An average of 30% of all online apparel purchases are returned, compared with only 8.9% of those made in physical stores, according to Shopify.
Considering the profit crushing costs of last mile deliveries this season, retailers are hoping that virtual fitting rooms will help consumers find their correct size.
FINANCE
Alibaba (China) enjoyed record sales of 540.3 billion yuan ($84.5 billion) in gross merchandise volume (GMV) during its Singles Day shopping extravaganza.
- Combined with JD.com’s $54.6 billion, GMV reached a record 889 billion yuan ($139.3 billion), an 8.5% gain over last year.
- Electronics, cosmetics, personal care and pet supplies were amongst the top selling categories.
Marks & Spencer (UK) is closing in on a return to the FTSE 100 as a long-awaited turnaround in its clothing business gains pace and it rebounds to profitability following pandemic losses.
- M&S reported a profit of £187 million ($250.8 million) for the first six months of the financial year (from an £88 billion loss last year) on the back of a £1 billion increase in revenue from 2020.
- M&S upgraded its forecast for annual profits by £150 million to £500 million (US$670.7 million).
Richemont (Switzerland) is in talks with Farfetch and others to invest in its luxury fashion website Yoox Net-a-Porter.
- Half-year results showed that Yoox Net-a-Porter had stayed firmly in the red despite sales rising by more than a third to £1.1 billion ($1.5 billion).
- Richemont’s overall company sales hit £7.6 billion ($10.2 billion) in the six months to the end of September, up 63% from 2020 and around 20% higher than in 2019.
Dillards (USA) reported Q3 net income surged 500% to $197.3 million. Sales rose 47% year-on-year and 9% from 2019 to $1.46 billion. Same-store sales were up 12% over 2019.
Global Brands Group is winding down, following a bankruptcy filing of its U.S. business in July.
- Earlier this month the company said it faced serious liquidity issues.
- The company has been trying for over a year to sell off assets and stabilize its business.
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How to Combine Data + Marketing to 10X Your Sales
In this episode data marketing expert Joanne Persico, President of ONEcount, shares how we can marry our customer data with marketing objectives to drive more sales:
- 6 Pillars for Rethinking How You Work with Your Customer Data
- How B2B Companies Can Use Customer Data Like Big Tech Does (in other words, Steal a Page from their B2C Playbook)
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RETAIL
Primark (UK) is planning to open more than 100 new shops over the next five years, as it pushes into the US, France, Italy and Spain. It would take the number of stores worldwide to 530 from 398 at present.
LVMH (France) is said to be in talks with China Duty Free Group to open its first Louis Vuitton duty-free store in China. The store would be in Hainan, a center for China’s growing domestic duty free sector.
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