PrivCo Logo

Retail Trends & What Glossier Got Right

Retail Trends & What Glossier Got Right
January 31, 2022

The Daily Stack is a daily private market insights newsletter by PrivCo, a private company intelligence platform. Read our previous insights.
Have an interesting topic you want us to include, let us know!

Shopify hosts a third of all e-commerce websites in the U.S., or over 3 million brands. That share makes the company distinctly qualified to speak to the trends, factors, and issues shaping retail. The company recently released its 140-page 2022 Future of Commerce Trend Report, chock-full of industry insights. We summarize the retail trends here, using the headline-grabbing D2C beauty brand Glossier as a case study. The company set trends in retail but recently announced a course correction by laying off 80 technical employees.


                                                         Glossier in-store experience

Trend #1: Digitally native brands will go IRL 
Add “online shopping boredom” to the list of new pandemic-related terms, including Zoom fatigue and languishing. People are sick of online shopping and want to get back into stores. Meanwhile, the pandemic retail sweep means leases are easier to come by, and physical retail can be a less expensive customer acquisition tool than digital advertising.

Glossier, which began as a digitally-native brand, opened stores in New York and Los Angeles before the pandemic and subsequently closed them when trying on mascara became a coronavirus no-no. The company is back with retail locations in Seattle, LA, and London.

Trend #2: Omnichannel or else
Retailers create loyalty through a seamless customer journey across digital and physical experiences. People want to see the product in-store, read reviews and order online, and have the option to return in-store. 

Glossier started with a flagship store in New York where customers could experience the brand IRL. Those customers could try out the product, compare tips with other shoppers, and get help from a hip retail staff clad in pink jumpsuits. The company’s recent layoffs come from the tech side, where the company was ambitiously pursuing an internally-robust technological capacity. It is now pivoting to leverage external partners and say the move is to recalibrate after it got ahead of itself by hiring too many people after an $80MM Series E last summer.

Trend #3: Rethinking retail staff 
Like most industries, the retail industry is seeing greater demands. Customers want happy, helpful service, and employees are tired of constantly smiling without decent pay, opportunities for advancement, and investment in their career advancement.

Glossier came under fire in 2020 for racist work culture, as described by numerous retail employees. There are no reports on how the culture has changed, but equity, inclusion, and personal development are heavily referenced in current retail employee job descriptions.

For more retail content, check out our previous Daily Stack articles: D2C Grows Up,  Gen Z approved retailers, & 2021 Retail Trends.

Since last week, PrivCo has added:
2,225 Companies | 237 Funding Activities | 197 M&A Deals

Funding & Deal Highlights:

Enable Injections raises $215MM from Magnetar Capital

Health Care • Round C • Franklin, OH


Lemonada Media raises $8MM from Bertelsmann Digital Media

Podcasts • Round A • Minneapolis, MN


Zapp Other Services raises $200MM from Lightspeed Ventures

Delivery • Round B • Kent, UK


Moglix raises $250MM from Tiger Global

B2B Commerce • Round F • Singapore


Savage X Fenty raises $125MM from Neuburger Berman Group

LIngerie • Round C • El Segundo, CA


ThriveDX raises from Prytek

Cyber Security • Equity • Miami, FL


OneShield raises $50MM from Pacific Lake Partners

Insurtech • Equity • Westborough, MA


Autonomy raises $50MM from Horizon Technology

Subscription Car • Debt • Santa Monica, CA


Innovheart raises $55MM from Grand Pharma

Biotech • Round C • Milano, Italy


Arcaea raises $78MM from Cascade Investments

Hair Care • Round A • Boston, MA


Rosedale Federal Savings & Loan acquires CBM for $64.4MM 

Finance • Acquisition • Baltimore, MD


TransPerfect acquires Somagic

Training • Acquisition • New York, NY


Diversified Fall Protection acquires Versatile Systems 

Roofing • Acquisition • Valencia, CA


Diversified Fall Protection acquires Rooftop Anchor 

Roofing • Acquisition • Heber City, UT

Forward to a Friend Forward to a Friend
Not a subscriber yet? Sign up here.
Have an interesting topic you want us to include. Let us know! 
Website
Twitter
LinkedIn
Copyright © 2021 PrivCo Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Unsubscribe | PrivCo.com | Contact Us
PrivCo Logo

© 2024 PrivCo Media, LLC

Company

HomeSign inContactPricing