in responding to ever-evolving customer expectations.
Amazon Time
Amazon is considering ditching ‘Can’t Realize a Profit’ (‘CraP’) products that are low cost but expensive to ship, such as bottled water. (Tide are ahead of the game, having created cardboard boxes that are lighter than plastic.) Moreover, they will start to penalize brands who do not comply with stricter shipping rules. No wonder after 50 workers were harmed by exploding bear repellent. The company are targeting airports to roll-out cashier-less ‘Go’ stores, owing to time-pressed customers and the cost savings of not needing staff with security clearances. Over 2bn productswere shipped for one-day (or faster) delivery last year. This piece boldly predicts how Amazon will fail, not least its drab customer experience (compare with the brands above).
Small But Important
- A look back at 2018 starts with Google’s ‘Year In Search’. The brands that won on Twitter. The best and the worst gadgets, as well as tech tragedies (bye Google+). The biggest changes in social — and what they mean for 2019. Ten of the strongest campaigns. And top of the (streaming) pops.
- Some predictions! This astonishing piece lists retail trends that “need to die”, amongst them, calling a store something different (e.g. Nike’s House of Innovation); monochromatic spaces (Glossier); and brand pop-ups (no one told Macy’s or these guys). It is unlikely that any will go this year. Here are some trends that could occur.
- DTC brands have a successful route to market: simple inventory; strong customer proposition; and, in time, small and mighty stores. They also tend to have sans serif fonts and logos that are achingly similar to each other, which some believe could give rise to ‘blanding’, with each becoming forgettable.
- FarFetch bought sneaker resale site ‘Stadium Goods’ for $250m. The resale market is estimated to be worth $25bn — presumably FarFetch is hoping to tap-into the human capital that stoked it. Prediction: resale will finally find a use for blockchain — to track authenticity.
- Whilst many companies grapple with ‘voice’, Clairol have created an ‘Action’ to guide people through hair dyeing. It is a smart strategy — think of the value that the channel can add first and it will drive dollars through affinity. (Not the other way around.)
- Anything Amazon can do… Google is planning a $1bn campus in New York, whilst Applewill invest a similar amount in Austin.
- Michael Kors bought Versace for $2bn. This follows a trend of companies creating ‘stables’ of brands to find efficiencies across customer acquisition, media, and eCommerce.
- Walmart has opened its first online store in Japan, partnering with Rakuten. An overlooked market, Japanese eCommerce is worth $148bn per year!
- Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show lost over 2m viewers compared with 2017. Admittedly, 3.2m viewers is a lot for a glorified QVC segment, but at some point surely its owners will change course. Abercrombie & Fitch have proved that success is possible via improved product and not shirtless teenagers.
- Tumblr will block all adult content after their app was removed from the App Store for containing underage imagery. It is a strong move that many other channels have not taken.
- Songstress Taylor Swift employed facial recognition at her LA concert to identify ‘stalkers’. Seemingly fair, however, who owns the images and who are they shared with?
- Ford have built a noise-cancelling doghouse to protect pets from fireworks!
- And finally! The New York Times’ appeal for stories about crime in London backfired when sarcastic residents took to Twitter with very British dilemmas, such as — “Sitting on the London Underground, and a passenger met my eyes for more than a second. Then he *smiled*.” Droll Britannia.
