WORKFORCE

What If We Don't Go Back?

We’ve made it through 60+ quar editions of Retail Brew without pulling the WFH forever thread. But a new report from CNN inserts our corner of the business world into the debate dominated by tech firms this summer. 

What happened: Corporate L’Oréal employees told CNN the beauty giant is requiring workers to return to their offices, despite concerns about the coronavirus’s spread. Employees fear retribution, aka pink slips, if they don’t comply.

• L’Oréal documents obtained by CNN say the company is requiring face coverings and temperature checks for all employees when they return to the office.
• But some employees say returning now is too soon: Internal meetings are still virtual, and many clients are still working remotely. 

L’Oréal’s response: In a statement to CNN, the company said “being together” is essential to its business, and it’s been complying with local policies to refill its cubicles. 

The bigger picture 

Until now, retailers’ biggest—and most public—workforce debates focused on their stores: whether to require masks or how to compensate essential workers. 

All the while, corporate workers who made it through furloughs and layoffs unscathed awaited their own workplace verdict. In a May Retail Brew survey, 71% of corporate retail readers we surveyed said they were working remotely. So far, no two retailers are taking the same return approach.

• Estée Lauder told CNN it’s targeting an October return date for its corporate employees...but that could be pushed back.
• Coty employees can voluntarily head back to their offices. 
• Shopify broke ranks by declaring all of its 5,000 employees can WFH permanently moving forward.  

How corporate sees it: Managers are tired of dealing with employees’ spotty home wi-fi and paying rent for gleaming, empty offices. Apparel and beauty brands have had to MacGyver distanced strategies for sourcing and sampling product materials or fitting items on models.

• But I’ve seen enough stunning campaigns shot via Zoom to know there are creative workarounds for at least some WFH problems. 

Plus...in an era when retailers’ actions are more scrutinized than ever, appearing to deliver an ultimatum between health and employment begs for a massive backlash.  

Audience participation: How do you think corporate retailers should adjust their remote work policies? Cast your vote here.

E-COMM

Ralph Lauren's Bit by Bit Digital Strategy

Ralph Lauren’s pivoting from dressing runway models to dressing avatars in a new Snapchat partnership. Here’s how it works: 

• Snapchat users can buy up to 12 Ralph Lauren “pieces” for their Bitmoji (customizable, full-body emojis) within the app.
• Ralph Lauren will sell the physical versions of its Snapchat designs in its online store...but not directly on the app.  

Bitmoji rowing blazers are the latest form of virtual fashion to arrive during quarantine. With stores closed and fashion week in flux, designers have turned to games like Animal Crossing to showcase new products from a distance. 

RL’s desperate for digital sales. Just after Ralph Lauren’s polo pony turned a restructuring corner, the pandemic sent Q1 revenue down 66% to $487 million in its latest earnings report. And lockdown hasn’t helped its digital presence stateside: Ralph Lauren’s North American e-comm sales grew only 3% during the quarter. 

My takeaway: Ralph Lauren’s Bitmoji tie-in likely won’t reverse its digital fortunes, but it could be a fertile testing ground for future virtual fashion developments.

SPONSORED BY ORACLE NETSUITE

The Great Unification

You’ve got all this inventory data. And all this financial data. So, Oracle NetSuite would like to know, why aren’t you keeping them in the same system? 

We don’t mean to be frank, but the changes in the retail landscape are coming fast and, if we may, furiously. The more your data is unified, the better. 

Better how? Better in a way that lets you make inventory purchasing, allocation, sales forecasting, and budgeting decisions based on cold, hard, beautiful facts.

NetSuite has put all this info in an equally beautiful white paper. Where you’ll learn how to:

• Free up finance and operations’ time so they can focus on strategic projects and analysis
• Improve accuracy of financials and reduce processing costs
• Simplify the launch of new business models in ways that can scale

The best and brightest retail brands have begun The Great Unification. 

Let NetSuite’s white paper show you the way.

E-COMM

Big Delivery Energy

Introducing DashMart, DoorDash’s virtual convenience chain for serial milk forgetters. DashMarts are dark stores stocking roughly 2,000 grocery and household items for 30-minute delivery across eight cities. 

• Each DashMart will carry a mix of national food brands and local CPDs (consumer packaged delicacies) for order through the DoorDash app.
• Ideally, DashMart will replace trips to IRL stores for high frequency or forgotten one-off purchases, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu told CNBC.

Well, isn’t this convenient? 

During quarantine, DoorDash has collected delivery partners the way I’ve collected jigsaw puzzles. 1,800 convenience stores and pharmacies joined DoorDash's delivery network in April. 

DashMart’s different. With its launch, DoorDash is the first delivery service to source and manage its own delivery inventory—which is a higher margin biz than playing middleman to 7-Eleven. 

Long-term, I predict DashMart will...

• Become an attractive wholesale outlet for new CPG brands based in its current cities. 
• Encourage rival delivery services, like InstaCart or Postmates, to bypass big box deals and open their own dark stores.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Topicals, a DTC skincare line, launches today.
• Etsy sold $346 million of DIY face masks in Q2. 
• Adidas’s e-comm sales grew 93% in Q2, but the brand still posted a nearly $400 million loss.
• H&M suspended employees who used a racist slur in a product name. 
• Yankee Candle is launching a subscription program.
• Spirit Halloween still plans on reopening its 1,400 franchise locations this fall.

SPONSORED BY KLARNA

How to win at retail in Q4? Know what customers want before you stock the shelves. To help you do that, Klarna, the leading global payments and shopping platform, is hosting the virtual event of the (pre) holiday season. RSVP to their Virtual Smoooth Session: Holiday Oasis on August 12th at 11:30 EST, where you’ll get insights on how customers will shop—and what they want to buy. All the details for a very merry Q4 are right here.

SWAPPING SKUS

Read about the sparkliest linear commerce empire you haven’t heard of yet, built by former Dance Moms personality/YouTube star JoJo Siwa and her very large hair bows. (Not Boring)

Listen to Italic founder Jeremy Cai explain how Italic pivoted to a membership-only model...and how it could deliver on all the quality and cost promises other DTC brands broke. (Future Commerce)  

Subscribe to Found Objects, a new monthly-ish newsletter from Lerer Hippeau content lead Natalie Sportelli. The first issue hasn’t hit inboxes yet, but following Sportelli’s Twitter insights tells me her emails about brand building and growth will be .

FRIEND OR FAUX?

Brands love to brag about devoted customers, and outlets around the internet love to cover them. Your challenge: Pick out the item-with-a-cult-following headline that didn’t happen. 

1. Boomers are obsessed with organic toilet paper.
2. TikTok teens love $10 Walmart jeans.
3. German fox hoards Crocs.
4. Millennial women are only wearing nap dresses.

ICYMI

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• Expert Predictions for Back to School Season
• Major Brands Partner With the Black in Fashion Council
• How to Successfully Pivot a Brand Launch, According to Founders 

FRIEND OR FAUX? ANSWER

1. Nope, I haven’t seen any Boomers rallying behind 100% sustainable TP. But while I’m on a roll, here’s an informative guide to the world of toilet paper startups.