Reimagining Retail: The Unofficial Most Interesting Retailers List (November)

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of the most interesting retailers for the month of November. Each month, our analysts Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Sara Lebow (aka The Committee) put together a very unofficial list of the top eight retailers they're watching based on which are making the most interesting moves: Who's launching new initiatives? Which partnerships are moving the needle? Which standout marketing campaigns are being created? In this month's episode, Committee members Analyst Arielle Feger and Senior Analyst Sara Lebow will defend their list against Vice President of Content Suzy Davidkhanian and Senior Director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.

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Episode Transcript:

Sara Lebow (00:00):

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(00:22):

Hello, listeners. Today is Wednesday, November 27th. Happy Thanksgiving Eve, or as we in the retail industry call it Black Friday Eve Eve. Welcome to Behind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail an eMarketer podcast. This is the show where we talk about how retail collides with every part of our lives. I'm your host, Sara Lebow. Today's episode topic is our November unofficial most interesting retailers of the month list.

(00:54):

Before we get into that list, let's meet today's guests. Joining me for today's episode, we have fellow committee member, Arielle Feger. Hi Arielle.

Arielle Feger (01:03):

Hi, I'm euphoric to be here today.

Sara Lebow (01:06):

I love that you keep your thesaurus next to your podcast.

Arielle Feger (01:09):

Yeah, that one I did. I did look up.

Sara Lebow (01:12):

Also with us is Suzy Davidkhanian. Hi Suzy.

Suzy Davidkhanian (01:15):

Hi.

Sara Lebow (01:16):

And also here it is Jeremy Goldman. Hey Jeremy.

Jeremy Goldman (01:20):

Hey, I am so excited to be here. Is it okay if I keep on working on this stuffing for tomorrow as we're podcasting?

Sara Lebow (01:26):

Yeah, just keep it at, what, a low simmer? No, you bake stuffing. I don't know.

Arielle Feger (01:31):

You do a lot of stuff with stuffing.

Sara Lebow (01:32):

You do a lot of stuff with it. It's a lot of process. It is my favorite side dish.

Jeremy Goldman (01:37):

Oh, it's not a side dish for me. It's like if I have any extra time I'll eat something other than the stuffing.

Sara Lebow (01:43):

Okay. Let's jump into our unofficial most interesting retailers of the month list. This list is slightly funky because it's the 27th, so we're doing this just before our Thanksgiving Black Friday event. So there's a chance these retailers do something a little crazy in the next few days. But just going off of what we know from this month so far, Arielle and I will present our list in the first half of this episode and in the second half, Suzy and Jeremy will have the opportunity to edit our list. So here is our list number eight, 7-Eleven. Wow, that's so confusing to say. Arielle, tell us about eight, 7-Eleven.

Arielle Feger (02:28):

So 7-Eleven is on the list for two main reasons. One is they're expanding its Gulp radio network to 5,000 stores across its portfolio and that is just a really smart retail media move. We've seen a lot of retailers move into in-store audio. It's got a really low barrier to entry and it's just a really smart way for a lot of retailers to start experimenting with in-store retail media. The other reason is 7-Eleven is really starting to expand its store footprint to include more fresh food options, which I think is really interesting. I think a lot of consumers are now looking for value, looking for convenience stores to provide them with more food options. So I think that's just a great way to cater to consumers desires like that.

Sara Lebow (03:21):

Yeah, you summed it up. I don't have more to say about that. Solidly number eight. Great.

(03:26):

Okay, number seven is CeraVe for announcing a new line of hair care. So CeraVe is a skincare company. We know that skincare and beauty in general is growing at a really healthy clip. We have healthcare and personal care projected to grow at 4.8% this year in 2024. Hair care in particular though, is going to grow at 6.6%. That's for US retail sales according to our forecast. So I think it makes sense that they're expanding their reach by getting into another industry, maybe expanding their audience and maybe getting their current consumer to buy more.

Jeremy Goldman (04:06):

I do love beauty for those of you who don't know, I've worked in the industry for years. That's why I look this good. And I think one of the most important things-

Sara Lebow (04:14):

Face for broadcasting.

