Fashion gets fluid Why brands like Tommy Hilfiger are throwing gender stereotypes out the window - Inside Retail
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Issue 2270
05 Feb 2020
RRP $14.95
insideretail.com.au
Fashion
gets fluid
Why brands like Tommy
Hilfiger are throwing
gender stereotypes
out the window.
In this issue
News News Analysis
TikTok’s rise in popularity Tony Bianco steps it up The return of David Jones?
Why it might be worth signing up to The shoe and accessories brand opens its Maybe there’s hope yet for the grand
another social media platform. p2 first international store in Beijing. p3 old dame. p5
NEWS
TikTok: One size doesn’t
always fit all
TikTok has seen meteoric spikes in interest over the last year,
and is well worth a look for any retailer interested in reaching
gen Z. But is 15 seconds long enough to sell a brand? By Dean Blake
T
ikTok is an interesting phenomenon. On the surface it’s According to the report, “If TikTok evolves beyond formulaic,
another short-form video social media platform, existing in meme-based content and attracts a broader user base, you may
the same space Vine once did and Vine-successor Peach want to get in on the action. For now, monitor trends that bubble up
does. It also caters to the same, largely younger, audience. on TikTok and adapt the ideas that make sense for your brand into
At the same time, it seems to have earned a much, much larger other social content.”
user base than either of its competitors did. Peach currently sits at The report also recommends brands trying out other short-form
100,000 downloads on the Google Play store, while TikTok sits at video formats that might be better aligned with its messaging –
more than 500 million. Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat, to name a few.
On Apple’s App Store, TikTok is the number one downloaded app However, smaller platforms can punch above their weight,
in the entertainment segment, while Peach’s position is not listed according to Gartner research, which found that retailers with large
publicly. It’s not a surprise, as it was listed as the most downloaded shares of social traffic to their sites tend to see as much inbound
app of Q1 2019, recording more than 33 million downloads traffic from smaller platforms than large ones. IRW
during that period, according to Hootsuite’s 2020 Social Media
Trends report.
According to the report, the new social media platform sees
around 800 million monthly active users (not far off Instagram’s one
billion), who consume an average of 46 minutes of video a day. At an
average video length of 15 seconds, that’s 184 videos.
However, with a primarily generation Z user base, retailers looking
to market themselves to this demographic should know what they
are getting into.
“TikTok can be a great place to find new customers if that is
where your ideal customers are spending time,” author of Sell Like
Crazy and founder of digital agency King Kong Sabri Suby told
Inside Retail.
“But the principle of good marketing remains the same, whatever
the channel. If you can fully understand a potential customer’s
psyche and drill down into what drives them, it’s possible to create
incredible returns on investment.”
While TikTok is still largely untapped in terms of the retail market,
much like other ‘new’ social media platforms, its consumer base is
smart and tight-knit. Simply generating the same content used for a
seperate audience is likely to backfire.
“As feeds reach saturation point, average content will no longer
fly. People know their value as a customer, so unless you are
providing them at least that same value in return, they will simply
scroll on past,” Suby said.
“The same is true of TikTok. Unless marketers can learn how to
create content that’s as good as, if not better than, regular users,
then they don’t stand a chance.”
The multimillion dollar question
So, is it worth up for yet another social media platform?
According to Hootsuite, if a brand isn’t suited, it’s better off investing
TikTok can be a great place to
its time and energy elsewhere. But for retailers with a funny and find new customers.
playful tone, it could be worth keeping an eye on the platform.
2 insideretail.com.au
NEWS
Tony Bianco steps
into overseas market
The local footwear and accessories brand has spread its
wings into China, with potential to expand even further in
the future. By Jo-Anne Hui-Miller
S
hoe retailer Tony Bianco has just entered international brand to expand its store network into the US.
waters and opened its first store in China off the back of its “Since the launch of our dedicated online store for US customers,
successful daigou business. it’s been exceeding sales targets each month and we’re ahead of
“We were having such success through the daigous that we track (131 per cent) to meet the first-year trade goal,” he said.
naturally thought this would be a great opportunity to expand the “Launching locally has been a huge win for our US customers as
brand into China. They are hungry for new brands and the growth we now offer faster and more competitive shipping rates. They’re
of the middle class in China brings great opportunities for us,” charged in US dollars and they can return [products] locally, making
co-founder Anthony Bianco told Inside Retail Weekly. it an overall better shopping experience.”
After 12 months of research and strategising, the Tony Bianco Tony Bianco first launched in Australia in 1972 and, according to
store opened in December at Chaoyang Joy City shopping centre Bianco, the key to its success has been focusing on evolving the
in Beijing. The brand currently has 14 stores in Australia, six brand and product.
concessions in Myer and is available online at Zappos and Revolve. “Locally, [the footwear market] is a challenging environment at the
Tony Bianco is also currently on Tmall and since launching into moment, but we are always trying to bring new, fresh and exciting
China, the footwear brand has upped the ante on its social media product to market, we’re continually developing so the customer
platforms across Weibo, WeChat and Red Book. It is also planning doesn’t get bored,” said Bianco.
to grow its brand awareness through key opinion leaders with local “Customer service is at the forefront of our mind, we relaunched
retail specialists, Shanghai Smile Commercial. our Tony Bianco loyalty program [last year] and we continually look
According to Bianco, the daigou side of the business has at ways to bring everything back to that one-on-one relationships
“softened” since it launched in China. we have with our customers.” IRW
“It’s all about building personal relationships between our
retail management team and the daigous. We communicate via Footwear should be
WhatsApp or WeChat when new stock arrives and also when exciting, says Bianco,
so the customer
popular items get low in stock,” he said. doesn’t get bored.
The growth of the middle
class in China brings great
opportunities for us.
“We also allow live streaming in stores so daigous can get
live feedback and orders from their customers. This also gives a
personal shopping experience for the girls shopping in China via live
chat.”
This isn’t Tony Bianco’s first entry into the international market. A
few years ago, its online growth in the US began to increase, then
it launched onto Revolve and rolled out an international influencer
strategy, which helped organically grow its overseas customer base.
