The Week in Commerce Marketing — Retail, E-commerce and DTC: December 6, 2024 edition

Welcome to The Week in Commerce Marketing — Retail, E-commerce and DTC, a weekly roundup for marketers from Quad Insights.

In an ode to the retail past, Amazon has unveiled holiday window displays on the ground floor of its Manhattan office building on Fifth Avenue, Chain Store Age’s Marianne Wilson’s reports. The former home of department store Lord & Taylor, the historic 1914 building “became known for its elaborate holiday windows,” Wilson notes. Amazon’s window displays are inspired by its 2024 Kids Gift Book (i.e., toy catalog). Beyond window shopping, passersby can quite literally shop the merch by scanning QR codes featured in the displays.

Previously:

• “Amazon holiday campaign highlights real customer reviews read by ‘real serious actor’ Adam Driver,” from the Nov. 22 edition of this column.
• “A singing janitor takes center stage in Amazon’s feel-good holiday campaign,” from the Nov. 8 edition of this column.

See also: “Amazon brings back discount holiday flights for young Prime members” (Chain Store Age)

More retailer activations:

• “Ulta Beauty Brings ‘House of Joy’ Pop-up to Miami Art Week” (Retail TouchPoints)
• “IKEA Brings Sleepeasy Pop-Up Event to Miami Art Week” (Home Furnishings Business)

In a delicious collaboration, KFC has partnered with illustrator duo Yeye Weller on a holiday merch collection. Coinciding with the release of a holiday-themed bucket from the fried-chicken chain, the limited-edition 2024 KFC Holiday Collection features streetwear-inspired designs that coordinate with the bucket. Available online at KFCShop.com, the collection includes a holiday sweater, T-shirts, sweatshirts, socks and more.

Previously: “KFC collaborates with Life is Good to launch limited-edition apparel collection,” from the May 3 edition of The Week in Direct-to-Consumer.

More notable brand launches and collabs:

• “Ford Partners With Fashion Brand” (MediaPost)
• “Merrell and Big Brothers Big Sisters design hiker to foster inclusive outdoor experiences” (MR Magazine)
• “The Rolling Stones Say ‘Start Me Up’ to New Fragrance Venture” (Happi)
• “Lee teams up with Jack Schwartz Shoes to expand into footwear market” (MR Magazine)
• ICYMI: “Kate Moss’ Debut Collection for Zara Has ’70s Glitter-ball Glamour” (Women’s Wear Daily)

“We look at ourselves as the antithesis of online shopping. We seek to create a customer experience inside our locations where you can touch, feel and smell the products, where there are experiences from a sensory perspective that excite consumers. If you know exactly what you want, why would you go beyond Amazon? But if you want [the process of] discovery to find what you want, we have the categories, brands and products. Ultimately, we want our guests to enjoy the overall experience so that it’s not a task, it’s an experience for them to enjoy.”

—Tom Anderson, President and CEO of The Paper Store, in an interview with Retail TouchPoints’ Adam Blair. The family-owned chain is celebrating its 60th anniversary by launching a five-year, $60-million expansion to add up to 40 new locations to its current lineup of more than 100 stores.

More commerce marketing deep dives:

• “Terence Reilly Made Crocs and Stanley Cups Cool. Can He Do It Again With HeyDude?” (The Wall Street Journal)
• “Why Lovesac’s Founder Thinks Making ‘Stuff that Sustains’ is the True Key to Sustainability” (Retail TouchPoints)

David’s Bridal just announced a new partnership with DoorDash to offer on-demand delivery of wedding attire. Now, brides, grooms and their wedding parties have access to an assortment of dresses, shoes and accessories from the retailer with delivery from any of its 180 locations in under an hour. The partnership is focused on solving “last-minute snafus,” per a brand announcement.

Previously: “Aldi partners with DoorDash to host grillmaster giveaway,” from the June 21 edition of The Week in Retail.

