A New Breed of Influencers Emerge During Covid-19
The Robin Report
August 24, 2020
“Influencer” has become a dirty word. Brands were slowly gravitating from macro to micro influencers before the pandemic. But “Covidiot” influencers such as Arielle Charnas––who took a very public trip to the Hamptons seven days after being diagnosed with Covid-19––have expedited the idiocy process. Even though Nordstrom hadn’t worked with Charnas since 2019, social media users called out Nordstrom for months until the retailer issued a formal statement saying they had no plans to work with her in the future
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Tags: Retail, Sales, COVID19
What DTC Home Brands Need to Do Differently
The Robin Report
August 11, 2020
It sounded like the perfect retail model. Brandless was the brand that wasn’t a brand with a direct-to-consumer, product-centric sales strategy. For the first two years, every product was just $3. Brandless maintained that this was made possible by the fact that they didn’t charge a “brand tax” and were thus positioned to pass on the savings that would have been spent on marketing and packaging.
In February, Brandless announced they were halting operations. But less than six months after freezing functions, Brandless is coming back. Here’s what they did wrong the first time, what they’re doing differently, and what other DTC brands can learn from their initial failure’
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Tags: Marketing, Retail, Sales
Which Retailers Alienated Consumers During Covid Shutdowns?
The Robin Report
August 02, 2020
Oh, yes. It’s callout time. Deloitte spoke to “The Great Retail Bifurcation” well before the Covid crisis. But, since Covid spread to the Western world, we’ve seen a 26 percent increase in commercial Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings in April alone. Retailers without a strategy to remain relevant and agile aren’t going to make it through this. And there are certain retailers that seem to be going out of their way to estrange themselves from the few customers they have left.
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Tags: Supply Chain, Retail, COVID19
A Closer Look at Brands That Are Thriving During Covid
The Robin Report
July 20, 2020
These are challenging times, but not all retailers are struggling. The 8.7 percent drop in retail sales from February to March didn’t hit every sector. While clothing and accessory sales took the biggest hit, certain retailers––such as those selling home furnishings online––unexpectedly benefitted from consumer shopping behaviors during the pandemic and signs point to the fact that they’ll continue to thrive after the outbreak. Beyond the obvious sanitization companies like Clorox and Purell, video conferencing apps (Zoom and Google Hangouts), and bulk food providers (yeah, yeah, Costco) certain companies that are making big money on the downlow as the nation begins to reopen retail stores.
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Tags: Retail, Sales, COVID19
Is Kanye’s New Gap Collaboration Dead on Arrival?
The Robin Report
July 06, 2020
It’s supposed to be the collaboration of the decade. Right when Kanye West’s Yeezy brand launched its interactive 3D website, Mr. West announced a new ongoing collaboration with Gap. Kanye will remodel a Gap outlet downtown Chicago as part of the deal. It seems like a good idea, right? The Yeezy/Adidas sneaker collab was hugely successful and Yeezy brought in $1.3 billion last year alone. But this doesn’t mean that Yeezy would also bring new life to the ailing mall-based retailer.
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Tags: Retail, Sales
A Mental Health Crisis: Gen Z and Coronavirus
The Robin Report
June 30, 2020
The hot topic on everyone’s minds is: why won’t Gen Z stay inside? The answer to this question is complicated, but it also has big implications for the retail industry. The world is in a tizzy about the behavior of Next-Gens during Covid. Gen Z is taking fewer precautions than any other generation to prevent virus spread. Only slightly over half (57 percent) are social distancing and there was an onslaught of photos of Gen Z and millennials partying it up over spring break on the beach.
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Tags: Retail, COVID19, Mental Health
Millennial and Gen Z Trust in a Newly Reopened World
The Robin Report
June 07, 2020
It’s a strange time to come of age, but Gen Z is doing just that in a world on lockdown. While it’s beginning to look like there’s light at the end of the tunnel for nonessential retailers, NextGen consumers have been profoundly impacted by the Covid crisis and their purchasing behavior will never be the same. Young consumers’ trust, and engagement with brands during shutdowns will play a factor in what brands they choose to patronize when stores reopen. The number of available entry-level jobs will also play a factor, as that determines NextGen’s expendable income level once they move out of their parents’ homes. However, this discussion is geared towards what brands can do to gain market share, as opposed to a report on the state of the economy.