Bianco hinted that in the future, there is definitely potential for the
3
NEWS
Booktopia buys up Co-op
This week’s top 10
Our most read stories from the
The University Co-operative Bookstore has been past week at insideretail.com.au.
acquired by Booktopia and will disappear into the
online retailer’s business. But the move isn’t much
of a stretch for Booktopia, which already dominates
the textbook market.
“A lot of people don’t realise Booktopia was
already the largest tertiary textbook retailer in
Australia. We were bigger than Co-Op,” Tony Nash,
Booktopia’s co-founder and CEO, told Inside Retail.
Booktopia bought the website, some of the
company’s software and customer data, but the
deal didn’t include information on the two million
Co-op members. It didn’t purchase the 30-plus 1 Woolworths names two of its top
guns to lead Endeavour Group
bricks-and-mortar sites, but it plans to keep them
running for about two months to ensure an orderly
transition and a smooth run for creditors.
Nash would not disclose the purchase price, but
2 Greenlit Brands flags $287 million
loss over FY19
said the deal would boost its bottom line from $131
million in FY19 to about $175 million this year.
“As part of the agreement, Booktopia has
3 PAS Group earnings fall and sales
rise as customer profile shifts
purchased the intellectual property of the University
Co-Op Bookshop that includes some proprietary
systems around the fulfilment of textbooks to
4 Booktopia buys failed Co-Op
bookshop business
universities, as well as guaranteeing a minimum
5
price for all remaining stock,” administrators PwC Coronavirus to lead to delays,
told The Australian. increased pricing, and slowed
Booktopia intends to offer employment to as spending, says expert
many of Co-op’s 200 employees as possible.
6 Kobe’s tragic death triggers
familiar chain of events online
Bushfire-hit businesses move online
7 $50 million debt revealed as
expressions of interest close
During the current bushfire emergency, many small
for Jeanswest
businesses have been sent to the wall. Now, an
online marketplace and business directory has been
created by freelance web designer Sarah Britz to 8 Harris Scarfe closing 21 stores
connect them with consumers who want to
support them. 9 Independent supermarket co-op
could spell trouble for Metcash
The directory, called Spend With Us, allows small
businesses in bushfire-affected areas to easily sell
their products online, even if they don’t have a web
presence. They can also receive donations or “pay
10 CEOs pessimistic about
economy in 2020
it forward” purchases, where people buy a virtual
meal or product for the local business to give to
Comment of the week
someone in need.
Britz, who offered her skills pro bono, has a
property on the Central Coast in NSW and was
spared by the recent bushfires, so she feels a
certain empathy for those who weren’t so lucky.
Britz built the marketplace in about a week and “Long-term occupancy costs have
is now accepting applications from businesses to risen disproportionately to gross
be listed on the site. This is to ensure that it only margins, and the property risk is the
promotes businesses that are located in areas that greatest risk a retailer takes on.”
have been affected by bushfires.
Once approved, businesses can upload their Stephen - Online competition didn’t kill
logo and product images using a simple store Jeanswest. Boring retail killed Jeanswest
wizard and link their PayPal account to sell items
and receive donations. IRW
4 insideretail.com.au
ANALYSIS
Moir hopes to recover some
of David Jones’s lost glory
Despite its flagging sales and huge outlays on refurbishments,
David Jones’ parent company is still keeping the faith with
Ian Moir. By Jared Dickson
R
etailers are reluctant to ever utter the “R” word for fear of CEO job at David Jones.
scaring customers, however, David Jones said a recession Surprisingly, Woolworths took a leftfield decision on the
in the retail sector was a key factor in the faltering revenue replacement for Moir, appointing Roy Bagattini, the former
and profit results for its 2019 financial year. president of clothing company Levi Strauss Americas. A South
The department store’s recession claim was supported in June African, Bagattini, who will take over as CEO on February 17, has
2019 by the National Australia Bank as well as a UBS investment worked with Levi Strauss for six years and previously held executive
bank analysis that indicated retail sales growth for that financial positions with brewers Carlsberg and SABMiller.
year was the worst in three decades. The attraction of Bagattini was apparently his experience in
Reported results for the first half of the current financial year mergers and acquisitions and in turnaround projects for several
and consumer confidence surveys suggest little improvement in companies. Woolworths told South African investors its new
retail sales and an almost certain deterioration in earnings across CEO would assist the company in meeting the challenges of the
the sector. changing retail industry and would drive “the future strategy” of
the group.
Online sales a bright spot After nine years, Moir will return to Australia with Woolworths,
David Jones certainly hasn’t changed its view of economic hoping he can lift David Jones’ financial performance and recover at
conditions and retail trading in Australia, revealing a further fall in least some of the lost value on the asset.
comparable-store sales. There was some positive news, however, Moir has been overseeing the David Jones business from South
with a 62 per cent increase in online sales for the six months to Africa since February 2019, work that has included right-sizing
December 2019. stores and management ranks, refurbishment projects and boosting
The results for David Jones and the Country Road group, owned online sales. The current plan for the department store chain is to
by the South African retailer Woolworths, were impacted by reduce its trading floorspace by 20 per cent by 2026.
store development projects, a new store in New Zealand and the
withdrawal of its four specialty-brand concessions in Myer stores. Focus on food
Woolworths Holdings has indicated it has no plans to exit David Moir has also overseen the development of the food strategy
Jones despite flagging sales and trading profits and writing off involving standalone gourmet grocery outlets, a renewed emphasis
$1.15 billion of its 2014 $2.1 billion acquisition of the department on food halls in key David Jones department stores and the sale of
store group. David Jones-branded products in other selected retail stores.
However, it would not be a wise bet to back that sentiment as it Moir has also been working to return David Jones to its former
will take more than 15 years to recover the $1.15 billion lost on the glory by focusing on the middle to top end of the market, backing
2014 deal, based on David Jones’s net profit for the 2018 financial recognised local brands after an underwhelming customer
year. It would take almost 25 years to recover that lost value on the response to African apparel ranges.
