The Importance of Social Media

 

     The social media presence is not going away, and now days people are spending more time connected online than ever.  Increasingly our retailers and competitors are making an online presence, and are reaching consumers locally and globally in the millions daily.
    Here are some of the facts for 2012:
(Facebook)

• Monthly active users now total nearly 850 million, and 23% of Facebook's users check their account 5 or more times daily.
• More than 1 million websites have integrated with Facebook in various ways.
• 80% of social media users prefer to connect with brands through Facebook. 

(Instagram)

• There are 8500 likes and 1000 comments by Instagram users every second.
• As of May 2013, Instagram hit 100 million active monthly users.
• More than 40 million photos are uploaded to Instagram daily.
• 40% of brands have adopted Instagram for marketing, and of the top brands, 20% surveyed had 10,000 or more followers.

(Pinterest)

• American users of Pinterest spend an average of 1 hour and 17 minutes on the site. 
• Pinterest referrals spend 70% more money than visitors referred from non-social channels.
• 69% of online consumers who visit Pinterest have found an item they've bought or wanted to buy, compared with 40% of Facebook users.
• 25 % of Fortune Global 100 companies have Pinterest accounts.

     More specifically, many of our retailers are using Instagram as an avenue to promote their own business, and at the same time, are defining what brands are cool to their local consumers with their posts.  Accounts like Jack's Surfboards, Spyder, Val Surf, HSS, and Surfside (among numerous more) upload information daily such as sale specials they are running, new product that has arrived, or any other events they may be hosting.  Just among the accounts listed above nearly 14,000 followers are reached, and that's just a handful of retailers in Southern California.  As a brand looking to broaden our reach, diversify our consumer base, and appeal to the trend-setting youth, we need to continually grow and evolve our social media presence, be conscious of how our retailers are promoting our brands through their channels and what is in demand with our followers/consumers.

(All Social Media Data, The Huffington Post. Image Screen Grabs, Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram.)

Kohl's Electronic Signs

 Cares and Goes Green

Kohl’s started rolling out electronic signs displaying prices and special deals in 2010. By now all stores should have these green signs.  These signs are more environmentally friendly than paper signs and tags.
Although it is a significant capital investment, they believe they would see a good return on that investment through elimination of ad set payroll hours, as well as paper signs, which support their desire to be a leader in green initiatives.  This initiative is supported by Kevin Mansell, Chairman, CEO, President and Member of Executive Committee,  of  Kohl's.
The price tags, provided by Altierre Corp, use a proprietary wireless network which is linked to the retailer’s POS system.  The wireless network uses 2 access points to connect to over 100,000 digital price tags that can hold battery power for 5 years.

What Does it All Mean?
For the Retailer – Altierre Corp’s supply of digital signs will allow retailers to run promotions on a much more frequent basis.  For example, Tuesday morning between 9 am and noon there could be a promotion on men’s apparel and in the afternoon the retailer could run a promotion on women’s apparel.
The more exact promotional windows will mean that Kohl’s will be able to create a more consistent traffic flow through its stores.
The price tags will also help the retailer save through (1) reduced labor costs associated with the tedious task of changing price tags throughout the store, and (2) a reduction in the amount of paper waste.
For consumers – the concept of digital price tags means there will be more opportunity to buy during promotional periods.  With increased adoption, these digital pricing signs mean that shoppers will find lower prices during high traffic times because the retailer will be able to make up the lower margin through higher volume.

 

 

 

MADE Fashion Week launches at Macy's

Macy's continues to grow its portfolio of brands and campaigns with the  addition of "MADE Fashion week"for Impulse

MADE Fashion week is an in-house designed collection inspired by the MADE Fashion Week initiative put on by New York Fashion Week which ties together emerging talent in pop culture, art, fashion, and music with brand partners.  This collection launched in March of 2013.

Rotating product displays keep the floor sets fresh with competitive price points for Impulse

As with any product display it is crucial to rotate through styles and keep floor sets updated.  Macy's will be rotating around 20-30 styles throughout the season on the Impulse floor situated in outposts on main aisle ways.  Product price ranges from $39-$139, with Maxi's, printed tops, short skirts, pants, jackets, and shorts.

Drawing consumer attention through POP and social media: 

In store displays are supported with branded rugs, columns that tell the story, and detailed hang tags.  Social media platforms include bi-annual style guides put together with the collaboration of a few of the artists, musicians and designers who inspired the collection.  The style guide highlights some of the group's favorites looks. 

