STORES

Let's go

The closest thing to a live-action Lego movie might just be on a New York City block. 

Lego’s new NYC flagship, a project that was put on the back burner thanks to the pandemic, opens today. We got a sneak peek, and the toy company’s brick and mortar strategy is clear: experiential retail, of course.

Press play: The two-story, 7,175-square-foot space is full of...you guessed it...Legos. The first floor is decked out with a full-size NYC taxi made of Legos, plus the Statue of Liberty, the Hulk, and an 880,000-block “Tree of Discovery” centerpiece. It’s also outfitted with interactive elements for kids and parents, such as... 

• Brick Lab, a virtual reality room where kids immerse themselves in different Lego worlds. (It costs $15, so budget accordingly, parents.)
• Designing your own Lego character in the store’s Minifigure Factory. Or opt for a digital version via Mosaic Maker, a photo booth that Lego-izes your image. 

Travis Blue, Lego’s VP of retail in the Americas, told Retail Brew the company’s experiential stores focus on four things: creation, design, personalization, and play. 

• "If we have someone who is looking at the Mosaic Maker, they may have all the expert sets, but they’re like, 'I’ve never done something for me,'" Blue said. “So now for the first time, they’re actually doing a portrait of themselves. That creates the conversion.”

Building blocks: All the interactive pieces of the new format are modular, so they can be replicated. 

• Lego Group plans to open 120 stores in 2021, which will feature elements of the NYC flagship. 
• Existing stores will also be upgraded, and even third-party retailers can join the fun.

Not everyone is going to walk out with a new set of bricks, and that’s OK. The playful nature of the store builds the brand, Maddie Michalik, senior editor for Toy Insider, told us. 

• “The fact that people are immersing themselves in all the experiences Lego put in this flagship store—that’s almost just as valuable,” she said. “It might serve as a chain reaction for more people to want to come.” 

Zoom out: Experiential retail can make sense post-pandemic. This also applies to toys, Michalik told Retail Brew, despite the e-comm boom. “As much as the industry has relied on online sales last year, I think that brick and mortar will not go away, especially when we’re talking about experiential retail.”—KM

E-COMM

That's a wrap

Well, folks, we survived another Prime Day. 

Did we *need* a new waffle maker? No. But it was 50% off...and that’s how we explain Amazon selling 250+ million items to Prime members worldwide this week.

Record-keeping: E-comm sales in the US exceeded $11 billion during Prime Day 2021—the biggest one yet—per Adobe Analytics data, and up 6.1% YoY. But according to Numerator, American shoppers spent less per order than in the previous two years.

• The average Amazon order was $47.14 for the first 32 hours of the sales event, down from $54.64 in 2020 and $58.91 in 2019.

Chalk it up to the pandemic: “We've become more trigger happy with smaller e-commerce orders,” Holden Bale, group vice president and head of commerce at Huge, told Retail Brew. “This behavior was reinforced by Covid: rushing to get a delivery slot...refreshing to see inventory constantly disappearing.” 

Prime time for…Amazon’s third-party sellers. They had their “biggest two-day period ever,” the e-comm giant said in a statement—and even outpaced Amazon’s own retail biz.

• that no specific numbers were shared, but we do know third-party sales topped $3.5 billion during Prime Day 2020. 

Now what? Between Memorial Day, Prime Day and July 4 around the corner, the discounts are nonstop—and shoppers know it. 

• “It's going to be even more important [for retailers to] make these sales events interesting and viable,” Adobe’s Senior Digital Insights Manager Vivek Pandya told Retail Brew. 

“As a retailer, you have to make a real decision about whether you want to switch to an 'always-on' promotional model [or] whether you want to stick to one major window,” Bale noted.—JG

SPONSORED BY ROUTE

The Insurance That Ensures Customer Loyalty

There’s nothing worse than receiving a damaged package. Actually, correction: There’s nothing worse than receiving a damaged package without package protection. 

