Department store chain Kohl’s teamed up with Snapchat on an augmented reality virtual closet earlier this spring, enabling Snapchatters to browse clothes from home via the messaging application.

Snapchat has updated Kohl’s digital showroom to include ath-leisure pieces, allowing Snapchatters to browse Kohl’s loungewear as they shelter-in-place and purchase items without leaving the app.

Like other social media platforms, Snapchat has experienced a spike in usage during COVID-19. From February to March, Snap Inc. saw a 36 percent increase in Snaps sent with a Lens, an 18 percent increase in playtime with Sponsored Lenses and a 22 percent click-through rate with Sponsored Lenses.

Snap Inc. is seeing increased interest in its AR features from brands during the pandemic. WWD previously reported on L’Oréal becoming the first beauty company to partner with Snap Camera.

Via WWD

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As retailers across the world try to figure out how to make socially distanced shopping work, many are turning to tech to help tackle the challenges of Covid-19.

One retailer though may have already had the tools needed to thrive in this new shopping world.

For years, Nike has walked the walk when it come to innovation in everything from its digital offering to physical stores. Now that forward thinking may well pay off.

Two years ago, Nike opened its first Nike Live store concept in LA. The space was locally focused in terms of its product assortment and services, but it also served as a test space for combining digital features with physical space.

That digital capability has just become super relevant as retailers explore how to offer their normal services in a low-touch, distanced way.

• Ability to scan a barcode with a smartphone app to learn more about a product and see what options are in stock? Check

• Ability to scan QR codes on mannequins to request products to be sent to a fitting room? Check

• Curbside services for picking up orders, returning items or exchanging them? Check

• App-based reservation offering that lets customers reserve items online, scan their app and pick up them up from a locker? Check

What’s interesting is that Nike didn’t develop these services for socially distanced shopping. It created them to provide a better experience to customers. It just so happens that applies in both ‘normal’ times and the ‘new normal’.

That’s what is so important about what Nike has put in place. It’s adaptable and flexible. The brand didn’t innovate for the sake of innovating but thought about the functionality and services that would genuinely benefit shoppers.

Plus, because it created and tested these services through initiatives like Nike Live, Nike is in a position where it can roll them out to all of its stores as needed. That’s pretty useful right now as very quickly all of its physical stores can be armed with the tools for enhancing social distancing.

By making its app the centre of its ecosystem, Nike has given itself a leg-up over most over retailers. It can easily incorporate new features as needed – either driven by external circumstances like Covid-19, or internal drivers like improving the customer experience.

For example, it’s not hard to imagine Nike easily incorporating a proximity function that helps customers keep their distance in store. Or a virtual queuing feature. It has already added a self-checkout option to the app so that shoppers can complete their entire transaction without having to interact with anyone else.

It’s fairly safe to say that no retailer had planned for something like Covid-19. But in Nike’s case it didn’t have to plan for it. It had already given itself the tools for success simply by embracing an innovative mindset.

Can other retail businesses say the same?

Via Insider Trends

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L’Oréal USA on Monday released the first beauty augmented reality lenses for Snap’s desktop app, letting customers virtually try on looks from brands such as Garnier, Lancôme, L’Oréal Paris and Maybelline. The eight branded lenses are featured in a “beauty” area on Snap Camera’s opening page, per an announcement shared with sister publication Mobile Marketer.

L’Oréal’s AR looks include product categories such as hair color, makeup, fragrance and skin care, and are available to Snap Camera users worldwide for the next week. Snap Camera is free to download for Windows and Mac computers, and is compatible with users’ “preferred video-conferencing platform.”

Snap has seen a 30-fold increase in daily downloads of Snap Camera. After installing the app, users of videoconferencing software can select “Snap Camera” from the menu of video sources to decorate their chats with AR lenses, including those from L’Oréal, per its announcement.

L’Oréal’s AR lenses are notable for being the first branded beauty experiences on Snap’s desktop platform, as opposed to its Snapchat mobile app that has 229 million users worldwide. With millions of consumers relying on video calling software like Zoom to stay connected with friends, family and colleagues during the coronavirus lockdowns, L’Oréal can help them add some whimsy to their conversations with its selection of branded AR lenses.

The surge in Snap Camera usage can help L’Oréal to extend the reach of its campaign as people decorate their video calls with its branded content. Beauty brands like L’Oréal need to maintain a strong presence as the pandemic leads to a significant shift in sales of cosmetics and personal care products. While skin and hair health have become more important among homebound consumers, makeup and fragrances have faced challenges. Prestige beauty sales in the first quarter fell 14% year over year to $3.6 billion, with makeup falling 22% from last year to $1.4 billion, according to NPD Group data emailed to Retail Dive. Online sales of makeup rose 18% during the period, helping to offset the decline in store sales. Until the pandemic subsides, it’s important for beauty brands to maintain visibility in their digital sales channels.