More e-commerce news:

• “Uber Eats’ Holiday Hub Will Deliver Your Christmas Tree, Hanukkah Bush and Other Decor Right to Your Door” (Food & Wine)
• “Upcycled clothing, accessories collection launches on Vestiaire Collective” (Fashion Dive)
• “EBay Launches Auction With Margherita Maccapani Missoni Featuring Pieces From Her Personal Archives” (Women’s Wear Daily)
• “Walmart Joins Target, Meijer, Starbucks With Blind Shopper App” (MediaPost)
• ICYMI: “E-Grocery Platform for Health-and-Wellness Products Debuts” (Progressive Grocer)

That’s the projected total for retail returns in 2024, amounting to an estimated 16.9% of U.S. retailers’ annual sales, according to a just-released report from the National Retail Federation (NRF) and UPS-owned company Happy Returns, per Chain Store Age. (See more industry and marketing stats in the most recent edition of The Weekly 10 from Quad Insights.)

More consumer-driven insights:

• “Thanksgiving weekend sales attracts nearly 200M shoppers” (Supermarket News)
• “Nearly 75% of baby boomers plan to use pay-later services this holiday season” (Retail Dive)
• “A $10.8B Black Friday record and more Cyber Five numbers to know” (Modern Retail)
• “Here’s what motivates Walmart holiday shoppers” (Chain Store Age)
• “Early Holiday Spending Surges, but Consumers Aren’t Finding Massive Deals” (Adweek)
• “Simon sees traffic bump during Black Friday weekend” (Retail Dive)
• “Mall of America draws 200,000 on Black Friday” (Chain Store Age)
• “Personal luxury goods sales growth reaches nadir in 2024” (eMarketer)
• ICYMI: “Why Specialty and Value Chains Had a Stellar Year” (Progressive Grocer)

Five years after closing its Madison Avenue flagship in New York City, Calvin Klein has announced plans to open a new flagship store in the city next year — a move that follows the opening of its Paris flagship this past June — per Women’s Wear Daily’s Lisa Lockwood. The new location, at 503 Broadway, is currently being renovated by real estate development firm Shvo and will include 7,294 square feet of retail space in New York’s SoHo neighborhood.

More brick-and-mortar retail expansions:

• “Brooks Brothers to Return to Downtown With New York City Flagship” (Women’s Wear Daily)
• “Gymboree marks brick-and-mortar return with New Jersey store” (Retail Dive)
• “Academy Sports + Outdoors Opens Five New Stores to Finish Out 2024” (SGB Media)
• “Burlington Stores to open 100 net new stores in 2025; Q3 sales rise 11%” (Chain Store Age)
• “Sustainable Brand Another Tomorrow Opens First Flagship in SoHo” (Women’s Wear Daily)
• ICYMI: “La-Z-Boy Embraces Experiential Retail in New Chicago Store” (Retail TouchPoints)
• ICYMI: “Mango achieves US expansion goal ahead of schedule, plans more store openings in 2025” (Retail Dive)

E.l.f. Cosmetics just announced it has joined forces with e-commerce solutions company Obsess on a 3D digital shopping experience called the Virtual Luxe Lounge, Marketing Dive’s Jessica Deyo reports. Available exclusively to U.S. and U.K. members of e.l.f.’s Beauty Squad loyalty program, the Virtual Luxe Lounge is “speakeasy-themed and allows users to shop product drops and access exclusive coupons,” Deyo writes. The brand previously partnered with Obsess on an Apple Vision Pro app, which we noted in the Feb. 2 edition of The Week in Direct-to-Consumer.

More retail/commerce promotions and campaigns:

• “Nordstrom NYC’s ‘Wonder All the Way’ Campaign is Larger-Than-Life” (Trend Hunter)
• “Dick’s pits top athletes against each other in holiday decorating contest” (Retail Dive)
• “Chanel’s ‘Winter Tale’ is a Magical Holiday Ad from the Luxury Icon” (Trend Hunter)
• “Kroger Offering 12 Days Of Holiday Deals” (Store Brands)
• “Walmart unveils the ultimate 28 item holiday value meal” (FoodSided)
• “Walmart orchestrates a Gilmore Girls reunion in holiday spot” (The Drum)
• ICYMI: “Dollar General announces ‘24 Days of Savings’” (Supermarket News)
• ICYMI: “Uniqlo Expands Campaign to Use Power of Clothing to Bring ‘Peace for All’” (Sustainable Brands)
• ICYMI: “Why Google Shopping turned holiday gift-giving into a game show” (Marketing Dive)
• ICYMI: “True Religion Sweetens Loyalty Program with ‘Can’t Buy’ Experiences” (Retail TouchPoints)