“Buy Buy Baby is back and is guaranteed to be better than ever,” says a spokesperson for the revived retailer.

The company planned to unveil its ecommerce site offering baby and maternal products in October ahead of the stores, but late in the month, it rescheduled both the online and store openings for simultaneous launch in mid-November. The spokesperson didn’t say why. The stores will be in locations ranging from Maryland to Massachusetts.

Buy Buy Baby had 115 stores nationwide earlier in 2023, but they all closed this summer after parent company Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. filed for bankruptcy in April. Piscataway, New Jersey-based Dream On Me Inc., a manufacturer of cribs and other nursery furniture that had been a vendor to the old Buy Buy Baby, acquired the defunct retailer’s intellectual property out of bankruptcy for $15.5 million in July, the business publication NJBiz reported. In a separate auction, Dream On Me also acquired 11 Buy Buy Baby store leases in the Northeast for $1.17 million. Those locations will be the first of more than 100 planned stores to reopen, according to NJBiz.

What’s next for Buy Buy Baby and its ecommerce site

For the moment, Buy Buy Baby isn’t revealing much about its coming ecommerce site and mobile app.

In a statement, the spokesperson says “shoppers can engage with their favorite brands and receive expert advice to find the right products. Customers can also download the registry app in-store and on buybuybaby.com and scan items directly from their phones to add to the registry.” She adds that Buy Buy Baby will have “a fully ownable registry experience where customers directly add and purchase items off the dedicated app.”

The spokesperson says company executives won’t be giving interviews until about the time of launch. Buy Buy Baby’s new chief executive officer is Pete Daleiden, who came to the company in August from retailer Bealls Inc., where he worked for about a year in senior merchandising positions. Before that, he spent 16 years at Bed Bath & Beyond, mostly as a merchandising executive, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Online retailer Overstock.com Inc. acquired Bed Bath & Beyond’s intellectual property in June for $21.5 million and has taken the Bed Bath & Beyond moniker as its brand name, although the firm’s legal name remains Overstock.

Overstock.com ranks No. 50 in the Top 1000. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers. Bed Bath & Beyond ranked No. 47 prior to its bankruptcy.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News.

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

The post Goodbye, hello: Buy Buy Baby preps to be born again appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

That product is Petcube Cam, a wifi camera that allows people to watch and interact with their pets remotely.

The Petcube cam won a “Best Deal” designation from Amazon during the Prime Day sales event, boosting sales of the watch-your-pet-when-you’re-not-home device.

Klen told Digital Commerce 360 that his company “managed to get the ‘Best Deal’ offer for Petcube Cam” from Amazon. That ensured that large numbers of shoppers were exposed to the product. “And we were lucky it was applied during the first day of Prime.”

Klen said sales numbers suggest that shoppers were excited about Prime Day this year and had planned purchases of Petcube products well in advance of the two-day sales event.

“We had lower conversion a couple of days prior to Prime Day followed by the massive explosion for the first hours on the date. Most likely, people were adding the products to the cart beforehand,” Klen said.

Amazon is No. 3 in Digital Commerce 360’s new 2023 Global Online Marketplaces Report. It ranks the 100 largest global marketplaces by 2022 third-party GMV.

Prime Day success

Doing well on Prime Day is crucial for many merchants. It can be a make-or-break day for retailers like Petcube that use the Amazon marketplace as the primary channel for online sales. Given the high stakes, Petcube puts considerable effort into getting things right.

The retailer bought ads for sponsored products, sponsored brands and display ads. Petcube also “optimized heavily for keywords and spending,” Klen said. “We take pride in developing a super-efficient automated script that pulls all of our key metrics into a designated spreadsheet hourly throughout Prime and dedicated managers monitor the performance 24/7 on those two days.”

Amazon aggregator

Petcube likely isn’t the only merchant pleased with its Prime Day 2023 performance.

Amazon said the first day of this year’s Prime Day event was the biggest ever for third-party merchants on the marketplace.

For example, Thrasio Holdings Inc., an investment company that has purchased a number of Amazon merchants, said some of its brands had their best days ever during the event.