L’Oréal has long embraced AR technology to engage consumers with branded content. The beauty giant two years ago acquired Modiface, the maker of AR software for virtual makeup try-ons, and has since adopted the platform in a variety of campaigns. L’Oréal in December integrated the technology with Google Lens, the search giant’s image-recognition app, to let shoppers virtually try on hair coloring from its Garnier brand. Color&Co, L’Oréal’s brand for at-home hair coloring, added similar AR technology from Modiface to its website in September. Virtual try-on services had urged consumers to buy more of L’Oréal’s makeup and hair color products, The Wall Street Journal reported last year.

For Snap, the L’Oréal campaign is a chance to show off the AR features of its desktop app, which may help to drive more downloads as users of video calling software seek to add immersive or entertaining content to their calls. Snap mostly depends on its Snapchat mobile app for revenue, but the surge in videoconferencing is an opportunity to extend its presence on desktop. Snap has continually sought to expand its range of branded experiences and ad formats, including this week’s rollout of non-skip takeover commercials that appear before video programming in the image messaging app.

Via RetailDive

The post L’oreal Beautifies Video Conferencing with AR appeared first on This Is Retail.

At 6 p.m. in mid-March, Yu Chanyao started her livestream show on Alibaba’s e-commerce platform Taobao, but she wasn’t quite ready.

Yu, better known by her stage name Songzi, applied lipstick, curled her hair and spoke to the production crew while staring at her cellphone.

Once she saw usernames pop up on the bottom of her screen, she greeted her viewers by name.

“Hello Brother Lan! And Bilier!” she waved to the camera.

Songzi mainly helps Taobao shops sell clothing. On that March broadcast, she was promoting spring wear from a Chinese brand called Gebang.

“Gebang is a premium fashion brand in mainland China and they only sold in stores, but because of the COVID-19 virus, they’re turning to online sales,” Songzi told her viewers from eastern China’s Hangzhou city.

China’s economic activity came to a halt in late January and forced nearly 1.4 billion people in the country to stay home for almost two months to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Some brands, like Coach, turned to livestream sales in China. It is the go-to option for young consumers seeking new products and discounts.

According to Taobao, there were 400 million users watching its 60,000-plus livestream shopping shows in 2019. The livestream channels, hosted by brand stores or influencers, generated 200 billion yuan ($28 billion) last year.

The figure is only some 3% of its total general merchandise sales in fiscal year 2019 of 5.7 trillion yuan ($853 billion), but the company says the growth rate for livestream sales has been doubling every year for the past three.

In February, when coronavirus struck China hard, Taobao saw the number of livestream sessions on its app double – a sign to the e-commerce platform that brands are relying more on livestreaming to get customers.

Livestream sales channels are often compared to American home shopping networks like QVC, but they are more casual in format and try to remove some of the anxieties of online shopping in China.

“If you search on Taobao for a tank top, you can find ones that cost anywhere from a dollar to even a hundred dollars,” Songzi said. “My main function as a host is to find nice clothes for viewers among a lot of —how shall I put this? — trash.”

Livestream sales have changed the ways people shop, including one of Songzi’s fans, Lily Zhang.

Zhang is an accountant in Shanghai and used to buy brands like Kate Spade directly from Amazon’s U.S. site — a cheaper option for her that makes her less worried about getting a fake product.

For many years, Taobao has landed on the U.S. Trade Representative’s blacklist for selling counterfeit products.

“Since Taobao started its livestream channels, I’ve basically stopped buying from overseas because the influencers will show details of the clothing and guarantee the authenticity of the products,” Zhang said.

Even Kim Kardashian appeared on China’s top Taobao livestream channel last year to sell her latest perfume. The show was hosted by Viya, who has 17.5 million subscribers to her channel.

“This perfume sells for $51 in the U.S. Tonight, because it’s being released in mainland China for the first time, you can buy it for $10 less!” Viya told her fans.

Within minutes, 15,000 bottles of the Kardashian perfume went out the door.

Taobao estimates that Viya made over $4 million from sales commissions in 2018.

Eye-catching sales on Taobao livestream have become water-cooler talk the following day at offices in China.

Other video sites like Kuaishou and Douyin, the Chinese cousin of TikTok, have added livestream sales functions, but they’re not as popular as Taobao.