$37 million net earnings booked for the 2019 financial year. The rejig of the apparel offer has included exclusive ranging
The writedown on the investment caused Woolworths (which has of Sportscraft, Saba and JAG as well as the Woolworths-
no relationship with the Australian retailer of the same name) to post owned Country Road, Witchery, Trenery, Mimco and Politix after
its first loss as a publicly listed company and virtually cut its share withdrawing them from Myer.
price by half. David Jones has added more than 65 new womenswear
brands exclusive to its stores since June last year, including Toni
Turnaround expert onboard Maticevski, a designer range that had previously sold for 15 years
Ian Moir, who spearheaded a resurgence in the Woolworths-owned through Myer.
Country Road business, persuaded the company to buy David Retail recession or not, Moir has the motivation to make a
Jones. Moir was CEO of Woolworths and based in South Africa success of the business in which he saw as a great opportunity for
at the time, but his expectations on the value of the David Jones Woolworths back in 2014. He has certainly laid the groundwork,
acquisition have been thwarted by sluggish retail spending by and there were some indications of progress in the first-half
consumers and local management shortcomings as well as key results for the 2020 financial year, notwithstanding the 0.4 per cent
executive and board member exits. comparable-store revenue decline.
Moir has taken responsibility for the problems resulting from the The completion of the refurbishment of the flagship Sydney
David Jones acquisition and will step down in February from the central business district store should have a positive effect, and that
CEO role at Woolworths he has held since 2011 but will retain the store accounts for around 15 per cent of the retailer’s total sales. IRW
5
AROUND THE GLOBE NEWS
Around the globe
Amazon notches up big quarter share. At the top end of the range, the IPO will raise US$182.4 million
($271.5 million) and give the firm a valuation of US$768 million
Amazon has posted a blockbuster report for the final quarter for
($1.12 billion).
the 2019 financial year, delivering revenue of US$87.4 billion ($130
Launched in 2014, Casper, along with fellow online mattress
billion). The report immediately lifted shares by 13 per cent, sending
retailers such as Purple, Nectar Sleep and Tuft & Needle, has
the company’s market capitalisation to more than a trillion dollars.
squeezed the industry’s old players.
The company said sales rose by 21 per cent, compared with the
According to Reuters, investors hope that Casper’s increased
same quarter last year, largely due to strong holiday trading.
popularity with urban millennials will ensure it does not share the
Additionally, the big quarter came thanks to the continued growth
same fate as Mattress Firm, the largest US bricks-and-mortar
of Amazon Web Services (AWS), which saw a 34 per cent year-on-
mattress retailer that filed for bankruptcy protection in 2018.
year increase in sales for a total of US$9.95 billion in revenue for the
quarter, Ars Technica reports.
Amazon executives said that the company quadrupled same-day
Poles move away from snowboots
Poland’s biggest shoe retailer CCC has shifted its focus to year-
and one-day shipping over last year’s figures, and it credited part
round sports shoes rather than traditional winter boots following
of the holiday success to the company’s ability to offer expedient
a succession of mild winters blamed on global warming, Reuters
shipping.
reports.
CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement that Amazon now has more
Dariusz Milek, the company’s founder and one of Poland’s richest
than 150 million Amazon Prime members globally, a 50 per cent rise
men, said CCC had failed to respond to the changing climate in
over the past two years.
recent years and could ignore it no longer.
According to Forbes, the result was timely for investors, who were
“Two years ago and a year ago we thought that the mild winter
getting tired of Amazon’s “bottom-line disappointments” and were
was a one-off incident. Now we know that it is not,” Milek said.
happy to finally see earnings growth.
CCC is present in 23 countries and is the biggest shoe retailer in
Speed pressure hits UPS bottom line central and eastern Europe. IRW
United Parcel Service, the world’s biggest delivery company, has
forecast lower-than-expected 2020 earnings due to accelerated Victoria’s Secret CEO Leslie
Wexner could be stepping
spending on weekend delivery and the need for speedier service.
aside amidst controversy.
The announcement sent shares down 6.2 per cent, despite
remarks by chief executive David Abney to Reuters that the
downturn would be very short term and better results were tipped
for 2021.
Amazon is UPS’ largest customer, accounting for 11.6 per cent of
its revenue for the year. Its insistence of faster delivery has created
a need for UPS to hire more drivers and build up its logistics
networks quickly.
Epstein link hits L Brands CEO
L Brands CEO Leslie Wexner is said to be in talks to step aside from
the role. Wexner, who is 82 years old and the founder of L Brands,
is facing scrutiny for employing the disgraced Jeffrey Epstein as
a personal financial adviser, according to reports in the New York
Times.
L Brands, the owner of Victoria’s Secret, is also in discussions
with private equity firm Sycamore Partners for a full or partial sale of
the lingerie brand, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
Victoria’s Secret, which is worth about US$6 billion ($8.9 billion),
has faced declining sales over the past few years, as online
competition increased.
Casper IPO valuation slides
Casper Sleep, the US online mattress retailer whose investors
include actor Leonardo DiCaprio and rapper 50 Cent, expects its
initial public offering valuation to be well below the roughly US$1
billion it commanded in the last funding round.
