#retail

Feb 1, 2021
1 min

Peloton Creates Capsule for Black History Month

Image courtesy of: A look from the Monica Ahanonu collection for Peloton Four Black artists teamed with instructors from the fitness brand to create 18 apparel and accessories pieces. Peloton is celebrating Black History Month by introducing a special apparel collection intended to celebrate Black artists from around the world. The at-home fitness brand has collaborated with four artists to create 18 custom apparel and accessories pieces, each with its own story. The artists

Jan 19, 2021
1 min

Adaptive Fashion: Apparel Retailers Must Embrace Change in 2021

After a tough year of trading, everyone in fashion and apparel is hoping for a return to sales and revenue growth in 2021. So while the recent news about the amazing progress in COVID-19 vaccines offers genuine hope that an end to the pandemic is on the horizon, we shouldn’t let this justifiable optimism cloud the fact that a recovery in brick-and-mortar retail may take time to play out. Vaccines will take many months to roll out fully. And then you have to consider how long

Jan 10, 2021
1 min

‘Scan and Go’ Technologies Play Key Role in Contactless Retail

As curbside pickup and a demand for “scan and go” and touchless transactions swelled during the pandemic — and remain prominent consumer preferences — the role of mobile devices and related technology has never been more important. Here, Christian Floerkemeier, chief technology officer, vice president of product and cofounder of Scandit, discusses these trends and how his company is helping brands and retailers succeed in the current environments. WWD: From your perspective

Jan 6, 2021
2 min

Activewear in 2021

These days everyone is trying to get into the activewear games. From Target Corp. to American Eagle Outfitters Inc.’s Aerie to Madewell to Danielle Bernstein’s WeWoreWhat, retailers are trying to find their place in the world of athleisure and performance wear. There’s also sportswear giants like Nike Inc., Adidas AG and Under Armour Inc., along with smaller activewear brands, such as Urban Outfitters Inc.’s FP Movement by Free People, Gap Inc.’s Athleta and Fabletics that ha

Jan 6, 2021
4 min

Online Thrifting Becoming A Mainstream Hobby

Online thrift shopping grew during lockdowns as a new batch of archival styles from Missoni, Romeo Gigli and Louis Vuitton become popular on the resale market. It’s no secret that in 2020, shopping made a big pivot to online. Thrifting, a hobbyist shopping sport that had long been enjoyed in-person, was among the categories to see that shift in drastic ways. With flea markets largely closed, and vintage stores and resale emporiums striking nerves with consumers over hygiene a

Jan 6, 2021
6 min

How to Build a One-on-One Relationship With Your Customer

Heidi Sax left her store manager position at a luxury intimates brand more than two years ago, but she still keeps in touch with some of her best customers. She recalls an angry woman had come into the store to complain that her favorite bra was discontinued. Instead of trying to steer her toward something else, Sax told her she wouldn’t waste her time. Instead, she took her number, and when a similar version of the bra popped up in a collection two seasons later, Sax pre-ord

Jan 6, 2021
6 min

How Revolve Pulled Off Its Pandemic Pivot

Revolve had all the signs of becoming one of the pandemic’s early fashion casualties. The coronavirus reached the US just before the spring festival season, the crowded calendar of concerts and parties that in the previous year helped drive nearly one-third of the Los Angeles-based e-commerce retailer’s annual sales. Coachella, where Revolve hosted dozens of influencers for its own elaborate mini-festivals, was cancelled. Plans for tricked out Hamptons houses and scenic Amang

Jan 6, 2021
4 min

Fashion Preps for the Longest Summer Ever

Consumers are beginning, tentatively, to plan for a post-pandemic world. That means hope for the fashion industry too after months of slow sales. But luxury marketers also face a new, more contagious strain of Covid-19 ravaging Britain and a lag in the global rollout of vaccines, making investments trickier. London’s Heathrow Airport expects to see travellers start taking holidays as early as February. Summer season partying is prepping for an early start too. Universal Music

Dec 23, 2020
1 min

Catering to Consumers’ Demand for a Speedy In-Store Experience

Due to the global pandemic, this year has experienced acceleration across the retail industry in ways no predictions came close to capturing, from unprecedented shifts in consumer behaviors to new standards in-store. According to a new shopper survey from Zebra Technologies, today’s shoppers are leaving stores empty-handed due to finding items out-of-stock, long checkout lines, and an inability to find what they are looking for. Notably, today’s shopper is prioritizing safet

Dec 14, 2020
1 min

Doing the Impossible: Launching a New Product Line During the Holidays

In the latest WWD-produced webinar, Courtney Velasco, industry marketing lead at Oracle NetSuite, and Nathan Newman, cofounder and chief operating officer at Winky Lux, joined WWD executive editor Arthur Zaczkiewicz in discussing new challenges on the global supply chain, building an infrastructure to support sales, and launching a product line during the holidays. Since its conception, Winky Lux has stood out in the market with its joyful messaging, engaging a multigenerati