“If Taobao viewers like what they see during a broadcast, they just click and buy,” Ji Shengli of Jitao talent agency said. “The technology is seamless because Taobao is purely an e-commerce platform. Plus, everyone watching Taobao livestream went there ready to shop and not for entertainment [like on other social media sites].”

Ji’s firm trains influencers on Taobao.

“In 2018, when livestream shopping was less upscale, the audience was mainly in provincial cities. But now with talented hosts and better products, we see more viewers from the mega cities,” Ji said.

Ji’s offices are in an industrial suburb of Hangzhou.

One of the broadcast studios there consisted of a white desk, racks of clothing and shelves of purses and shoes.

It is a basic set, but it does the trick, according to Ji.

“This room [can] generate 50 million yuan ($7 million) in sales a month,” he said gesturing to the cluttered room.

What makes livestream sales effective?

Deep discounts

Flash sales sometimes offering 90% off retail prices are offered for a limited time (lasting a few minutes) during livestream sales broadcasts, which push buyers to make impulse purchases. Items that sell best tend to be under 500 yuan ($70)

Address buyers’ questions right away

Livestream hosts become a sort of proxy for viewers with brands and online shops and can help answer questions such as: Is the wool scarf scratchy? What size should I order? How come I haven’t received my order yet?

Trust

E-commerce platforms like Taobao in China have been plagued with fakes and poor-quality products, and livestream hosts act as an added layer of protection to guarantee the products for consumers

One of his protege is Songzi, who went from earning 60,000 yuan ($8,500) annually at a company doing business development to easily making 1 million yuan ($141,000) a year as a Taobao livestream sales host.

It has been a steep learning curve since she went to the Jitao agency in April 2018 with no social media following or products to sell.

“The first time I did livestreaming was really awkward. I had no viewers. So I was speaking to an empty room for five, six hours [each livestream broadcast]. It was torture,” Songzi said.

At the time, she said the Jitao agency gave her some dried red dates and a few outfits to sell.

“I kept trying on the same outfits over and over again on camera.”

Broadcast studios at Jitao agency are not glamorous and are stocked with products given to them by brands and Taobao shops to sell.

Today, Songzi has more than 353,000 subscribers.

However, with the COVID-19 virus outbreak, more viewers do not mean more sales.

Retail sales in China dropped 21% in the first two months of 2020, according to government statistics, compared to the same time last year because of the COVID-19 virus prevention measures.

Online sales of physical goods went up by 3% though because people bored or scared to go out had shopped on their phones.

During this time, Songzi has expanded her range of products to comfortable clothing for the home and disinfectant products during this virus outbreak.

However, she does feel her followers are not spending as much because they’re worried about their jobs.

“Some of my subscribers don’t know when they can wear new clothes because they’re still stuck at home from the travel restrictions and can’t work. They’re worried about their finances,” Songzi said.

But not all of her fans are watching their spending, like Zhang. Her employer is fortunately still paying her a regular salary through the COVID-19 virus outbreak.

“I’ve been wearing pajamas at home for two months because we couldn’t go outside,” Zhang said.

“So now, I have an uncontrollable urge to buy, especially when I see beautiful clothes.”

In March, Zhang bought six pieces, including a blouse and a pair of pants, from Songzi.

As for Songzi, she’s barely taken a break from broadcasting for the past six weeks, broadcasting at least four hours a day.

She must keep her sales figures up, but there’s also a competitive factor that comes with social media.

“My agency has good products. If I don’t share the deals with my followers, then someone else will,” Songzi said.

“They’ll get ahead of me [and] then my followers won’t watch me anymore. That is the anxiety I always have.”

Via MarketPlace

The post Livestream Sales – How Brands Are Reaching Customers Amidst COVID-19 appeared first on This Is Retail.

In these times of intense hardship and global pandemic, some retailers are responding by rolling up their sleeves, changing their working models and helping the cause. Others have been fast to pivot, finding new ways to connect with their customers and it’s here I believe we will see the rise of the Virtual Experience.

What I find exciting is that through all of this, creativity will be the ingredient that keeps retailers and brands afloat.

Zara offers to make scrubs for Spain’s coronavirus-stretched hospitals

Zara owner Inditex, whose polka dot dress was a high-street sensation in 2019, may soon be stitching hospital scrubs, helping its home country Spain fight the coronavirus epidemic.

Inditex last week said the epidemic had shut nearly half its stores around the world.

The company said it was studying converting part of its textile manufacturing capacity in Spain to produce hospital gowns.

It also said it would make available to Spain its vast logistics and supplier network, especially in China, to “meet Spain’s emergency needs of both medical and textile materials” such as protective masks, gloves, goggles and caps.

