FROM THE DESK OF DEBORAH WEINSWIG

The New 10.10 Shopping Festival To Kickstart the US Holiday Shopping Season Believe it or not, the holiday shopping season is just around the corner—and while not even a pandemic is likely to stop people from making holiday purchases, the current crisis will fundamentally change the way people shop this year. Many consumers expect to switch their spending online, and several large retailers have announced that they will not be opening their doors for the usual mad-dash sales on Thanksgiving evening and Black Friday. We have also heard concerns from retailers and logistics providers about a surge in delivery demand during the holiday, and it remains unclear if fulfillment networks will be able to meet last-minute online holiday demand. Here at Coresight Research, we have partnered with Shopkick and Fashwire to launch the inaugural 10.10 Shopping Festival on October 9–12, 2020 in an effort to keep holiday shopping fun and engaging for consumers, profitable for retailers and good for communities. We believe that now is the optimal time to launch a new US-based shopping holiday, as it is important for retailers to pull forward holiday shopping this year to better meet consumer demand and avoid logistic bottlenecks closer to the holidays. The new 10.10 event will build on the success of Singles’ Day and 6.18 in China and Amazon Prime Day in the US. Amazon has moved its annual event to October 13–14 this year, and Target, Walmart and other large retailers have also announced that they will offer special deals to coincide with Prime Day. The 10.10 Shopping Festival will provide an engaging, gamified shopping experience that will drive online shopping and encourage consumers to safely get back to stores. Shopkick offers consumers rewards for both online and offline shopping activities via the Shopkick smartphone app. The company can track when customers enter a store and what actions they take while they are there, rewarding consumers for everything they interact with in-store and providing retailers with valuable data on consumer shopping behavior. Shopkick also tracks consumer activity on digital shopping platforms, including their purchases and engagement with brand-created content such as videos. During 10.10, Shopkick will gamify the shopping experience and award users “kicks” (the app’s internal currency), which can be redeemed for gift cards or cashed in for donations to various charitable organizations. The company will also donate a portion of the dollar value of kicks that consumers receive during 10.10 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. We believe that 10.10 will prove valuable to retailers and become an annual event, for the following three reasons:

1. It will drive consumer engagement and reconceptualize what it means to give a gift. The festival will enable shoppers to buy gifts for themselves and the people they love, while also giving back to the community.
2. Shopkick’s gamification features will drive sales and build loyalty without resorting to heavy discounts or gimmicks.
3. The festival will play vital role in pulling holiday shopping forward and encouraging people to safely return to stores.

We are looking forward to the launch of the festival next weekend! Read our separate reports for a more detailed overview of the event and our analysis of how 10.10 is positioned in the context of the current global shopping festival landscape.

US RETAIL AND TECH HEADLINES

Amazon Announces Prime Day Event for October 13–14 (September 28) Company press release

• Amazon has announced that Prime Day will take place on October 13–14 in the US, the UK and 17 other countries. The company is offering “deep discounts on holiday must-haves across toys, electronics, fashion, beauty, kitchen, home, Amazon devices” and other categories.
• Amazon is already offering early Prime Day deals on some products, such as two Echo Dot devices for $39.98 and a Fire TV Recast for $129.99. The e-commerce giant is also looking to promote small businesses and is offering $10 credit to use on Prime Day for members that spend $10 on purchases from small businesses on the platform from September 28 onwards.

Target To Hold Deals Days on October 13–14 and Offer Black Friday Deals Through November (September 29) Company press release

• Target has announced that it will hold its Target Deal Days sales on October 13 and 14—the same dates as Amazon’s Prime Day in the US and other markets. The retailer said that “Target Deals Days will feature digital deals on hundreds of thousands of items, more than double last year.”
• Target will offer its contactless Drive Up and in-store Order Pickup options on almost all deals on Deals Days. It will provide nearly 1 million more deals compared to last year between October and December, and will offer Black Friday deals throughout November.

Bed Bath & Beyond Partners with Shipt and Instacart To Offer Same-Day Delivery (September 29) Company press release

• Bed Bath & Beyond has partnered with delivery service providers Shipt and Instacart to offer same-day delivery to customers shopping on bedbathbeyond.com and buybuybaby.com.
• For orders over $39, the same-day delivery service is available to shoppers in eligible zip codes at a flat-rate fee of $4.99. Existing Shipt users will receive free delivery on orders above $35 when shopping directly through Shipt platforms.

Allbirds Raises $100 Million in Series E Funding (September 28) Company press release

• Direct-to-consumer footwear company Allbirds has raised $100 million in Series E funding. The round was led by investment firm Franklin Templeton and included Baillie Gilford, Rockefeller Capital Management, TDM Growth Partners, T. Rowe Price and other investors.
• The company will use the funds to expand its product categories, international business and physical store fleet, and work on creating innovative sustainable materials.

Poshmark To Launch Initial Public Offering (September 29) Company press release

• Social commerce marketplace Poshmark has registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to begin the process of become a publicly listed entity. It has not yet determined the share price range nor the number of shares of Class A common stock that it intends to list.
• Poshmark’s launch of an initial public offering is subject to the SEC’s review process and approval.

