In today’s top retail news, Gap Inc. is streamlining the credit card and loyalty programs across all four of its brands, while Crocs wrestles with potential supply chain issues as digital and direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales grow. Also, retailers are looking to partner with beauty brands post-pandemic, but those same brands are more focused on digital and D2C.
Gap Streamlines Rewards Programs Amid Flood Of Loyalty Initiatives
Gap is integrating its credit card and loyalty programs across all four of its brands to simplify the consumer experience, as retailers prepare to unveil a glut of new rewards programs ahead of the holiday shopping season. Chief Digital and Technology Officer John Strain said in an interview with PYMNTS that moving to one membership plan for Gap’s four brands is part of a “consumer-curious” approach in which the company surveyed and interviewed customers about nearly every detail of the rewards program. Two key takeaways were that the rewards program should be easy and provide customers with choice.
Crocs’ Old Demand Problem Has Become Its New Supply Problem
Crocs saw its revenue nearly double year over year to $640.8 million in the second quarter, as D2C and digital sales accelerated amid the reopening of retail locations and increased demand. Company executives cautioned, though, that the ability of the supply chain to keep up with growth is one of their key concerns, with spikes of COVID-19 potentially impacting supply and transit times from Asia approximately double what they historically were.
Retailers Embrace Post-Pandemic Beauty Trend, But Cosmetics Have Gone D2C
As consumers continue their exodus from pandemic isolation to see friends and family after many months apart, personal presentation is once again surging, leading many retailers to seize on beauty as a driver of growth for the future. Target and JCPenney recently partnered with Ulta Beauty and Thirteen Lune, respectively, planning to open shop-in-shops to promote a beauty experience at retail locations. Beauty brands themselves, however, remain focused on digital capabilities and D2C sales.
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