Jeremy Goldman (04:15):

Really very much so. They don't put me on the weekly listen for a reason. But I will say that really when you have a degree of brand equity in one category, at some point you have to look to see where else do you have permission to play. So something like fragrance would feel very, very off for this brand. I think that the hair care and the way in which they're approaching it seems to lean very heavily into their existing brand equity. You can see that in the packaging. Yeah, I think this is definitely interesting, and I think more importantly, does it have a chance to succeed? And I would say, yeah.

Suzy Davidkhanian (04:50):

It's so interesting. I have the opposite. I agree a hundred percent. You need to have the right sort of authenticity and you have to have the permission to go from one product category to the other. I just think that even if they have super clean, low product count, really nice packaging, sticks to their skincare mantra, it's such a crowded marketplace. And it's so high low in that there's people go to the salon and buy super-duper expensive things because they think that's really good for them or they buy the cheapest thing in the... And so at the pharmacy, the shelves are so stacked with so many different brands. Just think about L'Oreal and how many different types of brands they have. I just think it's saturated and it'll be hard.

Jeremy Goldman (05:34):

And just to clarify, I actually do agree with you here. It's one of those things that I think a lot of people don't pay attention to is the average beauty category line that launches also folds within a short time period. So not everything is successful, but I think you have to figure out where do you have even a chance of succeeding At the end of the day, it's all about expanding your product line.

Sara Lebow (05:55):

Yeah, I'll admit, I think Suzy just got a peek at what I was looking at on my laptop, which is that the CeraVe branding, which is very no-nonsense to me, looks a lot like the Mane n Tail branding.

Jeremy Goldman (06:04):

A little bit. I see what you mean. But it still looks like CeraVe.

Sara Lebow (06:09):

I think so too. All right, let's keep moving. Number six, Claire's. Arielle, say more on this one.

Arielle Feger (06:16):

So the reason Claire's is on the list this month is they launched five new fragrances in a body care collection and these are all aimed at what they're calling Gen Z-Alpha, which is kind of the consumers in between Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Now, I think it's a kind of interesting move. Fragrance has really been a big seller in the beauty world. Gen Z's fragrance use has jumped from 5% in 2022 to 83% in 2023. So I think that's just a really big opportunity there. Somehow I've ended up Claire's number one fan. I'm always adding then to list. I just want to see them succeed.

Suzy Davidkhanian (06:54):

I think you guys can guess what I'm going to say that I think it's really interesting move because how many earrings are you going to buy and how often do you buy earrings and how many times are going to go get ear pierced and how many people are going to the mall to go to Claire's? You need more product. So product extension in this case I think is a really good idea. Is just that is the right product for them? I don't know because there's so much competition at the mall with Bath and Body Works and everybody loves that.

Sara Lebow (07:23):

Or even Sephora, when I was a teenager you'd go into Sephora and smell everything.

Suzy Davidkhanian (07:26):

Victoria Secret has a really strong not-fragrance-fragrance sort of body fragrance kind of... So I don't know, I hope it works for them, but it is interesting.

Jeremy Goldman (07:36):

We do have a lot of data that private label consumption is on the rise, so I think that that's probably important to mention.

Arielle Feger (07:43):

I was going to say the price point's pretty good. I think the highest price on one of those perfumes is about 25 bucks, which when you're thinking about Gen Alpha, they're kids, they don't have a full salary yet, so that could be also a sweet spot to have something that they can afford.

Sara Lebow (08:01):

Yeah, let's put Gen Alpha to work. Kidding. Let's keep moving. Number five is Kendra Scott. Arielle, why is Kendra Scott on the list?

Arielle Feger (08:12):

Kendra Scott, the brand, is launching a Western wear brand. It's going to be called Yellow Rose. It's going to sell boots, hats, jeans, and of course jewelry like the line they created in partnership with Paramount, the TV show Yellowstone. And we saw it happen with Beyonce, with Taylor Swift, the Cowboy thing. It might be a little late on capturing the cowboy trend, but I do think that it's got such brand affinity from its customers that I think it's going to do pretty well.

