Retail Rundown: Tech angle on the Saks acquisition and a look at Travel, Fashion & Entertainment
Trend spotting this week: from Amazon's interest in Saks + Neimans, travel, fashion & entertainment, fishing for jewelry and the vanity case bring travel + fashion full circle.
The Rundown:
Saks + Neimans Merger: The Tech Angle
Why Amazon?
Amazon's investment could be a strategic move to gain access to the luxury consumer market, which has been challenging for them. The Luxury Stores platform has made some in roads with Beauty, but high-end fashion labels haven’t been as eager to commit and grow on Amazon.
This could be a way for Amazon to indirectly list luxury brands on their platform, as these brands have been reluctant to sell directly on Amazon. This also helps Amazon gather data on the luxury market and work incredibly closely with the key players. The marketplace has really taken off for Target and Walmart (remember The Row and Hermés showing up on Walmart’s marketplace site earlier this year? Here from Dazed and here from Highsnobiety.)
Salesforce is a minority investor too:
While less prominent than Amazon joining in, Salesforce is likely to provide cloud-based commerce solutions to enhance the digital shopping experience. This ensures that Salesforce will get the business vs competitors like SAP, Oracle, Shopify etc.
Combined Amazon and Salesforce : involvement will likely improve data collection and analysis capabilities for the luxury retailers.
This could lead to more personalized shopping experiences and targeted marketing. I’d like to see improved discovery across the site, improved search capabilities and this can also help optimize the backend operationally for getting goods to customers who order online or when a local store is out but another location has in stock.
More Articles to read:
An Op-Ed posted on Bloomberg and Business of Fashion “Op-Ed | Let Temu Keep the Cheap Stuff. Amazon Should Go Luxe.”
From Evan Clark for WWD “Why Is Amazon Investing in Saks + Neiman’s?”
From Lauren Sherman’s The Line Sheet for Puck News “On to the Saks-Neiman’s Merger” (And thank you for the shout-out Lauren! This was a huge surprise and delight. Puck yeah!) It is probably a surprise to no-one that I read every Line Sheet email the moment it hits my inbox. Subscribe and listen to the Fashion People podcast too. Tuesday’s will be a great one with Marisa Meltzer.
Still want more? I’ve been updating on Instagram with quick take aways and reels.
What you thought:
Yikes! Looking like 57% of respondents haven’t been shopping in Department Stores and I’m not surprised. There is still time to share your thoughts on Department Stores from my Sunday Substack send and I’ll create some more relevant insights as it looks like we want to chat about Department Stores more. I just ordered “When Women Ran Fifth Avenue” by Julie Satow and will share more thoughts soon.
Retail & Travel
Business of Fashion wrote about summer travel driving fashion & retail spending again this summer.
I think the social sharing of travel last summer drove more desire for a summer of travel this year. I’m thrilled to see brands get on board with this trend and take advantage of it in bigger ways. Think Jacquemus in Saint Tropez, Dioriveria, Larroudé partnership with the Rosewood Hotels and La Plage AMI at Galeries Lafayette.
Taylor Swift Era’s Tour is helping too, although we can bucket this into wanting to spend money on experiences also. A triple win for travel, experiences and entertainment.
All of this leads nicely into our next item…
Retail Entertainment
Rachel Tashjian’s latest piece for the Washington Post “The Marvelization of Fashion” (gift link to read behind paywall)
Shift from product to story/narrative in retail and fashion. The example of a store not selling a product to a customer (who wanted to buy them) but reserving for influencers…who could then sell a product back to the customer or at least make the customer want the shoes (but would then possibly be sold out) is wild!
Fashion as entertainment:
Fashion industry is aligning more closely with the entertainment world. In a lot of ways this make sense. With social media we are able to watch fashion shows the moment they start. Previously you would wait for WWD or style.com to publish the images. I follow fashion and retail like many people follow sports (and if you are reading Retail Diary you likely do too.) I know “who is being traded” and watch/read journalists like they are sports casters.
Luxury conglomerates are buying or creating entertainment companies (LVMH & CAA)
According to Tashjian, brands are treating their products like characters in a movie franchise. In this way I also think the differentiation between fashion and “merch” has become very confusing and overlaps greatly.
Sometimes, celebrity collaborations and viral moments are prioritized over product design.
The disconnect between marketing and merchandise:
Finding basic, quality clothing items (priced appropriately) has become increasingly difficult.
Marketing stunts (like Gap's Anne Hathaway dress) can boost stock prices but may not solve underlying product issues. I’m still curious to see what happens when this dress ships to customers. For an example of marketing moves and strategy that has helped turn around a company’s business, take a look at Abercrombie & Fitch.
I can make an argument that I want both. I love fashion shows that tell a story and drive desire for a brand. Marketing, both ads and editorials in magazines and from creators, that entertain and inspire me. But at the end of the day, I love functional clothing where the quality and price work in tandem - and ultimately as a customer I want to be able to afford the clothing but invest in fashion and accessories that bring me joy and work for my life.
