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OUTSIDE THE BOX

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If you think you’ve heard the last word about millennials – think again! Iconic cosmetic brand Estee Lauder mentioned the term 19 times in its latest annual report. Recent acquisitions like Glamglow and Smashbox means bumping up marketing efforts. You may be doing the same. Estee Lauder says 60% of its sales come from millennials, much of it at Ulta and Sephora stores. One interesting thing we can learn from this is if you want to capture this group’s attention – Sample!

MILLENNIAL FEVER

SNEAKER

SWAP

Everyone’s heard about the runaway success of the Rent The Runway site for women’s fashions. Now the guys don’t have to feel left out. LSwop, or Luxury Swop, rents European designer sneakers from designers like Tom Ford, Christian Louboutin and Pierre Hardy which typically sell for $800 to $1,000. Pay a monthly subscription and LSwop will rent you sneakers from one to four days. For a mere $150, customers can rent one sneaker monthly, two for $250 and three for $350. Well, they do send them in a wooden shoe box with a free pair of socks!

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Sometimes you’ve got to double down even when the odds are stacked against you. That’s what Under Armour, the sports clothing manufacturer, is doing with the introduction of a high-end apparel line at the recent FashionWeek in New York. It’s a bold move considering fashion collections from competitors Nike, Adidas and Puma were introduced years ago and are firmly entrenched in retail.The line called UAS is aimed at “ambitious Millennials” who may or may not be willing to fork over $1,500 for a trench coat. BETTING THE LINE

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Google and Germany’s highly popular Zalando e-commerce platform, have teamed up on Project Muze that enables users to create their own 3-D fashion designs using artificial intelligence. Rudimentary AI technology is already being used in some areas of retailing. Could this be the next step for supermarkets? Customized 3D foods?

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ALABAMA GROCER |