Sara Lebow (08:46):

Yeah, I think that covers Kendra Scott. Number four, the Children's Place, which is setting up a storefront on Shein to sell their clothing. This is interesting to me because I think of the Children's Place as almost like, I don't want to say upscale, but a little pricier kind of mall brand. That's what it was when I was growing up. So setting up on Shein is a surprising move to me. I guess it's not surprising when you consider that they have been struggling, especially with malls closing, but I don't know if it's a smart move. It's definitely an interesting one.

Jeremy Goldman (09:19):

Yeah, I will say I think that they are competing in a very challenging and interesting marketplace for sure. So I think if anything this, I would almost flip this and say who is it more interesting for, Shein, who for over a year now tried to encourage people to open up these marketplaces within Shein. I think that these storefronts within Shein, I think that to me is definitely a winning move for them, if they can basically create a digital mall with a lot of different unique storefronts. For Children's Place, it's almost out of necessity. Well, let's try something.

Sara Lebow (09:57):

Yeah, it feels like Shein is going toe to toe with is Target, which has really high quality private label clothing for children, children's clothing.

Suzy Davidkhanian (10:05):

Yeah, me too. I think this is brilliant for both of them. For exactly what you both said. Shein is moving away from Chinese made products and trying to shake that off with all the regulation that's happening and Children's Place is trying to shake off the expensive branding and so together, hopefully it'll work for them.

Sara Lebow (10:23):

Number three, we have Kroger. Arielle?

Arielle Feger (10:27):

Kroger is planning to pilot to what they're calling Asian experience stores in North Texas next year. These are going to kind of showcase a wire selection of Asian products alongside other normal grocery fresh and shelf stable items. I think it's a really great way to test and see what products are working with a specific demographic before you decide if you want to roll them out to the larger population. And I think it's just a really great way to foster the community. Apparently the Asian communities in these specific towns have been growing in the past few years, so I think it's just a really great way to get them to shop at Kroger rather than another store that is in town.

Suzy Davidkhanian (11:18):

Arielle, do you know if it's in a Kroger, an existing Kroger, or it's a standalone experience?

Arielle Feger (11:23):

Yes, these will be standalone stores.

Suzy Davidkhanian (11:25):

It's interesting because at the grocery store by me, which I realize I live in a big city, has an international section. And so it's interesting to think about needing to pull out the experience from a non-international brand.

Sara Lebow (11:41):

Well, [inaudible 00:11:41] has an international section yet still a lot of consumers in your city, New York City, are either going to Chinatown to shop or going to H Mart to shop. So even those international sections maybe don't cut it compared to going somewhere. [inaudible 00:11:56].

Suzy Davidkhanian (11:55):

Well, they're so small.

Sara Lebow (11:56):

Yeah.

Suzy Davidkhanian (11:56):

And I wanted pierogies and my mom was like, why don't you go to a Polish store? So I feel like a lot of different-

Sara Lebow (12:01):

Come to North Brooklyn, they've got so many pierogies.

Jeremy Goldman (12:05):

Oh yeah, there are really good places around there.

Suzy Davidkhanian (12:07):

Oh.

Arielle Feger (12:07):

I do kind of wonder though, the reason that people go to Asian grocery stores or to a very specific demographic grocery store, is they're usually run by people in that demographic and so they have a closer, I would assume, a closer connection to the brands, the foods, the type of products that people want. So I'm wondering, Kroger, as obviously a regional grocer in the US if they're going to be able to compete with the product selection and what people want from that.

Suzy Davidkhanian (12:43):

And the authenticity. My whole life, my dad has been going to where they live, the Chinatown grocery store, to buy goji berries and other random things. And so I grew up doing that, but everybody there is from that part of the world.

Sara Lebow (12:59):

H Mart, which seems to me what Kroger is going for here, was founded in Queens, which I didn't realize by a Korean immigrant. So you're right, Arielle, to question how... I actually don't know though. Kroger could very well be hiring the right team for this. I haven't looked into it.

Arielle Feger (13:15):

Yeah, I think it's like a to be seen.

