Direct To Consumer (DTC)

Just a few years ago, consumers typically associated subscription services with utilities and print media. Yet the rapid rise of digital technologies has led to an explosion in the number of services available, which cater to almost every aspect of consumers’ lives – from Spotify and Netflix to Birchbox and Blue Apron.  

Federal regulators have raised questions over Bass Pro Shops' $4.5 billion deal to acquire Cabela's Inc.    In a regulatory filing Friday, Cabela's said the Federal Trade Commission had requested additional information from both Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops, according to Foxnews.com.   

Nasty Gal is moving ahead with plans to be acquired by a British online fast-fashion retailer.     

Noted retail real estate expert Faith Hope Consolo has high hopes for 2017, predicting that bigger-spending millennials and recession-proof retailers will keep sales humming on high streets and in malls, if not in department stores.   “Millennials are going to start shopping differently this coming year,” Consolo told Chain Store Age. “It used to be they’d spend up to 75% of their disposable income on food, but that was a fad. This year, they will start spending more on fitness and fashion.”  

Los Angeles-based Nasty Gal, which filed for bankruptcy protection in November, may soon have a British owner.   Boohoo.com is bidding $20 million (£16.3 million) for the brand and its customer databases as the “stalking horse” candidate. Based in Manchester, England, Boohoo specializes in fast-fashion and targets teens and young women, the same audience as Nasty Gal.      

Rent the Runway’s total investment keeps growing.    The dress rental business announced it has closed on a $60 million round of funding, led by Fidelity Management and Research Company with additional money from such existing investors as Bain Capital Ventures and Highland Capital Partners. Total investment in the company now stands at $190 million.      

Nothing like doing a little shopping as presents are being unwrapped.   E-commerce traffic volume on Christmas Day shattered all previous records according to Verizon Enterprise Solutions’ Holiday Retail Index report.   The report finds that traffic continued to build into the Christmas weekend, and reached feverish pitch on Christmas Day which also coincided this year with the first full day of Hanukkah.   

The majority of retailers managed to keep their shipping promises this holiday.   That’s according to Kurt Salmon’s annual Holiday Shipping study, which found that 97% of retailers successfully processed and delivered orders to customers on their last guaranteed shipping date before Christmas. according to Kurt Salmon’s (part of Accenture Strategy) annual Holiday Shipping study. This compares to 87% in 2014 and 95% in 2015. 

When it comes to combining in-store visits and online product research or purchase, Generation Z (ages 18 to 26) leads all other shopper age groups in the U.S., lending some spark an otherwise flat “omnishopping” environment.  

A very tech-savvy retailer retail is expanding its fledgling physical footprint with an eye toward national expansion.    b8ta, which lets people test out products from a variety of tech companies, including many small start-up, has opened a store at University Village, Seattle, along with one at Santa Monica Place, Santa Monica, Calif. Both locations were designed by Gensler, and feature a sleek, modern design.