EUROPE RETAIL AND TECH HEADLINES

Sainsbury’s To Double Pre-Pandemic Online Capacity by October-End (September 28) Reuters.com

• British supermarket retailer Sainsbury’s said that it will reach double its pre-Covid online capacity by the end of October and be able to handle 700,000 home delivery and click-and-collect orders per week.
• Sainsbury’s has opened some 200 new click-and-collect locations and added approximately 1,000 more delivery vans compared to last year, to boost capacity. It will also extend delivery times from 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. to cater to more shoppers.

Aldi UK To Invest in Upgrading Stores, Creating 4,000 Jobs (September 28) RetailGazette.co.uk

• Discount grocery retailer Aldi has committed an investment of £1.3 billion ($1.7 billion) to upgrade stores and distribution centers in the UK by 2022. This comes after it reported a 49% jump in pre-tax profits to £271.5 million ($348.6 million) and a sales rise of 8.3% to £12.3 billion ($15.8 billion) driven by a 6.0% increase in new shoppers, in the year to December 31.
• The investment includes Aldi opening 100 stores in the UK through 2020 and 2021, creating 4,000 new jobs as a result—alongside the 3,000 roles it has already created in 2020.

B&M Reports 25.3% Revenue Jump in First Fiscal Half (September 29) Company press release

• General merchandise retailer B&M European Value Retail has reported a revenue jump of 25.3%, with B&M UK stores posting revenue growth of 29.5% and comparable sales growth of 23.0% in the first half, ended September 26, 2020. The company noted positive comparable sales growth at its Heron Foods banner in the first half and at its Babou banner in France since reopening on May 11, 2020.
• The group expects adjusted EBITDA to come in at £285 million ($366 million)—above its previously guided range of £250–270 million ($321–347 million). B&M releases its full first-half results on November 12, 2020.

LVMH Countersues Tiffany & Co. over Botched Merger (September 29) BBC.com

• French luxury house LVMH is countersuing Tiffany & Co., arguing that the jewelry retailer is no longer the business it had agreed to buy in November last year in a $16.2 billion takeover deal. Earlier in September, Tiffany & Co. announced that it is suing LVMH for stalling the deal and avoiding closing it on previously agreed terms.
• Tiffany & Co. claims that this is “another blatant attempt” by LVMH to not pay the agreed $135 per share. LVMH had initially offered Tiffany $120 per share before raising it to $135. But Tiffany & Co.’s share price has since dropped to $116.4 as of close of trading on September 29, 2020.

Boohoo Group Posts 45% Revenue Growth in First Half (September 30) Company press release

• British fashion pure play Boohoo Group grew revenues by 45% to £816.5 million ($1,046.9 million) in the six months ended August 31, 2020. Gross margin was up 70 basis points to 55.0%, its adjusted EBITDA margin was up 20 basis points to 9.7% and its profit before tax was up 51% to £68.1 million ($87.3 million).
• For the full year, the group has raised revenue growth guidance from 25% to between 28% and 31% and confirmed EBITDA margin guidance at the higher end of the previously guided 9.5–10.0% range.

ASIA RETAIL AND TECH HEADLINES

Amazon India Bolsters Delivery Network Ahead of Festive Season Sales (September 28) ETRetail.com

• Amazon has added some 200 delivery stations to bolster its delivery network ahead of festive season sales that will begin in October, according to Prakash Rochlani, Amazon’s Director for last mile operations in India.
• The additional stations include those operated by delivery service partners, such as local convenience stores that serve as storage spaces or pickup points. Amazon has also introduced “society pickup points”— designated locations within high-density residential communities or apartment properties for customers to pick up orders from.

Esprit Withdraws from Asia as Part of Restructuring Efforts (September 30) Asia.Nikkei.com

• In June, Hong Kong-listed apparel retailer Esprit announced its exit from its Asia business, with China being the only exception. In a recent statement, however, Esprit said that it had terminated its joint venture with a local partner in China “due to material breach of terms by the contract partner.”
• The company said that it is preparing a new strategy and will close further stores and cut staff costs during its fiscal year ending June 2021 as part of restructuring efforts.

General Atlantic To Buy 0.84% Stake in Reliance Retail for $498 Million (September 30) DealStreetAsia.com

• US fund General Atlantic plans to buy a 0.84% stake in Reliance Retail for $498 million, the latest in a series of investments the Indian firm has seen from international investors in recent months. Last week, investment firm KKR announced plans for its second investment, of $748 million, in the Reliance Industries retail subsidiary.
• KKR and Silver Lake have so far invested a total of $1.8 billion in Reliance Retail, which operates around 12,000 stores and is looking to expand its market share through its e-commerce businesses.

Giant Singapore Cuts Prices of Daily Essentials for Six Months (September 29) RetailNews.Asia

• Supermarket chain Giant will cut the prices of nearly 650 daily essentials by 20% for six months, as customers are concerned about the cost of living during the pandemic, according to its own consumer research. The price reduction will cost the retailer $12.4 million to implement and will be funded by savings from productivity and supply chain efficiencies.
• The retailer also plans to renovate its 53 Singapore stores to include new features, such as bakeries and pharmacies.

7-Eleven Opens Peanuts Concept Stores To Commemorate the Cartoon’s 70th Birthday (September 28) RetailNews.Asia

• Convenience store retailer 7-Eleven has opened four concept stores in Hong Kong and Macau featuring the character Snoopy from Peanuts cartoons, to coincide with the character’s 70th birthday.
• The stores feature colors, designs, imagery and the catchphrase “Happiness is…” from the cartoon, and shoppers can purchase Peanuts-themed merchandise, including lunch boxes, cutlery sets and pet products.