Exactly one month ago, Coresight Research launched the inaugural 10.10 Shopping Festival to bring the excitement of shopping festivals to the US and to help retailers and shoppers address the disruption caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The festival was held on October 9–12 in collaboration with shopping rewards app Shopkick, online fashion marketplace Fashwire. It involved two collaborators, Shopkick and Fashwire, alongside Coresight Research, as well as almost 100 participating retailers, brands and designers, 12 charity partners and 11 supporting retail partners. [caption id="attachment_118942" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Coresight Research [/caption]   In this report, we present behind-the-scenes insights into the creation of the new shopping festival and the factors that drove its success.

10.10: From Concept to Creation

The idea for the 10.10 Shopping Festival originated in the summer of 2020 as retailers were struggling with store closures and diminished sales. Coresight Research launched 10.10 within just 10 weeks of initial planning in August. During this time, Coresight Research focused on seven key components in developing the event—from its compelling business case to marketing and promotion. We summarize the creation process in Figure 1 and detail each major step below. [caption id="attachment_118943" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Coresight Research [/caption]   Compelling Business Case: The retail industry was hugely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic in June 2020, with nonessential retail closed and sales down. There was an undeniable need to energize and stimulate the sector. Inspiration: The 10.10 Shopping Festival was inspired by the success and format of Alibaba’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival (also known as Singles’ Day) in China, the world’s largest online shopping festival. Coresight Research chose a festival format as a way to bring fun and excitement back to the retail industry and also to provide a unified way for retailers and brands to connect with consumers. Team Formation: Coresight Research formed a team with three full-time staff (FTEs) that were focused on the festival for over two months. The entire company supported the effort, through outreach, promotion and research/report publication. Coresight Research also worked in close partnership with the Fashwire and Shopkick teams since the concept inception of the new festival. Festival Date Selection: The team chose the early October timing for the event to help to pull holiday shopping forward and thus alleviate supply chain pressures for brands and retailers. Furthermore, 10.10 aimed to give consumers a reason to shop holiday promotions early and thus address concerns that online orders would not arrive in time for the holidays. Through the 10.10 Shopping Festival, Coresight Research intended to provide a new platform for retailers to reach consumers, gain insights into demand and ramp up holiday campaigns before the typical start to the holiday season (which has traditionally been on Black Friday weekend). Planning/Festival Components: Festivals are an entertaining way for consumers to engage with products in stores and online. Drawing on 11.11 as inspiration, the team worked on ensuring that the 10.10 Shopping Festival incorporated innovation, influencers, gamification, multichannel retail, promotions, celebrations, and industry partners and sponsors. As a key differentiator, Coresight Research worked closely with its collaborators to incorporate a charitable element in 10.10. Outreach: The team leveraged networking and industry outreach to refine the festival’s components and maximize participation from brands, retailers and sponsors. Marketing and Promotions: The retailers, brands, sponsors, charities, and partners marketed and promoted the 10.10 Shopping Festival through their own channels.

Five Factors That Drove the Success of 10.10

The success of the 10.10 Shopping Festival was driven by five key factors, which we present in Figure 3 and detail below. [caption id="attachment_118944" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Coresight Research [/caption]   1. 10.10 Unified Retail Industry Teams and Resources: The industry collaborated, supported, volunteered and devoted resources to 10.10 The success of the 10.10 Shopping Festival was reflected in the retail industry’s participation, collaboration and support. As previously stated, the festival involved two collaborators alongside Coresight Research, as well as almost 100 participating retailers, brands and designers, 12 charity partners and 11 supporting retail partners. All devoted countless hours, across ideation, content creation, marketing and promotion. 10.10 received industry support from industry executives and contacts who also devoted their time and reached out to their networks to champion the new festival. 2. 10.10 Drove Sales Through Gamified Shopping: Shopkick reported a 78% increase in store visits and a 26% increase in product engagement during the 10.10 weekend The 10.10 Shopping Festival aimed to make shopping fun, offering consumers a gamified shopping experience that provided an incentive for them to shop with participating brands and retailers. Through Shopkick, consumers were able to earn “kicks” (reward points) when they walked into a store, scanned select products, viewed offers or made in-store and online purchases; these points could then be redeemed for gift cards. Shopkick reported that during its Shopper Appreciation Weekend on 10.10, there was a 78% increase in store visits and a 26% increase in product engagement in stores, week over week. Fashwire’s web- and app-based global fashion discovery platform and shopping marketplace brought many designers to the 10.10 Shopping Festival. Fashwire’s gamified experience engaged the consumer with its swipe technology; for the 10.10 Shopping Festival, consumers could swipe and vote on designers’ collections—helping to influence tomorrow’s fashion trends. 3. 10.10 Expanded the Reach of Purposeful Shopping: Charitable giveback helped consumers to feel good while they shopped Charitable giving was a differentiator of the 10.10 Shopping Festival. Coresight Research’s two collaborators actioned the event’s central theme of charitable giveback:

• Fashwire donated $0.50 of every app download to charity.
• Consumers’ “kicks” through Shopkick could be spent as donations to participating charitable organizations.

Sponsors of the 10.10 Shopping Festival also helped to drive charitable donations as part of their promotion of the event. Supporting partners—which included retail technology innovators, retail real estate industry leaders and nonprofit organizations—also made donations to charities. The festival provided consumers with an easy way to give back while they shopped. The concept of “purposeful shopping”—the philanthropic component of 10.10—combined with charities’ marketing efforts, helped to expand the reach of 10.10 to varied demographics. Charitable giveback will continue beyond the actual 10.10 Shopping Festival weekend, as consumers are able to donate through the holidays via participating websites. Coresight Research continues to add charities onto the Shopkick app ahead of the holiday season to allow consumers to participate in charitable giving. 4. 10.10 Gained Momentum Through Concentrated Marketing: All 10.10 participants helped promote 10.10 The marketing and promotion of the 10.10 Shopping Festival was an integral part of its success. In the lead-up to the event, all participants—including retail brands, partners, charities and sponsors—helped to promote 10.10. Coresight Research published reports to educate retail executives and consumers about 10.10. To help drive awareness, Coresight Research also hosted a webinar on September 16 with executives from Shopkick and Fashwire. The 10.10 Shopping Festival gained momentum as more marketing and promotional materials were distributed across a wide consumer demographic. 5. 10.10 Sparked an Interest in Festivals: The retail industry is interested in launching further festivals Coresight Research has received interest from industry leaders across all of retail—from major retailers and brands, REITs, technology partners and charities—to host another major shopping festival. Please contact Coresight Research if you are interested in participating in the next shopping festival in any capacity: as a partner, sponsor, technology provider, retailer, brand, designer, charity or influencer.