Beauty News
Laneige launched a new “sleep mask” product. Laneige Bouncy & Firm Eye Sleeping Mask $32 for a 0.7 oz jar. I love the Lip Sleeping Mask so I am intrigued to try (and see if I love as much as my current favorite eye serum) and excited to see them expanding the “sleep mask” pillar. Instead of pushing in store or online purchasing, they are driving most engagement to the Sephora app vs their own DTC site and it isn’t available at Sephora online/in store yet. What is interesting to note:
Laneige has their own DTC site and the product is also available there. But they are leaning in to marketing around the Sephora app. Could be due to needing to drive app sales for this brand? I’m speculating. Build app engagement or maybe the app has the strongest conversion rate and there isn’t shelf space to add to the floor set until a later date.
A more controlled launch environment and perhaps less spend on marketing efforts by focusing on one channel for Sephora. Maybe a testing ground too before a larger release or limited inventory.
Could Sephora be limiting new eye serum launches to not impact other brands?
Sephora also does a solid job of trying to keep up with marketing collateral in store, which is impressive for a retailer of this size. See below - when I was in store recently they had a sign directing customers to shop product that wasn’t available on the shelf to online for free shipping (great customer service if your inventory is out, but ideally you don’t want to be out.) If you are curious, this is the product that was OOS1. I’m a huge fan of Tower28 lip glosses - Sesame is my favorite shade.
Trend Spotting…🎯
Angling for some new jewelry trends? A whole school of fish jewelry:
This gold charm necklace has 2 antique gold plated fish with glass pearl eyes
Add this under $50 fish charm to a cord or a necklace you already wear and love.
Sydney Evans earrings are luxe, subtle and lovely.
Tory Burch had a bunch of great earrings this season. All sold out on her site, but you can still reel a pair in here. (I love puns too much to stop. Sorry not sorry.)
Latest version of east-west bags, the even mini-er Vanity Cases. Many of the trending versions are in the east-west silhouette. This style is great to travel with because it can do double duty as a cosmetic bag and then take it out as your evening bag. Possibly a reason why we are seeing even more pop in street style photos this time of year - also a lighter bag for summer.
This popular mini (cosmetic case) from Longchamp is $70.99 during the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. A great bag to also tuck into a larger bag.
There is nothing like a classic Chanel.
Love the pop of red in this elegant Ferragamo.
JW Pei has a new vegan leather style and their site utilizes a buy more save more to bundle and get 20% of a purchase of 2.
I shared this Savette on Sunday - she’s gorgeous!
🛍️ Quick note: I write a lot (too much good stuff to share!) so if you’re reading via email only, you may need to click through to the web version or read on the Substack app. I promise it will be worth it. 🛍️
Fashion PSA
Donni Summer drop III drops today: Sarah10 for 10% off at Donni. My favorites currently include: the t-shirts, the silky simple pant and the rib kick flare. I love their lounge pants and looking forward to the new scallop version in drop III.
Tuckernuck: extra 20% off Sale items, up to 70% off. Use code: HEATWAVE. I have my eye on this nautical Rue de Verneuil, I have and love these Mother jeans, love Little Liffner bags and we discussed red pants as a moment here..
Lunya - my favorite pajamas from them are this t-shirt set and this tank set*. The new stripe sets look great and feel very Italian coast travel inspired. Get 15% off with code retaildiary
La Ligne new delivery. I love this new Aria set and the silky Colby pant that quickly sold out is back - and in red! I’ve been living in this easy t-shirt dress*. 10% off your first order with code SarahS10
Hill House Home July Capsule launches today (July 9th) with some fun sets, a new version of my favorite Cosima dress and eyelets.
Heads up - Skims bi-annual sale begins Wednesday July 10th.
What’s Next 🗓️
I’ll be back Thursday with a Deep Dive on the latest launches, collabs, store openings/pop-ups, retail industry news and more.
A quick note and thank you to all the new subscribers here. I’m thrilled you found Retail Diary! In addition to being a retail obsessive & trend researcher, I’m proud to partner with top retail brands as a consultant. My areas of expertise include:
Merchandising Strategy: translating design & merchandise product vision into commercial, high-margin revenue plans.
Pricing Strategy: develop competitive and profitable pricing structures to optimize assortments and support business goals.
Content Strategy: driving sales, brand awareness and consumer engagement through differentiated content on Instagram and Substack.
Go-To-Market Strategy: Launching brands from the ground-up; creating value proposition and brand story through merchandise.
Competitive Analysis: Uncovering market gaps through consumer research and knowledge of the industry.
Let’s discuss how we can drive growth, discovery and engagement for your brand. To start the conversation, book a 15 minute discovery call with me here.
Previous Retail Diary posts to catch up on:
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Items marked with * have been kindly gifted by brands. Thoughts, selections, and reviews are my own.
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OOS = Out of Stock
Zoe from First Rodeo shared a Claire V. fish necklace recently and it feels in line with the trend. I am a fan :) https://1strodeo.substack.com/p/no-matter-who-you-voted-for-you-had