Today in Retail: L’Oréal Rides eCommerce Growth to Successful Year; Kohl’s Board Nearing Overhaul

Today in retail, eCommerce sales remain strong in the latest Mastercard SpendingPulse data, while O’Reilly Automotive sets another record for annual revenue. Plus, Mattel rebrands itself as an IP-driven toy company.

eCommerce Sales Outpace Robust 7.2% Retail Jump in New Year, Mastercard Data Show

Digital sales jumped 10.4% in January compared to a year ago, showing significantly faster growth than the total U.S. retail sales estimate of 7.2%, according to the latest Mastercard SpendingPulse data released Thursday (Feb. 10). Digital commerce sales were up 110% compared to January 2019.

SpendingPulse also found that apparel sales were up 37.6% year over year for January, the strongest growth in SpendingPulse history. Luxury items saw a 45.3% jump and jewelry sales were up 18.8%.

L’Oréal eCommerce Growth Sparks 2021 Sales Spike

L’Oréal pointed to its eCommerce growth of 25.7% as one of the driving forces behind its successful 2021, which was marked by an overall 16.1% increase in sales, twice the industry standard to 32.28 billion euros ($36.82 billion).

L’Oréal’s eCommerce growth accounted for 28.9% of the company’s overall 2021 sales, according to its quarterly and full-year earnings report.

Mattel Rebrands as ‘IP-Driven Toy Company,’ Touts Disney, Netflix, Warner, Microsoft Deals

Mattel Chairman and CEO Ynon Kreiz made clear during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call Wednesday (Feb. 9) that the company’s California media connections and his own roots in the film business were playing an increasingly important role in driving its transformation and earnings.

While reporting that Mattel’s products had “resonated with consumers at levels not seen in years” last quarter, Kreiz also pointed to a future of higher growth rates, this year and more so in 2023, that has been built on the backs of a string of big-name deals.

Activist Investors Nominating 10 New Kohl’s Board Members

Activist investor group Macellum Advisors GP LLC on Thursday (Feb. 10) named the 10 board members it will nominate at Kohl’s upcoming investor day March 7, led by Rutgers Law School educator and diversity consultant Stacy Hawkins and former Macy’s executive Jeffrey Kantor.

Macellum Managing Partner Jonathan Duskin, another board nominee, cited Kohl’s ongoing “underperformance” in a letter to Kohl’s executives with the full slate of candidates.

O’Reilly Automotive Rides Jump in Ship-to-Home, BOPIS

Auto parts retailer O’Reilly Automotive’s comparable store sales — which include ship-to-home and in-store pickup online orders — increased 14.5% in the fourth quarter of last year after an 11.2% increase at the end of 2020. Year over year, O’Reilly’s comparable store sales were up 13.3% in 2021 after a 10.9% increase from 2019 to 2020.

That growth gives the company 29 consecutive years of comparable store sales growth, record revenue and operating income since it became public in April 1993, the O’Reilly press release says.