In a regulatory filing, the company said it expects the offering
of 9.6 million shares to be priced between US$17 and US$19 per
6 insideretail.com.au
GET YOUR DEMO
7
Q&A From the source: The Urge In a world where customers are bombarded with new sites and brands every day, The Urge is an aggregator site that helps people search and filter through products from all over the world all in one place. We chat to co-founders Cayley and Doron Ostrin about managing savvy customers’ expectations and the challenges of online retailers. Interview by Jo-Anne Hui-Miller Inside Retail Weekly: Tell me about how The Urge began. You go to Westfield, walk from Myer to David Jones and Nike, you’d guys launched [data management platform] Productify, make a choice between those three locations and you’d buy. That didn’t you? was the process. Cayley Ostrin: Productify is still running today and it’s working with Now that everything’s online, there’s an endless stream of stores shopping centres around the world. Productify builds searchable that potentially have products and if you want to do the research, it’s malls for websites where you can browse products inside the mall. time-consuming. We noticed that customers don’t always go to shopping centres The flipside is say you’re in Westfield and you want a pair of to buy what they’re looking for. It’s moving online, so we saw a gap shoes in your size but it’s not in three different stores, so they’ll in the market. Why should we limit ourselves to the mall? We should call different locations for you. Now with online, you’re checking expand it to everyone, so we built a prototype about one-and-a-half [different sites] and looking for a shoe in your size. It’s just very years ago. We put it up, we didn’t tell anyone, we didn’t do press disjointed and so we’ve pulled it together, so that all the stores but we just saw it grow every month. Eventually, we split away selling that brand are in the one place and you can filter and find from Productify, created a new company and team and rebuilt exactly what you want. You might want a white sneaker, so you’ll the platform. filter through all the stores that have it, then do the research in a We turned on the new Urge site at the end of last April and the comparison journey within a few seconds, as opposed to spending traffic is still going. We work with different retailers all around the hours flicking through different sites. world, large and small. Our business model is based on an affiliate network, where we get commission on sales, but then we also work IRW: I’m assuming that the quality of the user experience is with retailers where we’re driving free traffic to their site. We’ll look to largely based on the sites that you present? monetise that, perhaps through a subscription model. DO: We’re aggregating, bringing stores together and making Doron Ostrin: But why are we doing The Urge for users? You might things searchable, but then when you click out, you do get a mixed think, ‘OK, I want a pair of Nike sneakers’, so you might go to the experience. Nike site or The Iconic, but then there’s David Jones and Myer and Like Google has been doing for years, if users are clicking out [of all these other sites. We’re seeing a lot of people get smarter about our site] but then coming back to us and still searching, how can how they spend their money. They want to make sure they’re getting we use that data to help users shop on the best sites? So we’re all the best deal, especially with Afterpay and Zip now that everyone’s about verified stores. We’re not an aggregator of everything. Every talking about the smart millennial and how they’re getting savvier. store has gone through a vetting process to be on our site. We do Before, you were very limited and if you wanted to be savvy, you’d that to make sure that when you find something that you love and 8 insideretail.com.au
Q&A
[their sites], we’ll extract their product data and show it on our
search engine. We don’t care if we’re not making money from it
because it’s a good user experience and if that grows and works,
There are so many things there are so many other ways for us to make money over time.
people are doing wrong in IRW: What would you like to see happen in the business in
the future?
the online retail space. DO: The main goal is to index all the world’s products and make
them easily searchable, which we’re doing right now, but we want to
be able to understand each user. People throw around the ‘AI’ term
and I hate saying it because it’s so overused and most people don’t
even know what AI means or use it.
But the main thing is if three people type in ‘jeans’ or ‘white
you click through – maybe it’s a store overseas you’ve never heard sneakers’ then different brands and pricepoints come up. We want
of – you can trust that the store is real and they won’t steal your to really personalise the experience. There are already over a million
credit card [details]. products on our site, so in a few months, there could be five billion,
People ask how we’re different to Google. Google’s just a broad and when you type ‘jeans’, it will be quite overwhelming.
search engine that helps you find any site where your keyword The real goal is for us to totally understand users based on their
exists, but often you’ll get places like eBay, random blogposts and prior searches and what they do on social networks, like who
Pinterest posts, which aren’t necessarily shoppable. Or they’re they follow on Instagram. We want to use that data to influence
shoppable, but you’re not sure if it’s legitimate. There’s so much the search results so when you search for something, it’s a really
uncertainty. customised experience. It’s easy to say, but hard to do.
So yes, we’re a search engine, but we still have a little level of
curation to make sure that when you’re searching and you find what IRW: What are your plans for the next 12 months?
you want, you don’t have any doubt. CO: We launched in Australia in April and we launched last year in
We have access to a lot of data. The Iconic converts highly and the US. We plan to expand into the UK and China early this year,
their sales are climbing, but the service on their site is fast and easy then after that, it’s very easy with our platform to launch into other
to use. When we drive people to retailers’ sites, we’re not sure how countries quickly. By the end of 2020, we plan to be global with ►
many of those are converting in comparison because the sites are
really bad. Bec and Bridge is
a popular brand on
IRW: What are some of the mistakes that you see online The Urge’s site.
retailers making on their sites?
DO: We’ve designed a great experience and we’ve recently had
retailers ask us to build their websites. There are so many roads
we could go down, whether it’s selling back data or analytics to
retailers, consulting, helping them with their platform.
There are so many things people are doing wrong in the online
retail space.
If it’s built well for Google, they’d get traffic and so many sites
have terrible SEO, things are broken or it doesn’t load without
JavaScript, which is hard for crawlers to extract data. Google is
a good crawler – you want them to crawl and index your site. There
are other people crawling your site to price match, but at the end of
the day, if you’re not making it easy for good crawlers to index you,
it’s hard to get traffic.
Then you look at big retailers doing it well and it’s like chalk
and cheese – they’re so different in terms of their platform
and investment. It’s often just small tweaks that make them
so much better.
IRW: How many retailers do you have on your site?
CO: We have just over 12,000 brands and 265 retailers today. It
takes time because we enforce quality. We have a list of 1500
retailers from around the world and every day, we try to add to it.
Most of them are on these affiliate networks. So we work with
the networks to get them approved and we’ve got to pitch why
they should pay commission on successful sales. They all say ‘yes’
straight away, because it’s another traffic source for them.
DO: When we’re sending free traffic, we’re like Google, like a search
engine. For a small brand, if we think it’s a good brand with good
product and we know customers want their product, we’ll crawl
9
Q&A
different languages. [for people to] see everything easily and compare.