Macy's is also playing with its Tumblr account and is building momentum on twitter and instagram with the hash tag #MADEFORIMPULSE

To learn more about the collection and the media releases please see the links below:

LUCKY Magazine article
www.businesswire.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/news
http://blogs.post-gazette.com

Macy's Celebrates American Icons:

Macy's is celebrating America; the people, places, and things that define what we love through "classic" American brands: 

American Icons is the the follow up to last year's celebration of Brazil; but this year, the brands selected for the summer long campaign with reflect classic American names across multiple product categories and include well established and newly launched brands alike.

Macy's Mission Viejo

The official launch was on May16th, promoted by signage placed through Macy's Store locations.  Lead up promotions included online platforms, selling staff incentives, and visual directives.

One launch party, held at Macy's South Coast Plaza which is a flagship location, held a fashion show highlighting Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, and Sun glass hut.  Hosted by entertainment journalist Jillian Barberie and Entertainment Tonight host Laurence Zarian and including a special costume display from the Broadway musical "Catch me if you can".

To build anticipation for the campaign Macy's ran an online promotion asking for the public's submissions of what they feel tells the story of America.  The entry window wrapped May 5th and is now a promotional video that can be viewed on you tube. 

Visual directives were rolled out for each floor set and every brand ensuring that all Macy's doors would have a consistent visual presentation and connective thread

American Icons connecting and engaging consumers:

On the Macy's website, consumers can explore an interactive catalog or get to know the stories behind the features designers.  In store, branded stars and printed columns tell the story of each outpost

A constant story line and out posts and floor sets are found in every department of Macy's; housewares, footwear, women's, men's, children's, and cosmetics.  

Macy's Presents American icons: your take

American Icons at Macy's

http://macysamericanicons.com/

Free People's Yoga Pose of the day: Social media product exposure

Free People has taken to instagram to promote their "Movement" line.  For those following Free People on the popular social media site, a "Yoga Pose of the Day" is streamed, featuring a fun new pose with the yogi wearing the FP movement collection. 

Instagram

Free People Movement is a collection of moister wicking sports bra's, leggings, shorts, and tops marketed toward a young yoga practicing demographic.  Bra's, crop tops, and shorts are priced between $38-$68.  Leggings are priced $48-$68.  Tanks and tops are priced $68-$110.   

Freepeople

Some items within the collection are labeled "Blue Sign Certified", allowing consumers to know they are purchasing ethical fashion; meaning these products were produced under environmentally conscious standards. 

Bluesign

Already Free People's Yoga Pose a Day is generating followers, comments, and buzz about their product.  Instagramer's are posting questions, asking where can they get the featured outfit, and being given an easy way to put such outfit to use.

Instagram.com

Sources:

Free People Instagram:
http://web.stagram.com/n/freepeople/

Free People FP Movement
http://www.freepeople.com/intimates-shops-fp-movement/

Blue Sign Certification
http://www.bluesign.com/

...lost in Macys

...lost has landed in macys. Lost is featuring their resin works collection as a push for summer.

Lululemon's defective yoga pant

Lululemon has built their reputation on quality products but a recent product defect could cost the company millions.

 

Selling through 95% of their inventory at full retail price, Lululemon is at the top of the retail game.  Creating what CEO Christine Day calls "fanatical shoppers". But a recent manufacturer defect has created doubt in consumers minds about the quality they are paying for.

The black Luon yoga pant is being marked down in mass as to move through product swiftly so the focus can be placed on marketing new styles.  Lululemon recalled 17% of the Luon pant in response to customer complaints that the pant was too sheer.

Sources are reporting that this production miss hap and recall could cost Lululemon up to $67million dollars in sales, prompting Chief Production Officer; Sheree Waterson, to step down on April 15th 2013 from her position.  Waterson spent five years with the athletic company.

Lulu's stock shares took a considerable downturn after recalling the popular yoga pant.  Although the company is issuing refunds for the defective merchandise they are also restructuring internally and looking deeper into their testing standards to avoid issues in the future.


http://www.theprovince.com/news/Lululemon+through+pants+recall+Company+says+demonstrations+needed/8159786/story.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/lululemon-discounts-black-pants-2013-4

http://shine.yahoo.com/fashion/-lulu-lemon-says--women-do-not-have-to-bend-over-203021965.html