“These were the two most profitable days in Thrasio history,” Thrasio CEO Greg Greeley said in a written statement.

Thrasio’s latest acquisition — a seller of insect-repellent spray called Ranger Ready Repellents — had a record-breaking day on Amazon and tripled its Prime Day 2022 sales.

Amazon’s Prime Day event is limited to members of its paid Prime loyalty program. Benefits of the program include free one-day shipping for a variety of items.

2023 Global Online Marketplaces Report

Analysis of the 100 leading global online marketplaces. Includes over 30 charts, rankings of the world’s Top 100 online marketplaces by 2022 third-party GMV, tips for marketplace sellers, and findings from a new consumer survey. 

View Details

Do you rank in our databases?

Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News.

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

The post Merchants say Prime Day 2023 went well appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

The post Why wacky ads work on TikTok, while sober is better for Facebook appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

The post 29 takeaways from ranking the largest online retailers by category appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (No. 136)

Net sales were down 7.3% year over year for the first quarter to $1.38 billion. The decline was due to fewer transactions and smaller ticket size, president Michael Mullican told investors. The retailer did not disclose sales data for ecommerce. 

Academy Sports and Outdoors plans to open 120 to 140 stores in the next five years, with the goal of using them to grow omnichannel sales and use them as distribution centers, Mullican said.

Chico’s FAS Inc. (No. 108)

Ecommerce sales were “up low single digits and outpaced stores on very strong traffic,” at Chico’s for the first quarter, chief financial officer PJ Guido told investors. 

Online sales made up just under half, 41% of revenue over the last 12 months, Guido said. 

Designer Brands (No. 78)

Net sales for the shoe retailer declined 10.7% to $742.1 million. Designer Brands did not share specific information about ecommerce sales in the quarter. The retailer is on track for its goal of doubling owned brands between 2021 and 2026, with the recent addition of Keds.

Five Below Inc. (No. 584)

Five Below grew sales 14% to $726 million in the first quarter, the retailer reported. The company didn’t share specific ecommerce sales, but Five Below’s social media presence is growing and driving traffic, CEO Joel Anderson told investors. Recent influencer campaigns also drove engagement, he said. 

Joann Inc. (No. 307)

Ecommerce sales at Joann declined 1% year over year for the first fiscal quarter. Net sales and comparable sales both declined more quickly, down 4% over the previous year. Online sales made up 11.8% of revenue in the quarter. Sewing and craft online sales grew during the period, while craft technology sales declined, the retailer said. 

App downloads have also grown to 15 million, the retailer said, and BOPIS has been especially popular with customers. Joann didn’t disclose what percentage of sales were made through the app.

Kirkland’s Inc. (No. 510)

Ecommerce sales represented 27% of total sales in Q1, down from 28% in Q1 of the previous year, Kirkland’s reported. Total sales across stores and online were down about 4%, driven by lower traffic in stores and online. Stores performed slightly better than online channels, Kirkland’s told investors. 

Rent the Runway Inc. (No. 258)

Apparel rental company Rent the Runway reported Q1 revenue grew 10% year over year to $74.2 million. The retailer reached 145,220 active subscribers, a 15% increase over Q4. 

Rent the Runway is also implementing new AI technology in search in 2023, the retailer announced. 

Roots Canada LTD (No. 668)

Sales were $41.5 million in Q1, down from $43.1 million in Q1 2022. Net loss was also more than in 2022, at $8 million compared with $5.3 million last year. The first quarter typically represents just 15% of annual sales, the retailer said.

A few categories were bright spots for Roots in the quarter. Apparel categories were particularly strong, with dress and skirt sales up “five fold.” Activewear grew 50% year over year, and represented 10% of sales in the quarter. 

Signet Jewelers Ltd. (No. 61)

Signet Jewelers reported ecommerce sales made up 23% of total sales in the first quarter. Ecommerce revenue is up 70% over 2020, the jewelry retailer said. 

Total sales were down 9.3% year over year to $1.7 billion. Part of the declining sales are due to a drop in engagements from the COVID pandemic disrupting dating in 2020, CEO Gina Drosos told investors. 