We want to release a price-drop feature. On a lot of websites, you We want to also give recommendations so if you’re looking at a
can sign up to be notified when an item goes on sale. But no one’s product, we can say, ‘Here are some similar designs from brands in
really tapped into ‘notify me when these Nike shoes drop across any the US and UK.’ There are a few ways we’re looking at doing that.
store that sells them’. Most sites will tell you when The Iconic’s price The other thing people ask us is how we compete with Amazon.
has dropped, but David Jones could have dropped that price a week Isn’t Amazon doing the same thing? In the US, Amazon is the
ago and the customer wouldn’t have been notified. second-biggest search engine. But it’s not the right place for
Our price drop will be live later this week. Depending on the fashion. Nike recently pulled out of it. They only went in to patrol
volume of things we get, we might have to turn it off, but it’s in beta fakes. People want to go somewhere they can trust, that’s real,
mode at the moment. a good experience and beautifully designed. That’s how you buy
We do offer a personal shopping service. We get a lot of traffic fashion – it’s emotional. It’s not a fridge or a book, it’s different.
towards out-of-stock products that people are desperate for. So on CO: We’d like to expand into other departments one day – baby,
our site, on any out-of-stock page that people land onto, there’s a homewares, furniture. Once we get the launch global and get all
box that says, ‘Are you desperate for this item? One of our personal these features and personalisation under way, we’d love to expand
shoppers can help you track it down’. I’m the shopper right now. We into other areas.
get a lot of requests. It’s hard work. I’ve managed to find quite a few DO: The other thing is because our model works on affiliates, we’re
[products], but it takes a lot of time, so we might look to expand that seeing the return rates. A site might say they shipped out 1000
service to get more personal shoppers on the team. orders, but over 300 will come back. You’re spending a lot of time
DO: In the last 24 hours, two separate people were looking for the managing free returns, like repackaging and you have to do it to be
same bag from Mimco. We want to help retailers or brands by giving competitive. People want to try different sizes, so they’ll buy five,
them that data. pick one and send it back.
Bec and Bridge get a ton of traffic because they’re quite seasonal There’s something wrong there, but I want to see if it’s something
and when they sell out, they really sell out of products. But it we can help with. Over the last year, we’ve seen the rate of returns
would be great for them to know how much demand there is [for grow and the impact it has on businesses and their margins are
certain items], so they can release a similar style and access [those totally diminished because of it.
customers]. So if we have 100 people interested in that item and Bec Sites don’t make money because of their return rates. You might
and Bridge release something similar next season, the brand could say you’re doing $1 million a day but then the returns have to come
let those people know straight away about the item. I think there’s a back. How does anyone reduce that return rate? It’s on our minds at
nice role we can play to help brands and shoppers better connect. the moment. IRW
IRW: What are some other interesting features on the site?
Sometimes menswear
CO: Today, you can filter by Afterpay or other payment methods, the companies have only one
personal shopping service and different stores. store, so it’s hard to get
DO: The main thing we focus on is speed. We see people on the their products seen.
train using the internet and spotty wifi, but then they can do all their
research on our site which is super quick. Our site is focused on the
personal shopper – someone who could be a shopper as a full-time
job. We want to make it so easy for them to find [products].
CO: We’ve also got free shipping filters, free return filters...
DO: A lot of the time, you might find things you like at a few different
stores, but some are overseas and others are local. Sites like
Net-a-Porter can ship it to you faster than some locals can. So it’s
important to be able to filter via shipping and returns.
IRW: You guys also have a focus on emerging designers. Can
you tell me about that?
CO: Every day on my Instagram, I’m getting exposed to so many
new brands and designers, so that’s where we want to help these
designers so they can be seen by a global audience. They might be
local and have a site in Australia that drives traffic to Australians, but
then someone in America might browse The Urge and come across
them – they still ship overseas, but Google’s only sending them
Australian traffic.
DO: I was on a work trip in Toronto and there were all these cool
menswear stores. Their stuff was amazing, but I’d never heard of
these brands because they only had one store. The same thing
happens in New York, Santa Monica, all over the world and they
all ship internationally. Whenever you go overseas, people will say
something like, ‘Oh I love those board shorts, where do you get
them from?’. I’ll say, ‘Venroy in Sydney’. Then they go, ‘Oh I‘ve never
heard of them!’
Why is that the case? Everything is so global, but there’s no way
10 insideretail.com.auXxx
11FEATURE
Gender-bending: Say goodbye
to old stereotypes
Younger consumers are rewriting the narrative on gender and
it’s high time retailers listened. By Katie Smith
B
eyonce’s January drop of her latest Ivy Park collection his 26 million Instagram audience fanatical for his pastel nails, pearl
included a subtle shift: it’s positioned as gender neutral. necklace, brocade fabric suits and pussy bow shirts.
Whether you want to call it “gender neutrality”, “androgyny” In a December interview with the Guardian on the subject of his
or “unisex”, gender expression is being reworked by younger style, he stated, “[I don’t do it] because it makes me look gay, or it
consumers. They’re abandoning the notion of binary definitions of makes me look straight, or it makes me look bisexual, but because I
“male” and “female”. think it looks cool. And more than that, I dunno, I just think sexuality’s
Of course, the blurring of gender lines is nothing new in fashion. something that’s fun.”
Icons include Yves Saint Laurent’s 1966 Le Smoking tuxedo for It was perhaps 2019’s Met Gala theme, “Camp: Notes on Fashion”,
women and Jean Paul Gaultier’s 1985 skirt for men. What is new is hosted by Styles in a sheer blouse and single pearl earring, that
the broader, consumer-driven cultural conversation around gender launched Timothee Chalamet onto the global fashion scene. He won
and sexuality. the top male spot in Lyst’s Most Influential in Fashion 2019 report,
Digital platforms have enabled marginalised people to form which takes into account search volume, social media, sales and
community online, amplifying understanding of diverse viewpoints. designer ranking.
Gender is now operating on a moving scale – consumers can use the Chalamet is often seen in fluid tailoring and feminine blouses on the
scale as an expression on any given day. red carpet. But his style isn’t limited to subversive or camp gender-
Data suggests this is an enduring shift in values rather than a mixing. He also dresses androgynously, including the cerulean blue
passing fad. According to research by GLAAD, an organisation that Haider Ackermann colour-block look he wore for the Sydney premiere
champions LGBTQ rights, 12 per cent of American millennials identify of The King, his latest film.
as transgender or gender non-conforming. That’s double the amount At the Academy Awards last year, actor Billy Porter appeared on
of the preceding generation. The report also found that 27 per cent of the red carpet in a jaw-dropping tuxedo gown designed by Christian
millennials know someone who is transgender, versus just 9 per cent Siriano, arguably propelling him into fashion icon status.
of Americans over the age of 45. “My goal is to be a walking piece of political art every time I show
And in a survey of 4500 Gen Z consumers, Wunderman Thompson up. To challenge expectations. What is masculinity? What does that
Intelligence’s Generation Z Asia report found eight out of 10 mean? Women show up every day in pants, but the minute a man
respondents say gender doesn’t define a person as much as it wears a dress, the seas part,” Porter wrote in Vogue about his outfit
used to. choice that night.
