FROM THE DESK OF DEBORAH WEINSWIG

The NYFTL is an accelerator that was cofounded by the Partnership Fund for New York City, Springboard Enterprises and major fashion retailers. It focuses on early- and growth-stage women-led companies that have developed innovations that apply to the intersection of fashion, retail and technology. NYFTL offers a 12-week program that runs from March to June, in which eight to 12 women-led companies receive mentoring and collaboration support; access to relevant user groups at fashion retailers; the ability to participate in meetings with senior business executives, investors and experienced entrepreneurs; and invitations to workshops and panel discussions on issues relevant to fashion tech companies.

Dropel Fabrics is developing the world’s first water- and stain-repellent (i.e., hydrophobic) cotton textiles. The fabrics are designed to retain the softness of cotton, but are enhanced with the ability to repel water and stains. In a live demo, the company’s CEO demonstrated a swath of fabric repelling both coffee and red wine. The company is working on developing fabrics that repel other materials, too, such as oil-based liquids.

Gigzolo (a combination of “gig,” referring to a job or musical performance, and a variation on “solo”) is an online booking marketplace that connects consumers and musicians, photographers and other artists for events and performances. The platform enables event planners to find talent based on price and other parameters, leading to a mutual agreement between the booker and the talent. Experienced musicians vet the talent for quality, cohesiveness and experience.

Nineteenth Amendment is pursuing an innovative approach to fashion and apparel manufacturing. Rather than first manufacturing and then discounting apparel, the company presents exclusive designer collections from around the world in 19-day presales, allowing customers to preorder at a discount. It presents trend-setting collections on its website for 45 days at a time, according to season.

Perch offers interactive display technologies in which products are arranged on a white tabletop, which also serves as a screen for projected video. The system uses a projector and camera that enable it to offer an interactive experience for consumers, with functionality similar to that of a touchscreen device. The tabletop is the canvas for advertising or information gathering, and the images displayed can change when the consumer picks up an item. The consumer can also swipe along the tabletop in order to receive product and other information. Perch offers vertical display cabinets with similar functionality. Additionally, via a subscription model, Perch customers can receive data on consumer interactions with products

StyleSage offers data-driven, actionable insights to fashion brands and retailers in order to help them make better business-critical decisions in merchandising, planning and wholesale. Its platform collects data on colors, sizes, geographies and other categories from vendors worldwide. It then analyzes this data to provide information to its customers on apparel offerings, as well as intelligence on market gaps and opportunities.

Source: Associated British Foods

• Sales at Primark increased by 13% year over year, at constant currencies, in the 52 weeks ended September 12, 2015. In British pounds, sales grew by 8%. Associated British Foods (ABF) reported total revenue for its retail division, Primark, of £5.3 billion (US$8.2 billion) in 2015.
• Most sales growth was achieved due to a 9% increase in retail selling space, with comps only 1% ahead of last year.
• ABF said that sales were affected by unseasonal weather and by the negative impact on some existing stores’ sales caused by the opening of new stores in their catchment areas.

US RETAIL EARNINGS

Source: Company reports

US RETAIL HEADLINES

• Michael Kors’ quarterly retail sales rose by 7.5% over the same period a year ago, to $532.8 million. During the period, the company increased its number of retail stores by nearly 25%, to 589 locations. Excluding store openings and closings, retail sales fell by 8.5%. CEO John Idol said sales were hurt by a trend toward purchasing smaller handbags, such as cross-body satchels, that are less expensive. He also said the watch business had suffered and fewer shoppers were going to stores, in part due to declining tourism in the face of a strong US dollar.
• The company plans to address these headwinds by rolling out its largest assortment of new products ever this spring. The company has already begun offering leather watchbands, in a move away from metallic bands, which Idol said has been well received. Kors’ announced inventory rose by 15% year over year. The company lowered its revenue forecast and its per-share earnings forecast, to $1.44 from $1.48.

• After a yearlong search, L.L.Bean has named Stephen Smith as its new President and CEO. Smith has held executive roles at Walmart International subsidiaries, including Sam’s Club in China, Asda in the UK and Yihaodian in Shanghai.
• Board Chairman Shawn Gorman said Tuesday that Smith’s technical experience will help the company compete in the fast-changing world of commerce. Gorman looks to Smith to help the company reach more mobile customers via smartphone apps. Smith is the first outside CEO in the company’s 103-year history.