It said it had already donated 10,000 masks and another 300,000 were due to be sent by the end of the week.

Spain has been affected more by the coronavirus than any other European country except Italy, and accounts for the fashion retailer’s largest network of stores by far.

The Company Behind Louis Vuitton Is Now Making Hand Sanitizer for French Hospitals

LVMH will produce 12 tons of hand sanitizer during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Louis Vuitton owner and French luxury goods company LVMH announced on Sunday that it will start making hand sanitizer and distributing it free of charge to hospitals in France to help the country fight the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

This move comes as France is in the middle of a nationwide shortage of antiviral supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic.

LVMH is set to produce around 12 tons of hand sanitizer this week, which will be delivered to 39 public hospitals in Paris.

“I wish to thank LVMH for acting so quickly,” the Chief of Paris Hospitals Martine Hirsch told AFP. LVMH made and confirmed their offer to make hand sanitizer for hospitals over the span of the weekend.

While hospitals in Paris have not completely run out of hand sanitizer just yet, their supplies are running increasingly low, according to a spokesperson for the Paris hospital system.

Due to the hand sanitizer shortage, some pharmacies have started limiting customers to one bottle per person.

Meanwhile, the French government has ordered retailers to limit the price of a single 100ml bottle of hand sanitizer to no more than $3.30 after some businesses attempted to profit off of the shortage.

In its continued efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, France has also shut down restaurants and non-essential stores, which went into effect on Sunday.

 Gucci, and now Prada make medical face masks

Prada is the latest big-name fashion brand to turn its production lines, usually focused on elegant blazers and blouses, to meet needs arising from the coronavirus crisis. Yesterday it said it would produce 110,000 masks by 6 April, while Gucci has said it will make more than 1m and Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga – both of which, like Gucci, are owned by Kering – will also begin manufacturing them.

High-street brands are similarly shifting their focus. Last week, Spanish-owned Zara pledged to produce surgical masks, saying it had already donated 10,000 masks and a further 300,000 were due to be sent by the end of this week. Over the weekend, H&M Group said it would be rearranging its supply chain to produce protective equipment for hospitals and healthcare workers.

The luxury conglomerate LVMH, which owns Dior, Fendi, Louis Vuitton and Givenchy, announced last weekend that it would be supplying the French authorities with more than 40m face masks in the coming weeks, having agreed an order from a Chinese manufacturer. Kering has also said it will be purchasing 3m surgical masks from China to donate to the French health service, while Mango has announced it will distribute 2m donated face masks to Spanish hospitals.

In France, at least, the numbers of masks supplied are more than a drop in the ocean, with the 43m promised by LVMH and Kering sitting favourably alongside the 250m-strong order announced by the French government on Saturday.

It is hoped that brands might soon follow suit in the UK, with the British Fashion Council the not-for-profit organisation that promotes British design globally, last week asking those with “production capacity” to help with shortages. NHS workers in the UK have been speaking out against shortages of protective gear, with London paramedics being rationed to one face mask between two, despite the under-fire UK health secretary Matt Hancock saying yesterday that he had ordered “millions of masks”.

In the US, some smaller brands are popping up to help: Christian Siriano and the kooky sustainable brand Collina Strada are making masks for doctors in New York. The outdoor retailer LL Bean has responded to calls for manufacturing help of masks in Maine, while President Trump has said he’s enlisted companies such as Hanes to start making them too. But, as the New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman questioned on Twitter yesterday, unlike in France and Italy, for now: “Where are the really big brand names?”

The move to make masks follows on from LVMH’s announcement, earlier this month, that it would convert three of its factories, which usually manufacture perfumes under labels such as Givenchy and Guerlain, to the production of hand sanitiser.

Brewdog opens 102 virtual bars for people to enjoy a quarantine pint

Craft pub chain Brewdog has launched more than 100 virtual bars to host quizzes, live music and comedy shows throughout the coronavirus crisis.

The new 102 online bars will replicate each of the brewery’s pubs across the world to allow customers to connect with friends virtually after all UK pubs were forced to close at the end of last week to slow the spread of the outbreak.

Every Brewdog bar in the UK, Germany, Australia and the US will have its own online session. During the sessions there will be beer testing, home brewing masterclasses, Q&A opportunities and giveaways.

The pub chain will announce session details and events throughout the week on its social media channels.

BrewDog cofounder James Watt said: “Community has always been at the absolute core of what we do.

“And the role that community, and great beer play in our society is now more important than ever.

“Our online bars will be open for business on the 27 March at 6pm, and we are scheduling a series of amazing sessions with guest breweries, online tastings, games, entertainment. We’re looking forward to welcoming you all and sharing a beer.”