“People are going to be really uncomfortable with my black ass in a
Who wore it best? ball gown – but it’s not anybody’s business but mine.”
A look at Gen Z’s current role models highlights the broad range The hugely influential K-pop stars in Southeast Asia have driven
of gender non-conforming personas. Harry Styles stands out, with consumers locally. Its stars, like Kang Daniel of Wanna One and the
12 insideretail.com.auFEATURE
Gucci-drenched BTS band members, are pros at mixing jewellery, It’s almost by chance that things turned out like this.
accessories, atypically feminine garments and makeup. “When we did our first round of style research and development,
According to Amelia Teh, head of business intelligence at we’d designed specific pieces for men and women but we also
Omnilytics, “Korean fashion is known to defy the boundaries of encouraged people to try on anything they wanted and purposely
stereotypical gender-labelled clothing and diverging towards a more didn’t display the pieces in categories,” Holm shared.
gender-neutral approach. The rise of streetwear further blurred “What we noticed was that men tried on traditional women’s
the lines of gender specification. Åland, Seoul’s leading streetwear pieces and vice versa. They didn’t even realise at the time.”
retailer which operates a flagship store in Brooklyn, New York, has Subsequently the brand is “always looking for ways to make our
over 60 per cent contribution of unisex assortment.” clothes more inclusive and wearable for all”, with its linen shirts,
Teh attributes this shift to “exponential economic success” of trousers, boxy shorts and sweatshirts selling best across genders.
the region, with more “affluent families sending their children for
education overseas, their new influences break down the traditional Is the broader local market ready for it?
conservatism of the older generations”. While Australia may only have recently legalised same-sex marriage,
the market may in fact be more open to unisex apparel than the UK.
A crop of new brands At time of writing, the Australian market was on track in January to
Not only are existing brands, like Acne Studios, Adidas Originals, beat the previous highest recorded monthly new arrivals of products
H&M and Tommy Hilfiger responding to the gender-neutral shift with defined as gender-neutral, genderless or unisex by 25 per cent,
crossover merchandise, but there is also a wave of new entrants according to data provided by Omnilytics.
to the market. Tomboyx, a new brand from the US, produces Leading the way are retailers like The Iconic, with close to 1000
ungendered underwear. A range of lengths ensures fit “no matter unisex SKUs, Asos with around 400 and Glue Store with a little over
your size or equipment”! 200.
In retail, The Phluid Project is an ungendered retail store that And Australia’s gender-neutral offering is more accessible than
opened in Brooklyn in late 2018. The store also acts as a platform for the UK. In Australia, 31 per cent of the current assortment is priced
community, hosting events and discussions. under $100, with the median price point coming in at $180.56.
Australia has homegrown gender-inclusive brands too, including Meanwhile in the UK, the gender-neutral assortment takes a heftier
Melbourne-based Best Jumpers, Ten Pieces and A.BCH, which was median price of $293.43 and just 23.5 per cent of the assortment
founded in 2017 by Courtney Holm. Though the brand’s website is sits under $100.
separated into men’s and women’s, most items are styled on either
gender. The brand’s aesthetic, muted tones, natural fibres and boxy Where to start?
shapes perfectly appeal to all According to JWT Intelligence research, only 37 per cent of Gen
Z and 36 per cent of millennials shop the accessories category
by gender. Accessories only currently account for 9.6 per cent of
Australia’s gender neutral assortment. It’s an easy way in, without
constraints of fit.
A good place to start is with the styling and casting of models in
campaign imagery – make it inclusive and give the stylist free rein
over both men’s and womenswear.
As Holm pointed out, “It’s up to us as the brand to portray through
our digital communications and imagery just how great garments
can look on men, women, non-binary, short, tall, slim, curvy, mature,
youthful and everyone in between.”
It’s crucial to talk to your customers to find out what they want and
need. Open the conversation and find ways for store staff to share
anecdotal insight on which products have non-binary appeal. From
here, shift the way your customer profiles are built, making them less
prescriptive and encapsulating the new values.
The real challenge lies not in fit, but in the way retail businesses
are structured and stores are laid out. Designers and buyers at
most retailers are separated into men’s and women’s teams,
with reporting and budgets specific to each. As we move into
the future of fashion, we’ll need to take a more agile approach to
team function.
Whether you see a future with product defined by occasion or fit
and not gender, or whether it’s styling the occasional men’s piece
on women, our consumers are changing and so must the industry.
Defying that change will only alienate Gen Z consumers. IRW
“People are going to be really Katie Smith is a retail and trends strategist, with a deep love of data-
uncomfortable with my black ass in
a ball gown,” says Billy Porter (right), led insights and technology. Her research is used by brands and
“But it’s not anybody’s business but mine.” retailers on four continents to build out effective product offerings
and connect with their consumers. Contact: hi@katiesmith.me
13FEATURE
NRF Big Show: Here are
the CEO insights you missed
The National Retail Federation’s annual Big Show in New York
City sets the global agenda for the retail industry each January.
Here are four key trends from this year’s event that should be
on your radar in 2020 By Heather McIlvaine
1. The human experience is back in focus or girl, where when they put Under Armour on, it’s a gift and a brand
You’d be forgiven for thinking that all of retail was moving towards promise that makes them say, ‘When I wear this, I can do anything’.
digital-first, direct-to-consumer brands, so great has the buzz “Because one thing we all know is that the world doesn’t need
surrounding Warby Parker, Casper, Bonobos and similar businesses another capable apparel and footwear manufacturer. They need a
been in recent years. But at the NRF event in January, it was the dream, they need hope, and that’s the positioning that’s our best
national bricks-and-mortar chains that impressed, with their return play.”
to focus on the human experience.