That’s why Route offers premium order protection that keeps packages safe and automates customer claims. When it comes to lost, stolen, and damaged packages, Route does the heavy lifting for you (pun intended).

And considering that 87% of shoppers are more loyal to a brand that quickly remedies loss, it pays in more ways than one to protect your customers and your bottom line with Route.

A better post-purchase experience is just a click away. 

Set up a free demo with Route to get started. 

DIVERSITY

Best bets

Best Buy plans to invest $1.2 billion through 2025 to diversify its business operations and offer more resources to BIPOC suppliers. 

Share the love: The goal is to increase representation across all aspects of Best Buy’s operations—from supply chain to advertising. 

• On the latter, “nearly” 10% of Best Buy’s annual media spend will go to BIPOC companies by 2025, and the company aims to feature diverse actors in 30% of its paid ads.

Best Buy will also offer cash and resources to VC firms looking to boost diversity in tech in an effort to combat “systemic disadvantages.”  

“We’re at a critical point in our history,” Mark Irvin, Best Buy’s chief inclusion, diversity, and talent officer, said during a keynote at NRF Retail Converge on Monday. “Not too long ago, supply chain management went from infrastructure to strategy. How our customers and employees experience diversity and inclusion has become the same kind of thing.” 

The big picture: Companies have made plenty of promises to support BIPOC businesses over the past year. But as we detailed this week, Black founders feel more should be done. 

• “There's a lot more action-oriented support that needs to happen to create more accessibility,” Denise Woodard, founder of Partake Foods, told Retail Brew.—KM

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING…

• Amazon and Google face a UK investigation for not doing enough to combat fake reviews.
• Amazon also faces a Teamsters union vote to organize its massive workforce. 
• Nike reported record-breaking revenue in North America.
• Goat Group is now valued at $3.7 billion after it raised a $195 million Series F.

SPONSORED BY ADROLL

Not your grandpa’s pocket calc. AdRoll’s Return on Ad Spend Calculator makes smart recommendations on maximizing the effects of your ad budget. Safe to say this baby does way more than long division: AdRoll drew upon data from their work with more than 120,000 brands to create a key tool in your marketing toolbox. Try it now.

SWAPPING SKUS

Today’s top retail reads. 

Going public. Welcome to the post-Covid IPO boom. Allbirds is the latest DTC disruptor to (reportedly) confidentially file to go public, following Warby Parker this week. (WWD)

The end of ownership. Monthly subscriptions let Peloton keep you from ever really owning your own equipment. (Vox)

Winner, winner. Brands are using gamified loyalty programs to reward shoppers and drive sales. It’s working. (BoF)

EVENTS

We’re a few days away from Retail Brew’s The Checkout event with Warby Parker’s cofounder and co-CEO, Dave Gilboa. If you haven’t completed your (free) registration for the event on Tuesday, June 29 at 1:30pm ET, maybe you should? Especially if:

1. You want to learn how the pandemic shifted the way frontline workers operate.
2. You want to know what’s in store for Warby Parker’s new brick and mortar shops.

RSVP right here to guarantee your spot and share your questions for Dave. Can’t wait to see you!

FRIEND OR FAUX?

It’s officially summer, but don’t let the heat cloud your judgment. Can you spot the obviously faux headline below?

1. Kanye West is suing Walmart for allegedly selling fake Yeezys. 
2. Ralph Lauren is collabing with A&W to create a clothing line. 
3. A DNA lab test found Subway’s tuna does not actually contain tuna. 
4. Chanel has created a $2,700 AirPods case that doubles as a necklace. 

Keep reading for the answer.

ICYMI 

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

• Black-owned businesses reflect on a year in the spotlight
• Secondhand market expected to double to $77 billion by 2025: ThredUp report
• What retailers need to know to turn heads on TikTok

FRIEND OR FAUX? ANSWER

No, Ralph Lauren is not collabing with A&W.