Torrid LLC (No. 224)

Online sales made up more than half of total revenue in Q1, Torrid said. Net sales decreased 11.8% year over year to $293.9. Traffic was “volatile and challenging,” both in stores and online, CEO Lisa Harper told investors.

“Once our customer finds us, she extends her shopping with us through our online capabilities, resulting in a strong omnichannel,” Harper said. 

Vince LLC (No. 855)

Net sales decreased 18.3% year over year to $64.1 million in Q1, Vince reported. The decline was driven by a 6.3% decrease in Vince brand products, and a 99.2% decrease in Rebecca Taylor sales as Vince winds down the brand. The retailer didn’t share ecommerce sales figures, but CEO Jack Schwefel said stores outperformed ecommerce sales, in line with broader industry trends.

Do you rank in our database?

Submit your data with this quick survey and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News.

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

The post Earnings recap: What you missed from Joann, Designer Brands, and more appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

“We needed to have a lot more targeted conversations with each consumer throughout their lifetime with Bark. And we needed to do that efficiently,” he says.

Bark started its business in 2012 selling a monthly subscription BarkBox containing two dog toys and two dog treats in each shipment. The dog toy and dog food subscription retailer expanded its product offerings through the years, including offering dental products in 2020.

Ed Walloga, vice president, lifecycle marketing and ecommerce, Bark

To figure out how best to market to consumers to increase upselling and cross selling, Bark turned to Simon Data, a software tool that allowed the retailer to run comparison tests and see how marketing campaigns perform.

Retaining and building up the lifetime value of its customers is important to the subscription retailer.

Data shows 5.6% of retailers in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 1000 retailers used a subscription model in 2022. That’s down from 6.5% in 2021. That percentage differs depending on the category. 36.1% of Top 1000 food and beverage retailers had a subscription model in 2022. That is up from 27.8% a year earlier. 28% of health and beauty retailers had subscriptions in 2022, and 10.1% of specialty retailers like Bark.

During its fiscal fourth quarter 2022, Bark’s average order value increased $2. Upselling and cross selling accounted for the boost, Walloga says.

“And a huge amount of that was the increase in improving [conversion for] dental Bark Bright,” he says. Bark Bright are products like toothpaste and dental chew treats for dog teeth care.

Bark tests marketing emails for Durable Dental Chew products

In January 2023, Bark tested two marketing email campaigns for its Durable Dental Chew product launch, which is part of Bark Bright.

Bark sent the emails to its regular BarkBox subscribers. These subscribers received plush toys with treats as part of their core subscription.

The other type of subscribers are Super Chewers. These subscribers receive more durable toys in addition to treats as part of their core subscription.

The A/B split tests involved “several hundred thousand in each pool, and the A/B test was an even 50/50 split for each pool,” according to the company.

A/B testing, also known as split testing, allows Bark to test a percentage of its subscribers with two email campaigns to see which results in more opens or clicks. Bark can test different images or language and compare which ones consumers responded to more favorably.

The results showed that BarkBox subscribers were more responsive to the standalone announcement. Conversion rate was 16% higher for those BarkBox subscribers.

Meanwhile, Super Chewer subscribers were more responsive to marketing that highlighted the product collection. Conversion rate for these consumers was 30% higher.

“This was a surprising result, but this is why we test these things,” Walloga says.

Bark believes that because Super Chewer is a more specialized product, consumers liked a side-by-side comparison of original and durable products.

Bark subscribers opt in for SMS texts

There are 2 million BarkBox subscribers receiving a box every month, Walloga says. BarkBox sends subscribers products they can add onto each box. That program includes sending push notifications via SMS, he says.

“We’ve got a very aggressive push notification,” Walloga says.

SMS is an opportunity to “have worthwhile conversations with active and engaged customers,” he says. “That’s where you can apply SMS, and it doesn’t feel like a promotional campaign [to the consumer],” he says.

Bark used Simon Data to launch SMS in July 2022. It currently has 175,000 subscribers opted in to receive text messages. The opted-in base is growing by an average of 35% each quarter, according to Bark.

When customers respond to Bark SMS texts, a Bark employee responds, Walloga says.