You heard it from the likes of Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson 2. Art is the new tech in bricks-and-mortar stores
talking about the coffee giant’s mission to inspire and nurture the There was a period of time when automated stores and warehouses
human spirit, one cup at a time, and from Under Armour’s founder were all anyone could talk about. For some people, that is still the
and chairman Kevin Plank sharing the brand’s vision to build a case today. Robots, artificial intelligence and machine learning
human performance company that solves problems for consumers, are ushering in a new highly efficient, ultra-convenient and cost
rather than just selling them apparel and footwear products. effective era in retail. But we’re beginning to see a backlash against
A cynical person might think it’s mere marketing spin; something this single-minded view, with some interesting examples of retailers
to put on the “company values” page on the website. But in the age using art to connect with consumers in a way that robots simply
of Amazon, it’s the retailers that are thinking beyond their basic can’t. Showfields and Area15 are two good examples of this.
function of providing goods to customers that are thriving. Retailers Showfields is a new department store in New York City that aims
that are coming up with creative ways to draw customers into their to make it as easy for direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands to open a
stores and keep them coming back, such as the new Nordstrom physical store as it is for them to start selling online. But in addition
Local store in New York City, where shoppers can drop off online to showcasing dozens of brands across four storeys in its 1400sqm
returns for any retailer, not just Nordstrom. department store, Showfields also features art exhibits, theatrical
“Everything we do is about solving that consumer’s problem and events and interactive experiences, which are constantly refreshed
making them better,” Plank said at the event. and open to the public.
“The bottom line of that is innovation, how we are innovating and Area15 is a newly opened 11,000sqm mall in the middle of Las
solving problems for that consumer, that young athlete, that little boy Vegas. But in addition to the usual mix of retail tenants, it dedicates
14 insideretail.com.auFEATURE
a significant portion of its space to art and entertainment. Last year,
the mall collaborated with Meow Wolf, an art collective known for
creating immersive art exhibits.
I don’t know why it took us
“We live in a world that’s highly focused on utility and hyper
convenience,” said Dan Pelson, Area15’s COO. “What we’re bringing
so long to put drinking and
is the other side of that, a tangible experience, the ability to present
things to consumers and humans who want to connect to culture
and art.”
shoes together, but it’s a
3. Everyone’s serving booze in stores
Another retail trend that emerged at the event, and, arguably, it’s one great combination.
that has already made its way to Australian shores, is the boutique
bar, the libation while you’re looking, the mid-shopping spree spritz.
To put it simply, everyone’s serving booze in stores now.
Nordstrom’s co-president and CEO Erik Nordstrom put it
succinctly when he said, “I don’t know why it took us so long to put aims to reach the next generation of consumers in North America,
drinking and shoes together, but it’s a great combination.” Inside the where it has more than 100 bricks-and-mortar stores.
retailer’s flagship store in New York, located in the shoe department Crate & Barrel currently works with around 60 different micro-
is indeed, a bar. influencers, and isn’t afraid to let its customers advocate for the
“To see how many customers were sitting on the couch, trying company.
on shoes with a drink in their hand, there was just a different vibe. “Increasingly, a brand is what other people say about you, not
People were smiling, strangers were talking to each other,” he said. what you say about yourself,” Montgomery observed. “
Crate & Barrel’s CEO Neela Montgomery said she experienced Under Armour has embraced influencers in a much larger way.
a similar revelation when checking out the furniture company’s When it launched its global “The Only Way is Through” campaign
first full-service restaurant, The Table at Crate, which opened in a last month, it did so by bringing 135 influencers representing an
Chicago store last year. There were a surprising number of people audience of more than 170 million to a three-day summit at its
enjoying lunch and a glass of wine at the bar, before presumably headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, in addition to top-tier athletes,
browsing the retailer’s wares after paying the bill. such as Michael Phelps, Lindsay Vonn and Jordan Spieth.
“For us, it’s a great way to experience the brand in a different “It’s a new day for us in how we’re communicating with the
context,” Montgomery said. “Obviously it’s driven a lot of growth in consumer,” Plank said. “It’s not just about signing an athlete, they
traffic to the store, which is something we all need to think about.” wear their product on the field or on the court, and the next thing
you know, the consumer is buying it. It’s connecting with them on a
4. Influencers aren’t going away much different level.” IRW
Montgomery also spoke about Crate & Barrel’s use of micro-
influencers, a relatively new move for the 58-year-old brand as it Heather McIlvaine travelled to NRF as a guest of Intel.
Crate & Barrel CEO Neela Montgomery.
15FIGURES
$287.7 million 94%
The amount Greenlit Consumers who believe online
Brands lost during FY19 product reviews are trustworthy.
Source: Greenlit Source: Capterra
49% 36%
The world’s population that Australian businesses that aren’t sure
is now on social media. that they’ve identified all payslip
errors and corrected them.
Source: Hootsuite
Source: Australian Payroll Association
42% $50 million
Boohoo’s rise in revenue The amount that
ending 31 December Jeanswest owes creditors.
Source: Boohoo Source: KPMG
Retales
Sydneysiders Elias Honor, his brother Isaac and their childhood friend Jack Graham once had a
vision of selling Australia’s fresh, clean air to the world, specifically to people in places like Shanghai
and Mumbai.
Their company, AusAir, makes face masks featuring filters infused with Australian botanicals such
as eucalyptus and Tasmanian lavender. The masks have been designed to be comfortable and soft,
and in lovely shades of pink, grey and black.
They won a series of student entrepreneurship awards, and the masks are ready for sale this
month. But in a terrible ironic twist, it seems Australia may become one of the most important initial
markets for the fledgling company, as the bushfire crisis continues to rage on.
One early adapter quoted by the Guardian said, “The websites are trying to make something
that is horrific seem quite appealing … There is a certain Blade Runner-y feeling of embracing our
fashionable dystopia.”