Sara Lebow (13:18):

All right, moving along. Number two, e.l.f., e.l.f. posted excellent earnings this past quarter with 40% sales gain and also announced that they'll be selling their items at Dollar General in a partnership. That's a great idea. e.l.f. is a budget beauty brand. They're proudly a budget beauty brand. Dollar General, proudly a budget store. So even though the brands don't match one-to-one, the purpose really does.

Arielle Feger (13:44):

This is another example, kind of the children's place in selling on Shein, where I do feel like this is good for both brands. I think it's going to be great for e.l.f. to get their products in Dollar General where customers may not be generally shopping them otherwise. And I think it's going to be really good for Dollar General, which has also been struggling to find new inroads with its customers. So I think this is win-win.

Jeremy Goldman (14:09):

Part of why I think that e.l.f. has done so well over the last few years really is interesting compelling marketing campaigns and finding ways to cut very lucrative distribution deals, so it's not just selling into the same doors year over year. So it's a lot easier if you keep on increasing distribution to be able to reach a lot of new customers. And I think that's what they're doing and I think that when you cut a deal with a struggling retailer like that, you are likely to cut some backroom deals in terms of getting co-op marketing and other things that benefit that launch and allow them to keep on anniversarying their sales. I don't know if they can keep on growing at the rate that they are, but they're still impressive.

Suzy Davidkhanian (14:51):

I find that this is really good for the dollar stores, or Dollar General in this particular instance, because they need some cool factor, right?

Arielle Feger (15:00):

Yeah.

Sara Lebow (15:01):

Okay. And finally at number one we have Amazon. Amazon has turned Black Friday into a week-long event, which Jeremy your team deemed Cyber Dozen. Is that what you came up with?

Jeremy Goldman (15:13):

Yeah, the Cyber Dozen is the new Cyber Five.

Sara Lebow (15:15):

Love that. That's not crazy interesting to me. More Black Friday, longer Black Friday, we've been talking about that for 30 years. What is interesting to me is that Amazon finally launched Haul, which is their Shein-Temu knockoff, as if those knockoff sites could have a knockoff. It's Amazon's cheap goods storefront. And this is a huge play. It's potentially going to undercut Shein and Temu with faster delivery. I think it might not be great for the world as it puts more products out into everywhere, but it's a huge play for Amazon.

Jeremy Goldman (15:54):

I will say, I think one of the things that was unfortunate about this is, yes, I understand you've got to "get something out quickly." I'm putting that in air quotes, but it's right now it's still mobile only. It is cool that it exists, but everybody, yes, you obviously need a mobile experience. I think a lot of people do get frustrated when they're forced into a specific type of experience as opposed to having something being available across all form factors.

Sara Lebow (16:22):

All right, so there you have it. That is our list. So the final list as it currently stands is number eight, 7-Eleven; number seven, CeraVe; number six, Claire's; number five, Kendra Scott; number four, The Children's Place; number three, Kroger; number two, e.l.f.; and number one, Amazon. Now it's time for our second half where Suzy and Jeremy get to tell us where we went wrong. Each of them will have a chance to move a brand up or down our rankings list and to add a new company entirely. So Suzy, why don't you go first and make a move?

Suzy Davidkhanian (17:02):

So because I can't move multiple things at the same time. I am only moving e.l.f. to number eight so that Children's Place can be closer to the top.

Sara Lebow (17:12):

Okay. What is your argument for e.l.f. being number eight? Because I thought the Dollar General partnership was really interesting.

Suzy Davidkhanian (17:18):

I think it's interesting, but I don't think it's good for e.l.f. I think it's good for Dollar General. So if we're talking about something creative that e.l.f. is doing, I don't think that's great. And I think that their earnings was fine, but it's nothing to write home about. And so that's why. Arielle?

Arielle Feger (17:33):

I don't know, Suzy, I think the Dollar General partnership is really interesting and I think the argument isn't necessarily whether it's better for Dollar General or better for e.l.f. I think it's still a move that will get the attention of consumers and got our attention. So a little too much for me.

Sara Lebow (17:57):

Yeah, I'm keeping it where it is. Number eight tends to fall off the list because you guys tend to convince us of pretty good new things to add. I don't want this falling off the list, so I'm keeping it where it is. Jeremy, what is your move?

