Direct To Consumer (DTC)

As the new year gets underway, it’s time to look forward to the changes and trends 2017 will bring. For retailers, that includes some new consumer behaviors in addition to the always-expected technological advances.   While change might seem overwhelming, it can also provide fresh opportunities for sales. And with a little planning, retailers can stay ahead of competition to meet the demands of their customers.    To help guide you into the new year, here are a few of our 2017 retail predictions.

Party City Holdco Inc. continues to acquire its franchised locations.   The company has entered into an agreement to acquire a master franchise group representing 18 franchise stores in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, and with estimated 2016 sales of approximately $34 million. The purchase price is estimated to be $14.5 million to $15.0 million.  

Online sellers have another way to join the Amazon Marketplace.   Shopify, a cloud-based multichannel commerce platform, developed an integration that enables its merchants selling in U.S. dollars to add the Amazon sales channel to their Shopify account. The new service also enables Shopify store owners to manage their product catalog for their e-commerce website, retail store, Amazon store, and other sales channels all in one place.   

New Yorkers will have a new way to browse Amazon’s best-selling book titles — in a physical store.   Later this year, the retail giant will open a book store in Manhattan’s Shops at Columbus Circle, in the Time Warner Center, according to ReCode.  

Amazon’s new service is helping Prime members to get dinner on the table faster.   By integrating Alexa into Amazon Restaurants, the retail giant now enables Prime members to voice-order their next meal through their Alexa-enabled devices, including the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot. Customers can place orders from any restaurant available on the service in more than 20 cities by saying, “Alexa, order from Amazon Restaurants.” Any meal they’ve ordered before will delivered to their door for free in an hour or less.

A few familiar retail names are reportedly in discussions to buy American Apparel.    Amazon and Forever 21 are among the companies in talks with the bankrupt manufacturing and retail company and its advisors about submitting offers ahead of a deadline on Friday, Reuters reported.  

Retailers and developers looking for potential expansion spots in the coming year should bypass Gotham and head to Grand Rapids.  

Job postings by Amazon may have revealed the company’s newest apparel entry: athleisure.   Several online job listings published by Amazon in December suggest that the online giant is developing a line of workout apparel, reported ReCode.     

U.S. real estate developers and brokers coping with epic changes in the retail landscape can take some solace from the fact that, when it comes to overstoring, America’s got nothing on China.   A list of cities with the most shopping center space under construction from CBRE Research had Chinese cities occupying 11 of the top 12 spots, led by Chongqing with 39.8 million sq. ft. being built. Shenzhen (38.7 million) and Chengdu (37.6 million) weren’t far behind.  

The Amazon Marketplace, an online mall that that allows third-party sellers to reach customers around the world, hit big milestones during the holiday season.