16 insideretail.com.auPROPERTY
Camperdown sale smashes record
A vacant 195sqm retail building in Australia Street, Camperdown, retail and night life,” Ridley said.
Sydney, has been purchased by the O’Brien family from Australian The single-storey building has two car spaces on a corner
Perpetual Properties for $2 million. landholding. The short lease tail provides the opportunity to occupy
This equated to a building rate of $10,256 per square metre, or release in a tightly held retail property that has been leased for
which smashed the suburb’s record of $6660 per square metre. over 30 years and the property has flexible B1 zoning allowing
The yield achieved was 2.5 per cent, and the deal was negotiated for residential, retail, childcare, medical and boarding house
by David Hickey and Oliver Ridley of Savills metropolitan and development.
regional sales. Ridley said Camperdown is set to benefit from $16.8 billion being
“The purchaser has taken a longer-term view on Camperdown spent on the WestConnex infrastructure upgrades.
and was attracted to location and capital growth forecast. The “The nearby Parramatta Road Corridor project has the potential
property will benefit from having the significant infrastructure to transfer the immediate area into a public transport friendly
upgrades on Parramatta Road and being so close to the Sydney commercial/retail hub connecting the CBD to the Inner West and
University, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and bustling King Street beyond,” he said.
St Lucia sale sets Qld benchmark
A new yield record for an IGA-anchored shopping centre has been cent of the 1960sqm gross lettable area on a 15-year lease, and is
set with the sale of St Lucia Marketplace in Brisbane. accompanied by 11 specialty tenancies reflecting a WALE of
MRL Investments purchased the 3033sqm site for $15 million from 6.17 years.
Marquette Properties, representing a building rate of $7653/sqm and CBRE’s Joe Tynan and Michael Hedger managed a significant
fully leased yield of a record 5.5 per cent. expressions of Interest campaign, attracting 134 inquiries and 11
On the corner of Hawken Drive and Boomerang Road in St Lucia, serious offers from local, interstate and offshore investors.
just 4km from the Brisbane CBD, the Marketplace consists of two, “The level of inquiry and bidding was above average for this
two-level buildings. category of shopping centre, primarily due to its prime location
Brisbane’s leading IGA operator, Hopper Group, occupies 56 per and solid investment fundamentals,” Tynan said. IRW
Brisbane’s leading IGA operator,
Hopper Group, occupies 56 per cent
of the space on a 15-year lease.
17PEOPLE
Appointments Contact us
EDITOR
Jo-Anne Hui-Miller
Moves at the top for Endeavour jo-anne.h@octomedia.com.au
Woolworths Group has announced that Steve Donohue
ONLINE EDITOR
(pictured) has been appointed CEO (elect) and Colin Storrie
Heather McIlvaine
COO and CFO (elect) of its drinks retailer Endeavour Group.
heather.m@octomedia.com.au
Donohue has held a broad range of roles across the drinks
business, starting as a store manager in Dan Murphy’s as a
JOURNALIST
19-year-old and progressing into senior buying, merchandising Dean Blake
and marketing roles in Dan Murphy’s, BWS and Endeavour
dean.blake@octomedia.com.au
Drinks. He also held the role of director of buying and
merchandising for Woolworths Supermarkets prior to taking on
CONTRIBUTORS
the role of managing director of Endeavour Drinks.
Joyce Abaño, Jared Dickson,
Storrie joined Woolworths in 2015 as group deputy CFO
Norrelle Goldring
and from July 2016 he was appointed MD of group portfolio
businesses. During this time, he also served on the boards of
SUB-EDITOR
ALH Group and Quantium Group. Prior to this, he held group Margaret MacNabb
treasurer, deputy CFO and CFO positions at both Qantas
and AMP. GRAPHIC DESIGN
Woolworths foreshadowed that further changes at Pablo Colombi
Endeavour would be communicated soon. In December, Peter
Hearl, a food and beverage industry veteran, was named as ADVERTISING
the proposed chairman-elect of Endeavour. Jeff Purser
ads@octomedia.com.au
0408 401 076
Changing the guard at H&M
Stefan Persson (pictured) will step down as chairman of Suite 3, Ground Floor.
Swedish clothing and retail group H&M at the AGM and has 131 Clarence Street
proposed that Karl-Johan Persson succeed him. Helena Sydney NSW 2000
Helmersson has been appointed the new CEO.
After more than 20 years in the position, Persson has decided PO Box R217
not to stand for re-election at the AGM on May 7. Karl-Johan, Royal Exchange NSW 1225
who is Stefan Persson’s son, has been CEO for the past 10 Telephone: (02) 9901 1800
years. The change will go to a vote at the AGM.
Helmersson started at H&M in 1997 as an economist at
SUBSCRIPTIONS
H&M’s buying department and thereafter held various roles subs@octomedia.com.au
within buying and production. She was sustainability manager
for five years and after that production manager based in Hong ISSN 1448-1642
Kong. For just over a year she has been COO. A.B.N. 98 090 664 305
H&M and its associated companies operate in 62 countries,
including Australia, with over 4500 stores and as of 2015
employed around 132,000 people. FOLLOW US @INSIDERETAIL
Barron retires from Sportsgirl
Sportsgirl/Sussan Group has announced the retirement of
group COO Barry Barron (pictured), after 33 years with the Copyright notice:
company.
Barron joined the group from Woolworths South Africa as Readers are reminded that the content of this
publication is subject to copyright, vested in
CFO. In 1999 he became GM of the newly purchased and Octomedia Pty Ltd. Readers and subscribers are
financially challenged Sportsgirl for five years before assuming expressly forbidden from copying and re-posting
the contents of this publication or republishing all
the group COO position in 2005. or any part of it without the express permission
In his retirement, Barron will also fill a position of the group of the publisher or group editor. Octomedia Pty Ltd
reserves all of its rights against any pirating or
advisory board. unauthorised use of such materials and publication
As recently as 2018, according to the Australian Financial without its prior written permission.
Review’s Street Talk column, CEO Naomi Milgrom was seeking
a buyer for the chain, which industry sources said had an
estimated value of $300 million to $400 million. IRW
18 insideretail.com.auYou can also read
