In today’s top retail news, luxury brands are actively curating their own selections of secondhand items to attract their niche of customers, while the new omicron coronavirus variant is threatening retail’s recovery. Also, Cyber Monday sales fell year-over-year to below $11 billion, and Twitter’s new CEO has his work cut out for him when it comes to social commerce.
Luxury Brands Rush to Own the Resale Experience
As the growth of the secondhand market continues to pick up speed and supply chain bottlenecks slow the availability of some merchandise, luxury brands are trying to make sure they don’t miss out. Because it’s luxury, however, brands are not simply showcasing any old dress or blouse — it still has to appeal to the core customer base. Oscar de la Renta and Valentino, for example, both work with vetted vintage sellers to curate an exclusive selection of items.
Omicron Threatens to Extend Retailers’ Labor, Supply Chain Woes
With U.S. inflation above 6% and the new COVID-19 omicron variant quickly emerging across the world, retailers are bracing for the possibility that supply chain disruptions and labor shortages could extend well into 2022 and are looking for ways to dampen the impact. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the recent rise of COVID-19 cases and the emergence of the new variant “pose downside risks to employment and economic activity and increased uncertainty for inflation.”
Cyber Monday Sales Fall to $10.7B
Cyber Monday sales fell for the first time in at least a decade, dropping 1.4% from $10.8 billion last year to $10.7 billion this year, according to Adobe Analytics data. U.S. shoppers spent almost $110 billion from Nov. 1 through Cyber Monday, up 11.9% from the same time in 2020, according to Adobe. That total includes 22 days when shoppers spent more than $3 billion.
New Twitter CEO Inherits Lackluster Social Commerce Capabilities
Jack Dorsey’s surprise announcement that he would be stepping down as CEO of Twitter opens the door for a potential new chapter of innovation and growth under new Chief Executive and former CTO Parag Agrawal — one that perhaps sees a greater focus on social commerce. Unlike rival social media companies that have been quicker to invite brands and shoppers to meet on their platforms, Twitter only recently started investing more heavily in commerce functionalities.