Last week east London-based Signature Brew launched a “Pub in a Box” for those self-isolating amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Founder Sam McGregor said the Pub in a Box will include a core range of beers, beer glasses, beer mats, a vinyl record, pub quiz, a playlist and snacks. The brewery is also launching a click and collect service across its venues in Hackney.

A number of distilleries around Australia are now making hand sanitiser, including Bundaberg Rum and Archie Rose

Alcohol distilleries around Australia have been shifting production to make hand sanitiser amid the coronavirus outbreak. These include Archie Rose, Bundaberg Rum and Manly Spirits Co.
Cricket legend Shane Warne’s distillery SevenZeroEight is also producing hand sanitiser.

Following the nationwide shutdown of pubs and clubs in Australia amid the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve rounded out a list of distilleries that have turned their production capabilities toward hand sanitiser.

Sydney-based spirits company Archie Rose rolled out its own brand of hand sanitiser in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The company shifted production from spirits to make 4,500 500ml bottles of hand sanitiser, which have since sold out.

The hand sanitiser formula is based on the World Health Organisation and Australian Department of Health guidelines and ingredients selected by the company.

Archie Rose founder Will Edwards said on the company’s website, like all businesses, Archie Rose is “facing some incredibly difficult times”.

“We’re in a unique position to manufacture this essential product – with the required federal licences, dangerous goods approvals, access to raw materials and expertise – and so we’re now making hand sanitiser our production focus,” he said.

Edwards added that the company will produce hand sanitiser for as long as it can.

“We will continue to produce sanitiser for as long as we can, or as long as is required and this will also support the redeployment of as many of our full time bar staff as possible to assist in filling, packaging and shipping the product,” he said.

With the demand for hand santitiser skyrocketing, Manly Spirits Co also started producing it and the company’s distillery in Brookvale, Sydney.

Manly Spirits is offering its hand sanitiser – with a gin aroma – to community group, charities and commercially. It’s also offering a free 50ml bottle with every 700ml spirits bottle purchased.

Bundaberg Rum and Beenleigh Rum

Over in Queensland, the Beenleigh and Bundaberg Rum Distilleries have also joined the hand sanitiser bandwagon, with the state government reaching out to them directly for it.

Beenleigh Rum, the oldest distillery in Australia, will begin producing hand sanitiser this week and will supply it to the Queensland government for distribution to schools and frontline workers.

Bundaberg Rum will donate 100,000 litres of ethanol to the state government, which is enough to make around 500,000 bottles of hand sanitiser.

Angelo Kotses, owner of the Beenleigh Distillery and Managing Director of the Bickfords Group of Companies said in a statement the idea to switch to hand sanitiser came from a mission to keep its workers safe.

“Ethanol is the key ingredient of hand sanitiser, and we already produce ethanol for our alcohol products,” he said.

“We originally planned a small run of only 1500 cartons, but when the Queensland Government approached us we were more than happy to help by providing hand sanitiser for essential needs throughout the state.”

David Smith, managing director of Bundaberg Rum parent company Diageo Australia, said in a statement the company had a duty to support the community during this time.

“Bundaberg Rum is a Queensland icon, we’ve felt the love of Australians since our distillery was first established more than 130 years ago in 1888,” Smith said.

“At a time like this we will always step up and contribute when Australians need it most.”

The state government is also looking for more manufacturers around the state that can make hand sanitiser.

Prohibition Liquor Co.

South Australian Distillery, Prohibition Liquor Co decided to make a batch of hand sanitiser as well, producing 200, 100ml bottles.

In an Instagram post, the company said it is not only using the sanitiser and its site, but giving one away with every 500ml or 700ml bottle of gin sold.

SevenZeroEight

Australian cricketer Shane Warne’s Western Australian distillery SevenZeroEight started making medical grade 70% alcohol hand sanitiser on March 17. The company will produce hand sanitiser until further notice.

“This is a challenging time for Australians and we all need to do what we can to help our healthcare system combat this disease and save lives,” Shane Warne said in a statement. “I am happy SevenZeroEight has the ability to make this shift and encourage others to do the same.”

Wise Wine

Wise Wine in Western Australia has also began producing its own organic hand sanitiser.

Ethanol for the company’s spirits is distilled on site.

Hand sanitiser from Wise Wine costs $55 for a 700 mL bottle and you can get a maximum of two.

Sourced via RTE news, Global Citizen, The Guardian, City.A.M and Business Insider

The post How Retailers & Brands Are Responding to Covid-19 Crisis appeared first on This Is Retail.