• Pinterest’s Buyable Pins, previously offered only on Apple’s iOS devices, are now available on Android devices, expanding their reach by 1.4 billion. Pinterest also launched a landing page called Pinterest Shop, which spotlights collections of Buyable Pins trending among its users. Featured items range from denim shirts to sweaters to scarves, among other categories.
• Buyable Pins are only available on mobile, and this decision reflects trends in advertisers’ and consumers’ digital priorities. Marketers spent approximately $8.2 billion on mobile advertising in the first half of 2015, up 54%, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. According to comScore, time spent on mobile dominates time spent on desktop at a ratio of 60/40.

• Amazon’s first permanent physical store opened in its hometown of Seattle on Tuesday. “We’ve applied 20 years of online bookselling experience to build a store that integrates the benefits of offline and online book shopping,” said Jennifer Cast, Vice President of Amazon Books.
• The physical space looks similar to a Barnes & Noble, but there are some distinguishing merchandising features. For example, the books are presented face out and under each one is a review card with the Amazon.com customer rating and a review. Pricing is the same as offered on Amazon.com. Also, the store will carry products such as the Kindle, Echo, Fire TV and Fire Tablet.

• American Eagle Outfitters will pay $11 million to acquire upscale men’s fashion brand Todd Snyder, the retailer said Tuesday, marking the company’s latest move away from a focus on deep discounting.
• The deal includes Todd Snyder’s Tailgate brand of collegiate sportswear, which American Eagle plans to expand to up to 200 on-campus stores, and the Todd Snyder New York line, which sells at high-end department stores, including Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus.

• For the second year in a row, Target will drop shipping fees for all online orders during the holiday shopping season, from November 1 to December 25. The company normally requires a minimum online order of $25 to qualify for free shipping. CEO Brian Cornell expects the shopping season to be driven by discounts designed to lure shoppers who remain cautious about making purchases. Last month, the retailer said it will price-match its largest rivals both in stores and online.
• Walmart, one of Target’s main competitors, said it will stick to its normal policy of waiving shipping fees only for online orders that exceed $50. Target expects its ship-from-store program, which has recently expanded to 460 stores, to become a differentiator in speeding up delivery times. Target also said it will expand its online grocery partnership with Instacart to six stores from the current two during the holidays.

EUROPEAN RETAIL EARNINGS

Source: Company reports

EUROPE RETAIL HEADLINES

• British luxury clothing retailer Ted Baker has opened its first Dutch outlet, in collaboration with Dynamic Resources, which provided project management for the store. The historical art–themed store is spread over two floors, and houses Ted Baker’s autumn/winter 2015 menswear, womenswear and accessories collections.
• Dynamic Resources is also managing the opening of Ted Baker’s US and Canada stores, theming each outlet with the features and culture of the local area. Gerry Walsh, Managing Director of Dynamic Group Europe, remarked on Ted Baker’s independent outlook and “quirky sense of humor,” features that are characteristic of the British brand’s 400 stores and concessions across 33 countries, each of which is uniquely themed around the local area.

• Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has announced a partnership with several top Dutch brands. As a result of this venture, brands such as Albert Heijn, Attent and Royal Ahold will now have access to the Chinese market through Tmall Global, Alibaba’s B2C website.
• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions will collaborate with the online giant’s travel platform, Alitrip. Tmall Global is also expected to open flagship stores for some of the leading Dutch supermarkets.

• German banks have unveiled Paydirekt, which intends to rival PayPal, the long-standing online payment system. Paydirekt is the result of an industry-wide cooperation between German private, cooperative and savings banks that was spurred by several complaints about the dominance of PayPal.
• Paydirekt’s website is already live, but the payment system will not be fully operational until the end of this year. Though the system follows strict German banking regulations, foreign shoppers will also be able to use Paydirekt if they have an account with online access with one of the participating banks.

• British department store chain Marks & Spencer is surveying potential acquisitions in an attempt to stimulate sales. CEO Mark Bolland is reportedly considering niche fashion brands as potential acquisition targets, including luxury fashion and home furnishings chain The White Company.
• While M&S has its own group of popular brands, such as Autograph and Per Una, expanding through an external acquisition would be a first for the retailer. Sources stated that Bolland hopes shoppers will be drawn to buying M&S’s clothing if the retailer creates a “house of brands.” The board has not yet approved the proposal.

