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Consumer investor Mags Kala used to work at Bain Capital, helping out big brand names like Shea Moisture and Virgin Voyages. But one day she decided to leave it all behind and strike it out on her own. After about a year of going solo, she's become especially keen on Web3 space. On this week's episode of the Modern Retail Podcast, Kala explained how and why she made the jump.
The pandemic made setting store floors in-person harder, so Vans pivoted towards a digital visualization process to create consistent merchandising experiences across its 500-plus U.S. stores. Paul Rupert, visual merchandising manager for elevated retail at Vans, talked about how the brand went about this change.
Big CPG has been aggressively pushing into plant-based grocery products the past year. Many of these efforts are increasingly coming from partnerships with the likes of Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods and Hungry Planet.
Fast fashion retailers including H&M, Zara and Uniqlo are beginning to grow beyond pre-pandemic levels. This is happening while digital disruptors like Shein continued to gain steam throughout the past year.
Madison Avenue's Business Improvement District (BID) has been looking to drive consumers back to its shops and increasingly digitizing a famously brick-and-mortar shopping experience. In December, the BID released a new multi-brand loyalty app across its tenants and, going forward, is working to build a multi-brand digital experience in appointment booking and events.
This week, Stitch Fix launched a marketing campaign this week featuring tennis star Venus Williams. The company's goal is to get people to think of Stitch Fix as a go-to place to pick up a new pair of workout leggings or a dress for a party. But as Stitch Fix wants to be more things to more people, it remains to be seen how well the company can move beyond its core styling service.
This week, Nike and Lululemon were the latest retailers to enact shortened store hours at select locations, with Lululemon lowering its fourth quarter earnings and revenue expectations due to the Omicron variant. The two retailers join Starbucks, Macy's, Walmart, and Apple on the list of retailers temporarily closing locations or reducing hours due to staffing shortages and Covid-19 safety concerns.
According to Fabiola Torres, CMO and svp of PepsiCo's energy drinks category -- which includes big brands like Rockstar -- the energy drink renaissance is about finding who the core customer is. Her focus, she said on the Modern Retail Podcast is to "really go deep into storytelling, making sure that our products continue to get better and better."
After a sales lull in the first half of 2021, grocery revenues in the second half of the year rose. There were a few reasons why: inflation, a new coronavirus variant and retailers' investments in their most loyal customers.
Walgreens is posting growth in sales of beauty products after rethinking its approach to the category. The pharmacy chain recently reported a rise in beauty and personal care comp sales. Experts said the company is also trying to capitalize on the increased foot traffic generated by vaccines through broader digital investments in its app and loyalty program.
Last week, both Target and Walmart released new home organization collections, betting on continued strength in the home category. Walmart is investing in the space via a partnership with the Netflix-backed home organizing duo, The Home Edit. Target, meanwhile, is launching a new private label, Brightroom, to meet its customers' home organization needs.
Timberland is launching Timberloop, a new circular sustainability program in which customers can donate old items to be fixed and resold or recycled. The program is one step for the brand to reach its goal of full product circularity by 2030.
Even with the e-commerce boom, value footwear retailers DSW and Shoe Carnival aren't losing sight of the importance of their brick and mortar footprints after a recent rebound in sales. Both companies are modernizing their existing stores with the addition of shop-in-shops, digital signage and services for kids.
In late December, Crocs bought Hey Dude Shoes, a brand of casual canvas boat shoes and sneakers for a whopping $2.5 billion. Crocs' CEO Andrew Rees explained the addition of Hey Dude would help Crocs break into new footwear categories and become the second largest player in casual footwear.
Next, which owns about 500 stores in the U.K. and Ireland and 190 franchised stores in 36 countries, reported on Thursday that it increased its full year profit guidance before tax by £22 million to £822 million, up 9.8% versus two years ago. The retailer said it is generating substantial growth from its online marketplace for third-party brands.
Big CPG has been aggressively pushing into plant-based grocery products the past year. Many of these efforts are increasingly coming from partnerships with the likes of Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods and Hungry Planet.
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