E-COMM

The Singles Day Lead Is Already Taken

Singles Day, China’s largest shopping holiday, technically starts on November 11. But the next installment of the Alibaba-fronted shopping festival is already en route to breaking its own sales records. 

The details: Since “on time” is late for 2020 holiday scheduling, Alibaba bumped up the start of Singles Day promotions to a two-day preview last week. The results, the company said, are a sign that consumer spending is on the rebound.

• 100+ brands including Adidas, Estée Lauder, and Nike generated $15 million in gross merchandise volume within the first 111 minutes of the preview.
• Shoppers with more to spend gravitated toward video commerce: 770,000 shoppers tuned in to a shoppable Cartier livestream. 

It’s only getting bigger. More than two million products are slated to debut during the main event Wednesday—double the amount offered last year. Nearly 200 luxury brands alone are participating. 

Imitation stuck at flattery

U.S. retailers see Singles Day and want a slice for themselves. The event generated $38.4 billion in 24 hours in 2019, far outpacing Prime Day. 

But it’s not that easy. In October, Coresight Research and a mystery box of retail brands hosted 10.10 Day, a shopping festival mixing discounts and charitable giving. The final result resembled my last attempt at a 500-piece puzzle —a valiant effort, but a lot was missing.  

• Fewer than 60 brands participated; only one (Guess) had a global presence. 
• Participating brands said the event increased brand awareness...but I’m guessing it wasn’t much, because official figures weren’t released. 

Bottom line: Singles Day didn’t hit $30+ billion in sales overnight, but it significantly outperformed other festivals in its first go-round. Any U.S. shopping extravaganza that hopes to replicate its scale needs buy-in from more (and bigger) retailers.

REAL ESTATE

Survival of the A-List

The good news: Mall owner Brookfield Properties believes a recovery is in sight for many of its shopping centers. The bad news: It’ll take more retail Darwinism to get there. 

On Friday, the mall operator reported that key metrics trended up and to the right in Q3: 

• Foot traffic returned to around 70% of pre-pandemic levels and most stores reopened. 
• Sales at luxury, fashion, and jewelry tenants rose between 13% and 36%. 

Still, only ~75% of tenants made rent last quarter, resulting in a $135 million hit. So Brookfield’s making further cuts following a 20% retail headcount reduction in September. CEO Brian Kingston said underperformers from its roster of 170+ malls could soon close to focus on high-end, centrally located properties. 

Why it matters: We’re no longer wondering whether malls will survive at all, but which malls could make Jeff Probst proud. 

• Malls in urban, affluent areas are proving more resilient, while malls without wealthy customers have lost steam.
• Case in point: Two heavyweights in the so-called “B class,” CBL Properties and Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT), both filed for bankruptcy last week.

SPONSORED BY MAGENTO

Keep Them Coming Back

If you want your customers to be more “repeat” and less “one-and-done,” you need the power of Magento Commerce. They help you create engaging, shoppable experiences that will have customers rushing back time and time again.

And sure, we’re a reputable source, but Adobe (Magento) has been identified by Gartner as a leader in its latest report, the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce. This thing is a must-read for any digital commerce expert. 

So sure, we can tell you that Magento Commerce has a global partner ecosystem and extensions marketplace. And that they can help you take control of your storefront with unique templates.

But Gartner does it all so much better in their report. It’s basically e-commerce poetry.

Magento is so proud to be included that they’re giving you Gartner’s report right here.

Read all about why Adobe (Magento) was recognized in the Magic Quadrant here.

TECH

No One’s More Shelf-Aware Than Amazon

After releasing some of the flashiest retail tech around—self scanning carts! Palm payments!—Amazon’s scaling back to address a simpler pain point for retailers: Counting. 

The details: Amazon quietly released “Dash Smart Shelf,” a wi-fi enabled shelving system that tells users when they’re due for a TP restock. 

• When the shelf senses inventory’s low, it sends users a notification to hit “reorder” or auto-replenish. 
• Dash Smart Shelf is geared toward small and medium businesses, but anyone with a pantry can buy the system. 

The tool puts Amazon in competition with Staples and Office Depot, where businesses can buy subscriptions for items that disappear the same day they’re ordered (paper towels, K-Cups, more paper towels). Those subscriptions are purely B2B—and they don’t come with their own tech.

Looking ahead...I wouldn’t be surprised if Amazon expanded its suite of Dash tools for retailers to include in-store and warehouse shelves, so all those grocers stockpiling supplies can count for themselves. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• VF Corp, owner of Vans and The North Face, will acquire Supreme for $2.1 billion.
• McDonald’s' plan for sales growth: more celebrity collabs, more chicken, and a loyalty program.
• Petco confidentially filed for an IPO.
• Kroger and H-E-B are limiting the number of essential products shoppers can buy.

HOT TOPIC

At the mall, it’s where cult classics are classic classics. In Retail Brew, it’s where we break down a trending topic in the industry—and ask for your take. 

My timeline's resembling a wraparound line in SoHo, because everyone's talking about Supreme. The immediate reaction to its $2.1 billion acquisition by VF Corp was...mixed.

• On paper, Supreme's origins in skate culture make it an ideal sibling for brands like Vans.
• But Supreme's hard-to-find rep could disappear in the fine print: As journalist Matthew Schneier pointed out, Supreme only has 12 stores worldwide, while VF Corp brands fill malls all over the place.

Another observation: "The Carlyle Group just became the biggest Supreme reseller of all time," Outfitgrid operator Dennis Todisco wrote.

Your turn. Do you think VF Corp is the right home for Supreme? If not, where should it have gone? What was going on with this investor deck? The inbox is open for your hot takes.

SWAPPING SKUS

Some of the most devastating small business stories I read this weekend came from Paris. Warning: study abroad nostalgia ahead. 

• Bouquinistes (open-air booksellers) have lined the Seine River since the 16th century. Without tourists, the centuries-old enterprise hangs by a thread. (NYT)
• Shakespeare and Company sent a dire message to fans around the world on Friday: Buy a book, or we’ll shutter. (AP)

ICYMI

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

• Alibaba and Richemont to Invest $1.1 Billion in Luxury Marketplace Farfetch
• The Sweatpants Economy Left Hanes Behind
• After the Election, Retailers Braced for Consumer Spending Slowdown