Jeremy Goldman (18:11):

I think I would probably honestly move Kendra Scott to around number 42 on the list. And I think the reason being, no offense, I realize that the odds of me winning this is low because you-

Sara Lebow (18:23):

Winning, we're not competing.

Jeremy Goldman (18:24):

Fine, we're not competing. But the fact that you have it on as number five and not number eight means you thought a lot of this campaign. I don't necessarily really see it. I understand that you have to reenergize a brand that's been around for over two decades now, but to me I think there are better ways to do it. And I think also tapping into cowboy trend and Yellowstone, both are... I think that Kevin Costner trying to get off the boat should tell you something. It's maybe a little bit too late. The timing is off.

Sara Lebow (18:58):

I'm okay with moving Kendra Scott down. Arielle might put up a fight on this one. I'm okay with it.

Arielle Feger (19:03):

I would allow moving it down, but I just got to say, what about Bama Rush talk? Those girls are going to eat this up.

Sara Lebow (19:10):

That was so three years ago though.

Arielle Feger (19:13):

It doesn't matter. They're still buying it. They're still buying the stuff and that's all that matters.

Sara Lebow (19:18):

All right, we'll move them down for now. So Kendra Scott down to number eight. Jeremy, who would you introduce to the list as your wild card and where would you put them?

Jeremy Goldman (19:28):

Well, we live in New York City, a lot of people rent. I would like to introduce you to Rent the Runway, who is reintroducing themselves to everybody after 15 years being on the market with a really interesting campaign, talking to consumers about moving beyond traditional ownership and embracing access over accumulation. And I think that that leans into a lot of different trends. They've been challenged as a retailer for a while now. And I think reminding people what you do at a time during the holidays essentially when everybody's tapping into essentially excess consumption that we all love to do is a kind of zag when everybody else is zigging.

Sara Lebow (20:11):

A company called Rent the Runway needs to rebrand to remind people what they do. Is there hope?

Jeremy Goldman (20:18):

It's a good point that I think that a lot of other people have built up their brand equity in this space, like the Thread Ups of the world. Yeah, there's a lot of other people in this category, but I think that when you've been around for a while and you celebrate that you've been around for a while, I think that that is a way to remind people that you are the leader. And again, it's like you lean into what you have, and one of the things that they have is longevity and being a forebearer of a lot of other players.

Sara Lebow (20:46):

Where do you want to put them?

Jeremy Goldman (20:49):

I'm not so excited about it, but I'd say probably eight, which I guess sadly would have to knock Kendra Scott out.

Sara Lebow (20:57):

Knock Kendra Scott off.

Jeremy Goldman (20:58):

So I love Austin by the way. It's no offense to Austin.

Sara Lebow (21:01):

Arielle, Rent the Runway, number eight, knocking Kendra Scott off?

Arielle Feger (21:05):

I can't. I can't.

Sara Lebow (21:06):

Because they're always rebranding.

Arielle Feger (21:11):

That's the thing. Okay, so there's two reasons why I am kind of not into this. One is they are constantly rebranding. We've seen it all. Two is, I just that zagging when everyone else is zigging or whatever. Trying to get people to be less consumer bait, like driven, during the holidays feels just like a very weird mismatch to me. And I think that reminding people to rent clothes and not buy them is not where they're going to get people. I think giving them options, giving them exciting choices, innovation.

Sara Lebow (21:45):

It's a really good point.

Arielle Feger (21:46):

Making it easy, that's where they're going to get consumers.

Sara Lebow (21:49):

That's a great point.

Suzy Davidkhanian (21:50):

Plus they sell the clothes after a while anyways.

Sara Lebow (21:53):

All right, sorry, Jeremy, Rent the Runway has not knocked Kendra Scott off. Suzy might be able to knock them off though. Who are you adding?

Suzy Davidkhanian (21:53):

Gosh, I'm very excited.

Sara Lebow (22:01):

Where are you putting them?

Suzy Davidkhanian (22:01):

I'm putting them at number five.

Sara Lebow (22:03):

Who?