• LVMH-owned Sephora plans to open several shops in Iran next year. The French company is one of the first big cosmetics retailers from Europe to make direct investments in the Middle Eastern nation as it emerges from years of economic sanctions.
• Sources familiar with the matter mentioned that “Sephora is currently finalizing talks with its partner in Iran” and that “talks are already quite advanced with their distributors.” While several managers from LVMH and Sephora have been making trips to Iran over the last two months, the companies declined to comment on the matter.

ASIA TECH HEADLINES

• International analysts have recently been lowering their iPhone 6s sales estimates in response to lower-than-expected demand for the new smartphone.
• Chinese tech media reported on Monday that an Apple supplier in Shanghai, a Pegatron subsidiary called Changshuo, has frozen iPhone 6s-related hiring and shut down a production line to cut its 6s output.

• According to Beijing Business Today, the law enforcement and inspection team of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee compiled information from inspections of 14 different e-commerce product categories in 2014 and found that only 58.7% of the inspected goods were genuine.
• Neither the sample size nor a copy of the full report is available online. The definition of “fake” is broad, and encompasses dangerous fake products such as cosmetics with unlisted ingredients as well as brand-name clothing knock-offs and the like.

• Last year, Alibaba’s Singles’ Day sales hit a record 278 million orders worth around ¥1 billion (US$9.3 billion). The commercial promotion started in 2009, when Alibaba began offering huge discounts for the anti-Valentine’s Day holiday.
• This year, JD.com and Tencent announced a partnership to “provide merchants with innovative mobile marketing solutions ahead of this year’s Singles’ Day promotion.” The extent of this partnership should become clearer as the event date nears.

• Nissan began testing a self-driving prototype of its electric Leaf car, which was equipped with a miniature laser scanner and a 360-degree camera, on busy highways and crowded city streets in the greater Tokyo area last week.
• Nissan plans to sell vehicles equipped with “Piloted Drive” autonomous driving technology in three stages. Stage one is expected to be available by 2016 and will allow autonomous driving under heavy highway traffic conditions. Stage two will enable lane changing on highways, and should be available by 2018. Stage three, expected by 2020, will have the additional ability to navigate urban roads and intersections.

• News Corp subsidiary REA Group, which owns property sites in Australia, China, the US and Europe, will buy iProperty in a deal valued at A$751 million (US$534 million), making it one of the largest acquisitions of a Southeast Asian Internet company in recent memory.
• iProperty booked A$24.8 million (US$17.7 million) in revenue in the first three quarters of this year, though it saw a net loss after tax of A$1.55 million (US$1.11 million) in the first half.

LATAM RETAIL HEADLINES

• Gaia is a Mexican furniture-making startup founded by a Harvard MBA and one other partner that recorded monthly sales of US$5,000 in its first month and US$500,000 in the same month a year later.
• Mexico’s furniture market is highly attractive: the country’s population stands at roughly 120 million people and the average age is 25–26, meaning many consumers there are just a few years away from making peak furniture purchases.

• Coty announced the purchase of Hypermarcas’ beauty businesses for about US$1 billion.
• Included in the acquisition are leading Brazilian hair care, hair color, nail care, men’s and skin care brands that generated revenues of US$253.5 million in 2014.

• E-commerce in Mexico has grown at a rate of 400% over the last five years, and online shopping sales are predicted to increase by another 150% by 2018 versus 2013.
• Mexico is experiencing increased Internet usage, growing popularity in credit card usage, improving attitudes toward purchasing online, increasing familiarity with US brands and growing use of social media.

• This week, the level of luxury shopping in Mexico City will be raised as El Palacio de Hierro opens a US$300 million, 650,000-square-foot flagship store in the Polanco district.
• The new flagship will focus on affluent international travelers, and offer VIP shopping services, including private salons, and a wide selection of both international and local designers, as well as a large technology lab with stores from Apple, Samsung and Sony.

• Walmex reported an 11.6% increase in third-quarter net sales and a 21.5% increase in net income, which beat analysts’ expectations.
• Retail sales are benefiting from the lowest rate of inflation in 50 years, which has increased purchasing power, despite falling oil production and softness in exports.