Today in Retail: Razer Launches Apparel for Gamers; Macy’s Shoppers Return to Stores

Today in retail, frictionless commerce is changed for good by artificial intelligence and passive authentication, while 40% of grocery shoppers are likely to dump a merchant if they don’t trust them. Plus, dollar stores highlight value and convenience as inflation rises, grocers rely on upgraded payment options to help shoppers cut the line and Williams-Sonoma brands are buoyed by high gas prices, remote work and housing.

The Data Point: 40% of Grocery Shoppers Likely to Drop a Merchant Over Trust Issues

PYMNTS found that 46% of those we surveyed bought retail goods and 31% purchased groceries via online channels in the prior month.

That’s one of many findings in “Satisfaction In The Age Of eCommerce: How Online Cultivating Long-Term Customer Ties Merchants Are Cultivating Long-Term Customer Ties,” a PYMNTS and Riskified collaboration. Based on surveys of nearly 2,160 consumers in 2022, we examined aspects of online commerce that most impact trust and loyalty for merchants and shoppers.

Razer Launches Genesis and Unleashed Apparel Collections for Gamers

Gamer-focused apparel brand Razer on Thursday (May 26) launched the Genesis and Unleashed fashion lines that are joining other previously released limited-edition collaborations with BAPE and Fossil, the company said in a press release.

The Genesis and Unleashed collections will give more gamers access to the brand’s streetwear, the press release said, noting the apparel is “For Gamers. By Gamers.”

Dollar Stores Soar as ‘Value and Convenience’ Tap Into Consumer Trade-Down

After a bruising month beneath the weight of disappointing earnings results and consumer concerns across the retail industry, the nation’s two largest chains of dollar stores — with a combined 35,000 locations between them — pushed back on that sinking narrative Thursday (May 26) with a set of strong results and improved guidance.

The first-quarter earnings reports from Dollar Tree and Dollar General saw both stocks enjoying a 10% to 15% pop in early trading, after shedding more than 20% over the past 30 days.

For its part, segment leader Dollar General saw its Q1 revenues grow 4%, with same-store sales down 0.1%. At the same time, Dollar General also said that, like its rival, that it planned to invest in improving its in-store experience, including inventory initiatives aimed at raising the level of in-stock items, while trying to limit out-of-stock merchandise that frustrates customers.

Macy’s Embraces Customers’ Return to Brick-and-Mortar Stores

While many retailers are content with having their customers shop online for what they need, Macy’s says it’s happy to see its customers coming back to its brick-and-mortar locations as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to subside, particularly in the U.S. and most non-Asian geographies.

The company reported lower-than-expected digital sales for the first quarter of 2022. Executives were buoyed by their highest level of active customers in four years — 44.4 million people — a number that includes 29.1 million Star Rewards members, said Chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette in the earnings call.

An increase in occasion-based sales led to increased foot traffic, particularly in Macy’s stores, he said. Bloomingdales, meanwhile, exceeded the company’s expectations both in stores and online, with 4 million shoppers in the quarter, up 21%, finding “an evolved product assortment” worked at targeting young shoppers.

Williams-Sonoma Gets Lift From Housing, Remote Work, High Gas Prices

Multi-branded home furnishing retailer Williams-Sonoma credited the combination of strong real estate, high gasoline prices and more people working from home for driving record first-quarter results and a strong outlook.

To hit its full-year guidance as well as its long-term goal of reaching $10 billion in annual revenues by 2024, up from $8.2 billion last year, the parent company of Pottery Barn, West Elm and a half dozen other brands said it is looking to leverage growth across its core retail businesses, as well as through its newer B2B efforts, its marketplace and its global expansion plans.

AI, Passive Authentication Are ‘Game Changers’ for Frictionless Commerce

Jason Paguandas, vice president of fraud mitigation and strategy at Canadian payment and value exchange service provider Interac, told PYMNTS that artificial intelligence (AI) can give rise to “dynamic, passive authentication,” across all avenues of commerce.

As Paguandas noted, AI has been a tool used for decades. According to a recent PYMNTS study, 75% of acquiring banks are already using AI in some form within their lines of defense against fraud. Whenever a consumer uses their payment card, that transaction is evaluated against various risk factors — in real time.

“What’s changed as of late is the diversity of data that organizations have access to, especially with some of the trends that we are seeing with the digitization of that data,” he said.

Grocers Help Shoppers to Cut the Line with Upgraded Payment Options

Madeline Aufseeser, global omnichannel grocery leader at ACI Worldwide, which provides electronic payments solutions for more than 6,000 organizations around the world, spoke with PYMNTS about how grocers are reexamining their relationships with customers through a payments lens.

Ten years ago, grocery customers typically just swiped their credit or debit cards at the terminal, Now, contactless payments are common, and some grocery chains have even started experimenting with cashier-less technology that allows customers to skip the checkout line altogether.

In an eBook titled “Who’s Shopping at Your Store? The five new grocery-buying personas and how to win them over,” based on data from a 2021 PYMNTS study created in collaboration with ACI Worldwide, the software company outlined five distinct types of grocery customers, noting that each group comes to the store with different expectations for their retail journeys.