Winter Holidays

Express reported a drop in third-quarter profit and slashed its full-year adjusted earnings outlook, warning that the holiday season will "remain challenging."   In recent days, an array of apparel retailers have expressed caution about the holiday selling season, including Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch  and American Eagle Outfitters.    Express earned $11.6 million, 15 cents per share, for the quarter ended Oct. 29, down from $26.3 million, or 31 cents per share, a year earlier.

This holiday season shoppers will see many new high-tech and digital advancements in stores, from self-service kiosks and free Wi-Fi to mobile pay and retail apps. In the coming years, shoppers may even find robots helping them face-to-face.  

It’s a rough time for many teen apparel retailers and the holiday season may not bring much relief.   American Eagle Outfitters Inc. on Wednesday issued a weaker than expected forecast for the fourth quarter as its CEO cited a “tough” retail environment. Its warnings issues similar statements from the likes of Abercrombie & Fitch and Gap.    

Wayfair not only dominated during Cyber Week — it hit a company high.    The pure play home furnishings retailer reported a 52% increase year-over-year in direct retail gross sales (defined as dollars of order intake) for the five-day peak shopping period of Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. The growth rate of total company gross sales was 46% YOY during the same period.   

Cart abandonment is a very real problem during the holiday season, but mobile users are giving up on orders most often.   These details were revealed in an infographic from Barilliance that detailed shopping behavior among 50 million consumers between Nov. 25 and Nov. 28.   

Not many companies can follow up its own record-breaking Thanksgiving online sales -- but Kohl’s did.   The chain’s president and CEO Kevin Mansell said that the chain hit double-digit, record-breaking online sales and solid brick-and-mortar traffic to stores on Thursday, Nov. 24 and early Friday, Nov. 25, reported Milwaukee Business Journal.  

Move over Cyber Monday, Cyber Week is the new buzz term.    Cyber Week, comprised of Thanksgiving Eve, Nov. 23 through Cyber Monday, Nov. 28, is attracting more shoppers as they “grow more and more comfortable shopping on their phones and tablets, opening up the timetable for brands to reach them during the holiday shopping season," said Tony Zito, CEO, Rakuten Marketing.  

Wallets are definitely getting lighter this holiday season, especially as more shoppers use mobile wallets.   Nearly one quarter of consumers (24.2%) currently use mobile wallets, and 48.5% plan to make a gift purchase with their digital wallet this holiday season. Further, more than two thirds (69.6%) of wallet users indicated they would use their mobile wallets even more if more merchants allowed them to pay that way.  

A full-service event design company is extending its brand.   White Lilac has opened its first retail location, a home décor store, at South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, Calif. The company specializes in large-scale parties, exclusive weddings, corporate functions, and private parties.     The boutique showcases a whimsical collection of gifts, housewares, accessories, furniture, décor and more inspired by White Lilac event designs for celebrity clients, dignitaries and iconic venues.

It seems that cybercriminals never sleep no matter where you are in the world. The Information Commissioners Office released data showing that cyberattacks and breaches nearly doubled from 2015 to 2016 in the U.K.