Suzy Davidkhanian (22:03):

Arbitrarily because that's where there was the gap in your list. Okay. Are you guys ready? It's KFC and it's not because they're a quick service restaurant, but it's because they're doing all kinds of things at retail. Did you guys hear about this already? They have a candle. They just introduced a candle called the Bucket of Chicken Candle, which features notes of chicken, browned flour, peppercorn, and garlic. They have other types of candles. So one, they're selling candles. Two, they also launched Christmas wrapping paper that tastes like chicken. It's limited edition. So a sense of urgency.

Sara Lebow (22:42):

Yeah, it is a sense of urgency because it's chicken flavored and you need to eat it before it goes bad. So [inaudible 00:22:47]

Suzy Davidkhanian (22:47):

And it tastes like the original recipe of KFC with a refreshing hint of cranberry sauce and aromatic pinch of sage, blah, blah, blah. But the other part of the whole campaign of trying to bring their brand, their chicken brand, to life at retail is that they're also partnering with Build-A-Bear Workshop. And if you guys Google it and see the pictures of the Bears, they're so cute. One of them is in the KFC bucket. And so while do I think it's going to move the needle for KFC as a place that I'm going to now go buy chicken because of all these extra ancillary things? Probably not. But do I think it's very clever and that they've understood how gimmicky they need to be to get more people to pay attention to them? A hundred percent.

Sara Lebow (23:30):

We got the bears at Build-A-Bear. So expensive.

Jeremy Goldman (23:32):

Wait.

Suzy Davidkhanian (23:33):

But they're so cute. Look at that.

Jeremy Goldman (23:35):

Wait, I will just say that Chick-fil-A is doing a lot of other interesting things in this space. So it's a little bit hard for me to be like, yeah, I totally agree.

Suzy Davidkhanian (23:44):

Well Chick-fil-A is doing their entertainment hub, right? But I think-

Jeremy Goldman (23:47):

How can you be the second most interesting chicken innovator and still be on the list?

Suzy Davidkhanian (23:52):

So I think chicken is-

Sara Lebow (23:54):

Because there is a reason for this that Suzy is getting by on a technicality, which is that we don't usually allow quick service restaurants, QSRs, on this list. But Suzy has leaned into them as a retailer.

Suzy Davidkhanian (24:06):

Like Build-A-Bear.

Sara Lebow (24:07):

And Chick-fil-A is not doing something as a retailer.

Jeremy Goldman (24:08):

Okay.

Suzy Davidkhanian (24:12):

But they're also doing cartoon episodes. That's the cool thing that they're doing, which is very cool. And we talk about it in our retail trends report, but it's not the same as a sale. It's like a different way of getting loyalty and brand building.

Sara Lebow (24:26):

Suzy, maybe it was just your tone and your appeal as a salesperson, but you've convinced me to put KFC on the list. You have not convinced me to put them at number five above Claire's, CeraVe and 7-Eleven. I will put them at number eight and knock Kendra Scott off the list.

Arielle Feger (24:42):

I would be okay with that. I think it was Suzy's joy that really sold this for me because novelty things from fast food retailers, kind of a par for the course, but just how excited you got about the Build-A-Bears is... It's the joy to my heart.

Jeremy Goldman (25:01):

I'm just happy that Kendra Scott was defeated.

Arielle Feger (25:04):

Everyone's happy.

Sara Lebow (25:05):

Okay, so our updated list, we have number eight, KFC; number seven, 7-Eleven, that's the right spot for it to be. Number six, CeraVe; number five, Claire's; number four, Children's Place; number three, Kroger; number two, e.l.f; and number one, Amazon. That is all we have time for today. So thank you so much for being here, Suzy.

Suzy Davidkhanian (25:30):

Thanks for having me.

Sara Lebow (25:31):

Thank you, Jeremy.

Jeremy Goldman (25:32):

This was great. Thank you.

Sara Lebow (25:34):

Thank you, Arielle.

Arielle Feger (25:35):

Oh, so happy to be here.

Sara Lebow (25:36):

Please give us a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks to our listeners and to Victoria who edits the podcast and always ranks number one on our unofficial list. We'll be back next Wednesday with another episode of Reimagining Retail, an eMarketer podcast, and join Marcus on Monday for another episode of the Behind the Numbers Daily. Happy Holiday.