“Our customer care team can pick up the [SMS] conversation and respond directly,” he says.

SMS subscribers receive a mix of product availability announcements. These include alerts about exclusive treats, toppers and toys they can add to their subscription box before it ships. SMS recipients also receive order status updates like shipment confirmations and account updates. They also receive marketing messages for “seasonal moments” like Cinco de Mayo or celebrating Star Wars on May 4th.

One of the most successful SMS texts reminds subscribers they have 24 hours left to add to the next box, he says.

Also, Bark is working on using its app to engage with consumers.

“We want to test pushing notifications directly to the Bark app,” Walloga says. According to Walloga, “a vast majority of our users are engaging on a mobile phone or the Bark app,” he says.

Bark adjusts email marketing strategy to retain subscribers

Bark subscribers typically commit to six- or 12-month subscription periods, Walloga says. The retailer reviews data to identify which customers are most at risk of leaving, he says.

“We’ve developed [email] outreach to those customers to remind them of the value that they saw as a Bark user,” he says.

This includes noting purchase history and favorites, he says. In addition to a personalized message, the retailer also sometimes includes incentives. This has allowed Bark to keep subscription renewal rates strong, Walloga says.

Email is still at the core of Bark’s digital marketing tools, Walloga says.

“Email is one of the fastest ways to test and iterate, and it gives you a little more real estate to have a conversation with a consumer,” he says. “But by no stretch is it the only channel we use.”

Personalized communications increases loyalty, Walloga says. Some of the tests Bark tried focused on loyalty, reminding customers of the value Bark brings them.

“If you have a very targeted, personalized conversation with the consumer or subscriber, they will respond,” he says.

Bark is No. 174 in the Top 1000. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers by web sales.

Do you rank in our database?

Submit your data with this quick survey and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News.

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

The post BarkBox conversion rate jumps 30% after marketing email testing appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

Chewy, which exclusively sells products online, reported net sales were up 14.7% year over year to $2.78 billion in the fiscal first quarter ended April 30, 2023. 

Petco Health and Wellness Company Inc., which operates both in stores and online, reported comparable sales grew 5.1% year over year for its fiscal first quarter ended April 29, 2023. Net revenue grew 5.4% over the same period to $1.56 billion.

Chewy ranks No. 13 in the Top 1000, and Petco ranks No. 92. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest online retailers by web sales.

Chewy customers aren’t trading down

Chewy CEO Sumit Singh told investors that pet owners remain willing to spend on premium products. 

“Our customers continue to show durability and product loyalty in these non-discretionary categories with no discernible trade down behavior,” he said, referring to the consumable and health categories. Those two categories made up 84% of net sales in the first quarter. 

While customer acquisition slowed, net sales per active customer grew 15% year over year to $500. This is largely driven by autoship, Chewy’s subscription program, Singh said. Autoship drives nearly 75% of sales, and “recurring and predictable revenue and long-term customer loyalty,” Singh said.

Petco grew online

Petco’s online orders showed “double-digit sales growth,” CEO Ron Coughlin told investors. Petco did not share what percentage of revenue is made up of digital sales.

Growth was driven by returning customers, pharmacy, and same-day delivery. Same-day-delivery orders doubled year over year, “underscoring the significant competitive moat same-day delivery offers relative to our online-only competitors,” Coughlin said.

Both brands emphasize health

Petco has vet clinics in some stores, and it is one of the 10 largest veterinary providers in the U.S., Coughlin said. In Q1 this year, Petco clinics saw 20% more pets than Q1 last year. The pet retailer also operates more than 1,300 mobile pet clinics that serve lower-income customers.

Health care is important for Chewy, too, though it doesn’t operate any clinics. In the quarter, it added Lemonade pet insurance to its offerings of wellness plans. Chewy also operates the largest pet pharmacy in North America, and all pharmacy products are eligible for autoship, Singh said.

Both retailers mentioned flea and tick preventatives as a growing part of business.

“A healthy start to the flea and tick season further supported performance in our health care business,” Singh told investors. Petco marketed flea and tick medications when the weather warmed in the U.S. northwest recently, and sales “performed strongly,” Coughlin said.