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Tags: Retail, COVID19
Doing it Right: Mixed Use Retail Spaces for Millennials
The Robin Report
January 07, 2020
It’s time that retailers learn what real estate investors already know: Mixed-use retail spaces are the mall of the future. Mixed-use retail spaces refer to spaces with more than one function, such as: dining, grocery, fitness, leisure, pet care, coworking spaces, and/or medical facilities. And those real estate folks were definitely onto something when they named mixed-use retail spaces the highest-rated investment niche of 2017.
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Tags: Startups, Retail, SportsTech
Thought Leadership & Blog Content
The Robin Report
January 01, 2020
See my latest retail and generational thought leadership for The Robin Report.
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Tags: Business Strategy, Digital Disruption, Retail
Is Radical Transparency the Way Forward for Retailers?
linkedin
June 27, 2019
How much should your customers know about the internal operations of your company? If your answer is “literally everything,” then you’re probably on the right track. Retailers whose offerings span the gamut – from shaving accessories to distilled spirits– are finding that radical transparency can give them a competitive advantage in their respective industries. While the State of Fashion report called radical transparency “a trend to watch” for 2019, radical transparency is more than just a flash-in-the-pan trend - it’s the way of the future.
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Tags: Supply Chain, Retail
AI in Customer Service: Not Always What You'd Expect
linkedin
June 05, 2019
When you think about AI in customer service, what comes to mind? For many, the connection between these two isn’t necessarily a positive one: it can bring to mind past experiences with frustrating chatbots or dead-end call center automation programs. If these were the only applications of AI in retail, it would paint a grim picture of retail’s future. After all, AI use in customer service is on the rise and Gartner predicts that 25% of customer service companies will use virtual assistants by 2020. Luckily, these two examples don’t even scratch the surface of the potentialities of AI in customer service.
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Tags: AI, Customer Experience, Retail
The truth about online returns
linkedin
January 29, 2019
I took part in Halloween Expo over the weekend where we held multiple panels and roundtables on the subject of retail. One of the biggest questions attendees were asking was how to handle customer returns. These Halloween retailers wanted to know how to handle it when customers wore their costumes and then tried to return them right after the holiday, and it seemed everyone had a different opinion about what was a reasonable course of action to prevent this from happening. Here are the options, as discussed:
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Tags: Retail
Customer Loyalty in 2019
linkedin
September 20, 2018
Millennials get blamed for "killing" a lot of industries – R.I.P retail, real estate, social security, relationships, soap ... and Hooters. Yet amidst all of the supposed damage inflicted by my generation, for each retail company closing another 2.7 companies open stores. Cut us some slack, it only makes sense that we don't want to try to navigate our way through a 144,500 square foot Costco when we can go online and order the same products at a similar price-point. After all, most of us don't eat the stuff they pass off as "food samples" anyway.
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Tags: Customer Experience, Retail, Customer Loyalty
Social Media Advertising Worldwide
linkedin
September 19, 2016
Ecommerce is today’s fastest-growing retail segment and social media is a catalyst for that growth. Advertising through social platforms is growing. Retailers realize the potential social affords them to increase their global brand visibility. Social media usage fluctuates by location and demographic, so it is imperative to know your brand and target audience before investing in advertisement.
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Tags: Social, Retail
The Staple Series: Neutral Boot
linkedin
September 16, 2016
You can’t type “fall” into a search engine without being hit with a barrage of photos featuring combinations of skinny jeans, flannel button-downs and knee-high, neutral leather boots. And with good reason: the neutral boot is fall’s singular must-have wardrobe staple. The right pair of boots will help any warm weather ensemble retain its wearability well into fall.
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Tags: Retail
