H&M, a company criticized for fast fashion, wants to bring sustainable supply chains to competitors. This season, while H&M is hawking the ubiquitous dress-and-sneakers look ( why ?), it is also debuting Treadler, a new supply-chain sharing service that will allow smaller brands to utilize its infrastructure from development to delivery, reports the Financial Times. Read Full Story

Philips’s new system enforces social distancing before you even go into the store. Retail stores are starting to open in some states—but that doesn’t mean your shopping experience will be the same. Read Full Story

Garment-to-garment recycling has been a pipe dream in the fashion industry for decades. But the technology may finally be here. For years, the fashion industry has been trying to find a way to turn old clothes into new ones, the way we currently recycle cardboard or aluminum cans. Now, the technology has finally arrived. And if you stop by an H&M store in Stockholm, you can see the process before your eyes. Read Full Story

Can made-to-order jeans cut down on fashion waste? Inside a fitting room in an H&M store in Stockholm, there’s a new way to try on jeans: A body scanner takes your measurements, creates your digital avatar, and then lets you select a few options in terms of fabric, style, and fit. Then it sends your unique pattern to a clothing factory, where they make you a custom pair of jeans, perfectly designed to fit your body. Read Full Story

As the founder and CEO of the fintech company Gravity Payments, I’ve decided to prioritize my employees’ and clients’ well-being over my own compensation during the coronavirus crisis. In early March, as the coronavirus arrived in the United States and businesses began shutting down, our company started losing money fast. We’re a credit card processor that works primarily with small and midsize businesses such as restaurants, retails shops, and independent clinics, which means our revenue is directly tied to theirs. By the end of the month, we were down 55% from expectations and losing $30,000 a day. Read Full Story

While fast fashion is expected to continue to grow 20% in the next 10 years, secondhand fashion is poised to grow 185%. A massive force is reshaping the fashion industry: secondhand clothing. According to a new report, the U.S. secondhand clothing market is projected to more than triple in value in the next 10 years –from $28 billion in 2019 to $80 billion in 2029–in a U.S. market currently worth $379 billion . In 2019, secondhand clothing expanded 21 times faster than conventional apparel retail did. Read Full Story

30-second summary: Our Marketing Intelligence September report ‘Search & Social Advertising’ as the front runner in this technology segment. Deloitte states that 77% of CEOs report that digital transformation efforts have significantly accelerated. Social media helped 69% of brands prepare for the COVID-19 impact on business and maintain customer/audience relationships. 66% agreed that social media programs have helped their business prepare for a broader digital transformation. Gartner benchmarked 118 brands on their digital customer service strategies. The sectors included Big Box retailers, department stores, fashion, specialty retail, grocery, financial services, watches & jewelry, and hotels. Customer service ‘leaders’ included H&M, Sephora, and a few more names. While Nike, Vans, Saks Fifth Avenue, Big Box retailers like Whole Foods fell into the ‘laggards’ category. Surprised? Dive in to find out more. As per our ClickZ and Search Engine Watch pulse survey’s latest insights, ‘Advertising & Promotion’ is the top marketing technology …

The $20 billion brand is getting into masks in a big way. As the fashion industry has watched sales plummet due to COVID-19, many brands have pivoted to produce the hottest item of the moment. Whether it’s an ethical fast fashion brand such as Reformation or a bargain bin retailer such as Old Navy , there’s a good chance that, if you sell clothing, you now sell masks . But the Japanese label Uniqlo, which does $20 billion in revenue a year, has been relatively quiet on this front. It has donated millions of pieces of personal protective equipment in Japan, but it hasn’t made masks for consumers—until now. Read Full Story

E-commerce retailers face many obstacles in the realm of online business. A common yet persistent issue is deadstock products. The accumulation of deadstock inventory can drive up operational and warehouse costs. As more products enter the warehouse, the cost of storing unsold items can drain the valuable financial resources of your business. What’s more, seasonal trends and products make it difficult to eliminate deadstock products completely. How to solve this problem? This article explains how to avoid deadstock and how to get rid of it when it piles up in your warehouse. Let’s start with the definition for deadstock first. What Does Deadstock Mean? Deadstock is synonymous with dead inventory. These are items that haven’t been sold and are very unlikely to sell. If you don’t use an inventory management system, these goods likely pile up and remain forgotten in your warehouse. An alternative definition of “deadstock” refers to goods …

The president and CEO of H&R; Block discusses his eclectic career path, openness to learning and how his company is adapting to digital-first.