Morning Brew - ☕ Staying power

An NYC luxury hotel with a thriving retail business.
January 18, 2024

Retail Brew

Bazaarvoice

Good afternoon, Brewers. Once again retail spending exceeded expectations, and this time it was during the holiday shopping season. Sales jumped 0.6% in December (more on this below), per the Census Bureau, and Federal Reserve governor Christopher Wallace said economic activity and the job markets are in “good shape.” Here’s to one more month closer to a “post-inflation” America.

In today’s edition:

—Jeena Sharma, Erin Cabrey, Natasha Piñon

DTC

On The Mark-et

The Mark hotel entrance The Mark

When someone splurges on a luxury hotel, it may be for a variety of reasons: utmost comfort, top-notch service, great restaurants and sometimes even shopping. Well, shopping may not be the priority, but hospitality groups have realized retail plays an essential part in building a spectacular luxury experience.

Over at Manhattan’s The Mark hotel on the Upper East Side, it is a core part of the historic hotel’s strategy, general manager Etienne Haro, told Retail Brew.

Its premier retail outlet, Le Shop, is available online and features a range of monogrammed merchandise such as candles, apparel, perfumes, bathrobes, baseball caps, and even dog sweaters. The items are created exclusively in partnership with luxury retailers, including Lingua Franca for apparel, Frédéric Malle for scent, and La Bottega for its bathroom products, which per Haro are made with certain specifications in mind. “The idea behind them was to make…the healthiest [product] with minimal chemicals…It is very neutral, in terms of scent, but also in terms of the components,” Haro said.

While its merchandise shop is mostly online and doesn’t have a brick-and-mortar location on site, guests of the hotel also have access to a book in their rooms featuring the items. “I would say 50% of the sales are done by in-house guests buying these retail items on site but we don’t have a shop per se,” Haro explained.

However, that doesn’t mean The Mark hasn’t brought its retail business into the physical realm.

Keep reading here.—JS

     

PRESENTED BY BAZAARVOICE

Set your sights on retail heights

Bazaarvoice

Looking to supercharge your e-comm operations this year? Mark your calendars for March 5–6 and attend Bazaarvoice Summit 2024.

Tune in to this free virtual conference to discover new ways to engage customers and grow your retail biz this year and beyond. Here’s a taste of what you’ll experience:

  • Learn: Want practical, useful insights? You got it. Hear from retail trailblazers on how to drive impactful change.
  • Connect: Rub elbows with like-minded professionals, forge new relationships, and swap marketing tips.
  • Inspire: Gain perspective and a new vision to bring back to your team.

Ready to elevate? Save your spot.

STORES

Sale in comparison

Shoppers on escalators in a mall Estherpoon/Getty Images

Solid holiday spending in December gave rise to the biggest monthly US retail sales bump in three months.

US retail sales were up 0.6% to $709.9 billion in December, the Commerce Department reported on Wednesday, a performance that beat economists’ expectations. The uptick was notably above the Consumer Price Index, which increased 0.3% in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week.

Sales increased 5.6% from December 2022, and total sales for 2023 jumped 3.2% year over year. The holiday shopping season of October through December also got a 3.9% bump compared to a year ago.

Nine of the 13 categories covered in the report posted sales increases in December, with department stores delivering the highest monthly rise.

Keep reading here.—EC

     

OPERATIONS

The shape of shipping

Red sea shipping attacks Rob Atherton/Getty Images

The first major supply-chain concern of 2024 is here—and it has been since last year.

Since November 2023, Houthi rebel groups have carried out around two dozen attacks against commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea, jeopardizing a critical trade route, destabilizing the flow of goods, and upping shipping times.

The attacks, which the group claims are an attempt to target vessels tied to Israel, show little sign of stopping. After the US and UK recently launched retaliatory strikes on Houthi targets, a Houthi official warned they’ll “pay a heavy price and bear all the dire consequences” for the move.

In light of the attacks many major shipping groups, including industry leader Maersk, which controls around one-sixth of international container shipping, have rerouted vessels. Now, many shipping companies are relying on the Cape of Good Hope, which takes significantly longer, adding a possible three weeks to shipping times, per Reuters.

Keep reading here on CFO Brew.—NP

     

A MESSAGE FROM IBM

IBM

You can’t spell retail without AI. The retail future is here, and your biz needs to adapt. Ready to unlock the power of AI? We teamed up with IBM to show you how GenAI can boost your biz to heights unrivaled. Give your biz a power up.

SWAPPING SKUS

Today’s top retail reads.

Teen spirit: While most aren’t old enough to drive yet, Gen Alpha already has some purchasing power, and brands in the beauty space like Sephora are making headway in bringing them into the fold. (eMarketer)

The secret sauce: Companies like Macy’s and JC Penney have attempted to catch up to Target in the private label game, but replicating what is understood to be one of the most robust and successful private-label operations takes more than a copycat approach. (Retail Dive)

New tricks: The advertising industry is always focused on the 18–35 demographic, but women influencers over 50 have gained followers and popularity on social media—and brands are starting to take notice. (The Washington Post)

Need retail inspo: Supercharge your e-commerce engine at Bazaarvoice Summit 2024. From March 5–6, hear from retail trailblazers, collaborate with top-tier professionals, and gain insights to grow your biz. Register here.*

*A message from our sponsor.

NUMBERS GAME

The numbers you need to know.

The dynamics of the retail labor market have shifted dramatically in the past year, as demand for workers has dropped and worker attitudes toward employers appear to have slightly soured.

In Q3, retail job postings reached their lowest levels since 2008, as demand for retail workers dropped almost 29% in the six months prior, according to Lotis Blue Consulting’s Future of Retail Workforce Study, which surveyed more than 1,000 retail workers.

  • Since halfway through 2022, Lotis found that there’s an 8% increase in retail workers staying in their current jobs, but there’s also a 7% bump in those who are considering leaving theirs.
  • The largest contributing factors to whether or not a retail worker stays or leaves their position include job and work environment (24%), the company (20%), leadership and culture (16%), and compensation (13%).

“Even with changing labor conditions and issues, the data is comprehensive enough to predict an employee’s decision to stay or leave an employer with 87% accuracy,” Aaron Sorensen, Lotis Blue Consulting partner and study author, said in a statement. “And in order to hold onto valued employees, we’ve observed that retailers must simultaneously provide an environment where there are more factors that make workers want to stay, and fewer that make them want to quit.”

JOBS

Are you looking for your next career opportunity (either a full-time role or a seat on a board of directors)? View hundreds of confidential jobs in the retail industry on ExecThread. Retail Brew subscribers can skip the application review and instantly join ExecThread for free.

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