For the first quarter ended April 30, 2023, Chewy reported:

• Net sales grew 14.7% year over year to $2.78 billion.
• Net income grew 20% to $22 million.
• Net sales per active customer increased 15% to over $500.

For the first quarter ended April 29, Petco reported:

• Net revenue grew 5.4% to $1.56 billion.
• Net loss was $1.9 billion, a decrease of $26.6 million from the year-ago period with net income of $24.7 million.
• Average basket grew 5% year over year.
• Active customers remained flat at 25 million.

Check back for more earnings reports.

Do you rank in our database?

Submit your data with this quick survey and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News.

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

The post Chewy and Petco report growing sales and emphasize health care appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

Chewy’s sales for its fiscal fourth quarter ended Jan. 29 were up 13.4% over the previous year to $2.71 billion. For Petco’s fiscal quarter ended Jan. 28, it reported sales were up 4% to $1.58 billion. 

Chewy ranks No. 14 and Petco ranks No. 96 in the Top 1000. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American ecommerce retailers.

Autoship, food, and health are key for Chewy

Consumable and health care products were “pillars of strength” for Chewy in the fourth quarter, CEO Sumit Singh told investors. Sales of consumable and health products were up 18.5% over the year-ago period in the fourth quarter, and made up 82% of net sales. Their sales grew enough to offset declines in more discretionary categories, including dog beds and toys.

Food and health products are frequently sold as recurring shipments, which now make up the majority of Chewy’s sales. Autoship sales grew 18% in the fourth quarter, and made up nearly three-quarters (73%) of total sales in the quarter. $1.98 billion of sales in the fourth quarter came from autoship products, chief financial officer Mario Marte said.

Petco leverages its physical presence

Unlike Chewy, Petco has more than 1,500 North America stores in addition to ecommerce, and it is using them to its advantage.

More than 90% of customers who make online purchases through Petco choose same-day delivery or buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) when given the option, CEO Ron Coughlin told investors. Petco uses its locations as “micro distribution centers” to get those products to customers quickly and with lower fulfillment costs than they’d otherwise require, Coughlin said. Petco did not share what percentage of total sales were digital.

The retailer also attracts customers to its stores with veterinarians and groomers. Petco hired 1,100 additional veterinarians in 2022, with a vet presence in 90% of stores, the company said. This is a valuable investment, the company said, because customers who use vet services are worth 2.3 times the lifetime spending of customers who do not.

Services, including vet and grooming, were up 15% in the quarter.

The pet market keeps growing

The pet care industry in the U.S. is massive, and both Chewy and Petco have plans to keep growing sales as people remain willing to spend money on their pets.

Singh told investors that the U.S. pet industry is valued at $130 billion, and that it continues to grow even during economic downturns. Morgan Stanley predicts the industry will be worth $230 billion by 2030. Pet care retailers in the Top 1000 collectively grew web sales 20.1% in 2021, reaching $12.34 billion.

Chewy earnings summary

For the fiscal fourth quarter ended Jan. 29, Chewy reported:

• Net sales grew 13.4% to $2.71 billion.
• Net income was $6.1 million, up from a $63.6 million loss in the year-ago period.
• Net sales per active customer grew 15% from $430 to “nearly” $500.

For the fiscal year ended Jan. 29, Chewy reported:

• Net sales grew 13.6% to $10.1 billion.
• Net income was $49.2 million, up from a $73,817 loss in 2021.
• Total active customers stayed steady at around 20.4 million.

Petco earnings summary

For the fiscal fourth quarter ended Jan. 28, Petco reported:

• Net sales grew 4% to $1.58 billion from $1.51 in the year-ago period.
• Net income increased 12.9% to $32.7 million.
• Active customer base grew by 70,000 to 25 million.
• The perks program launched and added 300,000 members.

For the fiscal year ended Jan. 28, Petco reported:

• Net sales grew 4% to $6.04 billion, from $5.81 billion in 2021.
• Net income was down 44.8% to $90.8 million.
• Veterinarians grew by 40% to 1,100.
• 50 vet hospitals added to total 247.