Dec 11, 2020
1 min

Farfetch Wants to Be the Netflix of Fashion

A year removed from major stock troubles, the aggregator is thriving through the pandemic—and turning itself into a “platform” for shopping. Is that enough to shape the future of fashion? Full Story at GQ Mens Fashion… #onlinesalesgrowth #fashionplatform #onlineshopping #shopping #onlineretail #platform #topstories #fashionretail #retail

Nov 13, 2020
5 min

TikTok Partners with Shopify on Social Commerce

topsatorTikTok is further investing in social commerce with today’s announcement of a new global partnership with e-commerce platform Shopify. The deal aims to make it easier for Shopify’s over 1 million merchants to reach TikTok’s younger audience and drive sales. The partnership will eventually expand to include other in-app shopping features, as well, the companies said. At launch, the agreement allows Shopify merchants to create, run and optimize their TikTok marketing

Nov 4, 2020
5 min

US Luxury Jitters Amid Election Voting

Lockdowns took on a new dimension in the US as retailers brace for a potentially tumultuous election week following Tuesday’s final day of voting by boarding up or shutting down stores, adding security and closing up shop before dark. The shuttering came just as stores head into the crucial holiday season and sparked some worries about another round of hoarding that had not materialised by late in the day on Tuesday. Stores boarding up doors and windows ran the gamut from dis

Nov 4, 2020
4 min

QR Codes and Shielded Santas: How Malls are Updating their Holiday Attractions for the Pandemic Age

Retail has suffered in the last few months, particularly big shopping centers. Malls have seen declining foot traffic, retailers bowing out and an increased consumer preference for e-commerce. While in-store holiday attractions are usually a big draw, this year they may not be enough to convince consumers to risk entering a mall. Westfield’s evp of media sales, Ghadi Hobeika, said that last year’s in-store holiday activations drove a boost in foot traffic. The company hosted

Oct 16, 2020
1 min

As Online Shopping Soars, Product Reviews Takes Holiday Spotlight

When the COVID-19 pandemic caused global shutdowns in March, the effect that it would have on the upcoming holiday shopping season was probably the last thing on anybody’s mind. But with just a blink of an eye, the holiday season is upon us, and COVID-19 is still very much part of our everyday lives. The pandemic forced a rapid pivot in the retail world during slower shopping seasons, which left us wondering just how big of an impact it would make on this year’s holiday shopp

Aug 5, 2020
5 min

Digital Wholesale Marketplaces are Competing for Dwindling Business as Brands Move to DTC

Since March, a consistent theme among fashion brands has been moving away from reliance on wholesale partners, in favor of a setup that favors direct sales. Retailers canceled orders and stores were closed, making wholesale less appealing. But with stores set to open back up and retailers beginning to place more orders, the trade show market has seen platforms competing for what’s left of the wholesale business. Physical trade shows like Coterie have dominated the fashion lan

Aug 5, 2020
2 min

Back-to-School Sales Could Hit a Record $100 Billion This Year, Even if Kids Stay Home

Parents and children alike are facing uncertainty over schools and colleges opening in the fall. It might seem like that would spell bad news for retailers this back-to-school season — but the pandemic is actually expected to boost sales. That’s because remote learning isn’t cheap. The National Retail Federation, the retail industry’s largest trade group, estimates parents with kids in K-12 will spend an average of $790, up from $697 last year, while families with college goi

Aug 5, 2020
4 min

Where People Are Actually Shopping

When Ty Gaskins went shopping in SoHo earlier this month, it was his first time entering a clothing store since the pandemic reached the US in March. He said he felt entirely safe and well taken care of — and that he won’t be doing it again anytime soon. “There’s really no reason to shop right now,” the 23-year-old freelance writer and publicist said. He added that if he hadn’t needed a beach outfit for a last-minute trip to the Hamptons, he wouldn’t have ventured out that da

Aug 5, 2020
3 min

The End of the Department Store Era

When Lord & Taylor filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, along with its owner Le Tote, it became the latest in a long line of department stores recently reporting bad news. The pandemic has only hastened what was already becoming clear: The era of the department store is on its way out. The early signs began in 2018 when Henri Bendel, a department store that had been around for 113 years, shut its doors. Other parts of the retail world were struggling then, but that was the first s

Jul 28, 2020
2 min

LVMH Profits Fall Worse Than Expected In First Half of 2020

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every single industry worldwide, and the fashion industry has been one of the ones hit particularly hard by the virus. Following massive decreases in sales as well as failure to manufacture new collections, many have reported significant losses, including luxury conglomerate LVMH. Following early signs of a negative Q1 and Q2, LVMH confirm that it experienced a 27% decline in revenue in comparison to the same timeframe in 2019. Despi