Percentage changes may not align exactly with dollar figures due to rounding.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

The post Chewy and Petco sales were up in 2022 as pet parents spent more appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

In a complaint filed with the Justice Department this week, United for Respect urged a probe into three directors who sit on the boards of both PetSmart and Chewy even though the two companies split years ago.

PetSmart is No. 132 and Chewy is No. 14 in the 2022 Digital Commerce 360 Top 1000 database ranking North American web merchants by sales.

Pet products are big business

PetSmart is the biggest pet retailer with about 1,660 stores in North America and controls about 29% of the market, according to Statista. BC Partners bought PetSmart for $8.7 billion in March 2015 in what was then the largest leveraged buyout in retail.

Two years later, PetSmart acquired ecommerce pet products company Chewy, which went public in 2019. BC Partners later split PetSmart and Chewy, though it remains among Chewy’s biggest shareholders.

About one-fifth of all household and pet care products in 2020 were sold online, an amount that is expected to grow to about 30% by 2025, according to Statista. The three largest online retailers U.S. consumers use for pet products are Amazon.com Inc., Walmart Inc. and Chewy. Amazon is No. 1 and Walmart is No. 2 in the Digital Commerce 360 Top 1000 database.

Chewy’s ties to PetSmart

Chewy board chair Raymond Svider — the chairman of private equity firm BC Partners — simultaneously serves on the board of PetSmart along with two other Chewy directors, Michael Chang and Fahim Ahmed. Chang and Ahmed are also partners at the UK private equity firm.

BC Partners wholly owns and controls PetSmart, and owns about 80% of Chewy’s common stock representing 98% of the voting control, an attorney for the companies said, pointing to public filings. That makes the two companies affiliates rather than competitors and likely exempts them from the antitrust law’s prohibition on overlapping directors, an attorney for BC Partners and the companies said.

Corporate boards under scrutiny

Nonprofit United for Respect focuses its labor advocacy efforts on companies backed by private equity. The group helped workers at Toys R Us and Art Van Furniture negotiate with private equity owners KKR & Co. and Thomas H. Lee Partners. More recently, it has set its sights on BC Partners and PetSmart, prodding the company’s public investors about worker conditions.

More than a dozen board directors have stepped down since the Justice Department began an initiative last year focused on so-called interlocking directorates. Federal antitrust law forbids individuals or entities from sitting on the board of directors for two companies that directly compete with one another.

The Justice Department’s first foray saw directors associated with private equity firm Thoma Bravo LLC step down from the boards of two public companies. On March 9, the agency said directors associated with Apollo Global Management Inc. resigned from the board of Sun Country Airlines Holdings Inc. after the Justice Department raised concerns about the private equity firm also holding board seats on rival Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc.

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. also agreed to forgo a board seat with insurer American Equity Investment Life Holding Co. after the agency cited a potential antitrust issue since Brookfield also owns American National Insurance Service Co.

At a conference in Brussels last week, Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter said the Justice Department has 17 active investigations into illegal board overlaps.

Brookfield Asset Management didn’t respond to a request for comment. Apollo declined comment on the Sun Country board resignations.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News.

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

The post PetSmart and Chewy’s boards are under scrutiny appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

92% of Poshmark marketplace members are open to receiving secondhand gifts — but only 33% of people would shop secondhand for their gift-giving needs today, according to the 2022 Poshmark Trend Report: Holiday Edition. Research company Morning Consult conducted a survey based on Poshmark’s 80 million members comparing Sept. 11-18, 2022, with the same period in 2021.

Steven Tristan Young, chief marketing officer, Poshmark

“There is a gap between what we think our friends and family are open to receiving versus what they actually want,” Young said. “A great way to overcome that is to talk about secondhand gifting with loved ones.”

Younger shoppers are more open to secondhand gifts, according to the report. 55% of Gen Z consumers said they are likely to buy secondhand gifts for their friends and loved ones this holiday season.

Consumer perception of gifting pre-owned merchandise is changing. Secondhand merchants are working to make it easier to shop for used products online. Poshmark launched a sale for the first time during the Cyber 5 period, and online consignment store ThredUp debuted a secondhand holiday collection for the first time.

Plus, apparel merchant Patagonia reported record web traffic when it promoted its secondhand collection on Cyber Monday. Browser extension Beni continues to add resale merchants to its client roster as demand for an easier way to search grows. And luxury goods reseller Rebag said shopper demand is booming for hard-to-find brands. But, while resale continues to grow as an online category, a lingering reluctance to gift used merchandise continues.

Resale’s lower price point appeals to a budget-conscious consumer

Currently, buying used is not a top choice for consumers. 9% of survey respondents said they shop secondhand for apparel, accessories or shoes online on sites like Poshmark, ThredUp, The RealReal and others, according to a Digital Commerce 360 and Bizrate Insights survey which compared 1,064 online apparel shoppers in Sept. 2022 and 1,049 respondents in May 2021. That’s up 1 percentage point compared with 2021 when 8% said they shopped for secondhand apparel online.

But the reluctance to buy secondhand is changing, says Liza Amlani, principal and founder of The Merchant Life, a retail consultancy. Consumers are spending but want to stretch their dollar and spend less overall, she says.

“Resale is becoming more of a giftable option due to price point accessibility,” Amlani says.

Consumers are also increasingly interested in sustainable products, especially younger consumers who are already shopping and selling on Poshmark or ThredUp, Amlani says.

43% of shoppers noted sustainability as a deciding factor in what they buy, according to luxury goods resale marketplace The RealReal’s 2022 Luxury Resale Report, which measured data from 28 million of its shoppers between January and June this year compared with the same period in 2021.

Resale is growing in popularity both in the U.S. and worldwide, according to the 2022 ThredUp resale report. ThredUp projects total U.S. secondhand sales, which include resale, traditional thrift and donations, will more than double by 2026, reaching $82 billion, according to the report. The report is based on a survey of 2,500 U.S. consumers in January 2022. Resale alone is expected to reach $51 billion by 2026.

In 2021, resale sales grew 58% year over year, the highest in five years, according to the report.

Secondhand Sunday and secondhand fashion lines

Poshmark launched the event Secondhand Sunday on Nov. 27, 2022, to encourage shoppers to buy secondhand products. This was the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. Poshmark created a separate landing page on its website. It included a video, resale statistics, Poshmark seller profiles, and links directing shoppers to resources. A Poshmark Instagram post noted holiday promotional dates, the holiday trend report, and an explanation of how the reselling process works.

Poshmark launched the event Secondhand Sunday on Nov. 27, 2022, to encourage shoppers to buy secondhand products.

Poshmark recorded a 29.7% increase in the number of listings sold for vintage items between Nov. 24-27, 2022, compared with Nov. 25-28, 2021. The number of toy listings increased 50.3% during the same timeframe year over year.

According to Morning Consult data, vintage items, books, home items, jewelry/watches, furniture, and luxury items are top categories consumers are open to receiving as secondhand gifts, Young said. Men are more open to receiving resale electronics, while secondhand shoes are popular among younger shoppers, he said.

Resale for the holidays

While Poshmark does not ask shoppers if something is a gift, Young said the merchant does pay attention to categories that are known for being popular gift items, such as handbags, jewelry and toys.

“When we see notable increases in these ‘gift-friendly’ categories, we attribute some of that to holiday gift shopping,” Young said.

In 2022, handbags and vintage item listings increased 12.2% during the Thanksgiving through Sunday holiday weekend. Used book listings also increased 12.8% year over year, Young said.

ThredUp promoted its holiday Zero Waste Daniel Full Circle collection, which is made entirely of secondhand 1990s-inspired clothing. The resale marketplace featured actress Fran Drescher to bring the “trash-to-treasure” collection, promoting gift-giving on a budget. Prices start at $10. Most items fall into a $20-$60 range and as high as $600 for items like coats. ThredUp did not disclose how the sale performed.

An easier way to search resale

Another way to promote online resale shopping is to make it easier for shoppers to find used products, says Beni CEO and cofounder Sarah Pinner. Demand is growing for startup Beni’s browser plugin, which shows shoppers resale products in real time based on the consumer’s web browser search, she says.

Sarah Pinner, cofounder and CEO, Beni

“I think [the concept of resale] is hitting a bit of a tipping point where there’s less stigma around shopping secondhand for the holidays,” Pinner says.

Currently, approximately 4,000 consumers use Beni to shop for secondhand goods online. The web browser extension is available for desktop Safari and Google Chrome. The plugin is also available for Safari on mobile devices.

If a consumer has the Beni plugin on her web browser and she is looking for a black dress on any apparel site, like Macys.com, Beni will display similar secondhand options at the top of the webpage from more than 30 resale sites. If a shopper clicks on one of the items, she is then redirected to that reseller. Beni earns an undisclosed commission on each sale.

“Our goal is to build [Beni] together with the resale marketplaces that have done a lot of the heavy lifting to get all this amazing inventory online,” Pinner says. “Our goal is to make buying resale as easy as buying new.”

By simplifying the resale product search process, Beni hopes to normalize shopping for secondhand merchandise, Pinner says.

Patagonia joins Beni

In December, Patagonia began its pilot test run with Beni. Beni sells used products from the retailer’s online Worn Wear store.

Asha Agrawal, head of corporate development, Patagonia

“We’re going to see if [selling through Beni] is a way to bring awareness to our reused goods,” says Asha Agrawal, head of corporate development at Patagonia.

The outdoor apparel and goods retailer is looking at different ways to market its secondhand products beyond using the Patagonia brand, such as via the Beni platform, Agrawal says.

But it’s also using the power of its well-established Patagonia brand. Patagonia typically refrains from promoting its brand during the holidays. But on Cyber Monday, Patagonia.com redirected shoppers to the retailer’s resale Worn Wear website. Patagonia offered shoppers a 20% discount on anything purchased through its resale online store.

The event was a success, Agrawal says. Cyber Monday 2022 was the Worn Wear website’s second most popular web traffic day since the Worn Wear online store launched in 2020. In 2020, Patagonia.com shoppers could click on a button located on Patagonia’s main website landing page that led to the Worn Wear store. 2022’s strategy automatically redirected web traffic to Patagonia.com to www.wornwear.patagonia.com.

This year, 70% of all Worn Wear Cyber Monday online sales were from first-time customers, Agrawal says.

Resale is an opportunity to buy hard-to-find products

Shoppers on the hunt for “unicorn” items — sold out, hard-to-find luxury handbags or accessories — can turn to Rebag, a luxury reseller of handbags and accessories. In this case, resale doesn’t always mean reduced price.

Charles Gorra, founder and CEO, Rebag

The reseller prepared for the holidays earlier this year and launched its 2022 gift suite in late October instead of November, said Charles Gorra, founder and CEO of Rebag.

“Given that each item in Rebag’s inventory is unique, and many styles are limited edition, sold out in the primary market or generally difficult to obtain, we typically see shoppers looking to procure gifts early on,” Gorra said, without revealing more.

Rebag’s holiday Gift Suite gives shoppers options

Rebag’s 2022 holiday Gift Suite gives shoppers a range of categories to choose from. This includes “investment pieces” like the Hermes Constance Bag Epsom 24, a used handbag in “great” condition for $15,170. The retail price for the new product was $11,400 in 2022.

Shoppers also have the option to buy and sell in one transaction through Rebag’s Trade program. Rebag sellers can bank the money from sold items to use toward other Rebag purchases.

Shoppers search Rebag for rare items like Telfar-brand handbags. These can cost $200-$320 when purchased new. Certain styles can cost more than $900 on resale sites for coveted styles like the Telfar Round Circle Bag. These bags have an average value retention of 195% because demand outweighs supply, Gorra said. These items appreciate about twice as much as their original retail price because they are in high demand.

“With limited drops, it can be next to impossible to score a Telfar bag on the primary market in the size and color you want,” Gorra said.

While not currently mainstream, resale growth will continue. As more brands launch into resale, consumers will have more opportunities to shop secondhand. Resale merchants hope that by appealing to consumers’ waning budgets and increased interest in sustainability, the stigma associated with secondhand shopping will dissipate and become commonplace.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News.

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

The post Rethinking resale as a giftable option appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.