Commerce Corner Episode #2

Hey, Michael. So good to see you.

Amanda. Oh my gosh. I can't believe we're wrapping up September already. It's so, so good to see you. Like, I know we both have our drinks. We're just, we're kind of getting the day started. And I got my coffee right now.

Second coffee over here.

Yes, yes. So I have, I have so missed our last, you know, from our last catch up. So it's great, great to see you, my friend.

Thank you. Yes. Getting back from a long vacation. I know you took some time off too, which really inspired me to come back and just talk to you a little bit about travel today.

I love that. Yeah, I know we were both traveling and everything and there's just a lot of things going on right now. We're getting ready for Halloween. We're going into travel and everything. I know you have some really cool insights. Follow up even from our last. Our last conversation.

Yeah, I mean, honestly, just starting off with the fact that I could not believe how crowded, like abroad destinations, how crowded the airports are, how overwhelmed maybe even some of the airline or airport staff staff was with just the influx of people who are traveling. And granted, I was not a big traveler, you know, back in 2020, and I've really gotten back out there in the last year, but it has not slowed down. And it really made me realize that there's probably going to be an even bigger influx of travel around Thanksgiving and the holiday season this year because people are still really excited about spending more on experiences after the last few years that we've had. And I'm sure that you were seeing the same when you were going away this summer too.

100%. I mean, I think we were even like looking at some stats together, right. About just like total travel spending remaining like you know, over 1% above last year's levels and this like the third month in a row. And yeah, it just seems like it's momentum is not slowing down for travel as we go into October and like the fall Q4 type of months. Totally.

And I think like, besides even just the travel, I don't know about you, but I had to prepare outfitting clothing. Like, do we want to look cool for the Instagram moment? And made me realize that there is a really unique opportunity for a lot of apparel, footwear, even consumer goods brands to meet the eye of the traveler for the rest of this year and this season. I think when we've originally spoken about those categories in retail over the holiday season, it's really been about deals and promotions and just meeting, you know, the fashion consumer. But I think there's really a new opportunity for these brands to think about what it means to be there for the traveler when they are preparing for their trips this season. They're preparing for trips that they're taking for the new year. They're thinking about the new year, New me, it's not just about fashion as much anymore. And actually not that we can maybe make, you know, an assumption that this is directly tied together, but it is just an interesting piece that retail sales were also up for and a half percent when you exclude auto and gas compared to last year during the same time that a lot of travel spending and traveling was also up year over year. So, you know, I've just been thinking a lot about what that really means as a strategy for some of these brands this season.

I couldn't agree with you more. And like, I just have to say to our. Our amazing audience that's watching, you know, our second video for, you know, this season, right? Like, you are so much more cooler and like, just so much cool. Cooler than me and travel and everything. I. I get all of my tips from you these days and like, all of the brands you're following. I think another thing is that spring is just like the ERAS tour, which is coming up. I know you have gotten me onto Taylor Swift and just being such a big fan of that, but the boom, the economic boom from the tours have just been also really interesting coupled out with retail and what we're seeing, right?

Absolutely. I mean, big Swifty over here, many people who will see this and are close with me, even colleagues, will know that. Maybe even some client partners already know that too. I did attend the ERAS tour. I attended another city. So being in New York right now, I went to Pittsburgh and the influx of people that were, like, only wearing Taylor Swift gear or were talking in restaurants about how they were only there for the tour was so crazy to me. But then I realized I was doing the same exact thing.

Thing.

And I think a lot of research in the news has even said lately that the ERAS tour, when it took place across multiple nights in the same city, you know, Pittsburgh being one of them, is that there was a boom to local businesses and an influx and increase of store traffic. I think it was an average of like 7% increase in store traffic around the cities that were taking place where the ERAS tour, you know, was being hosted. Retail next actually publish that 7%. So I think like, apparel and outfitting and the way that, you know, consumers and fans were Dressing up for that tour, people were buying accessories down to the nines, like the hair clips, the jewelry, not just the apparel and the clothing. So thinking about what that means for apparel and accessory brands that sell worldwide. The ERAS Tour is still absolutely running. It's taking its global international location. Tour is starting now. So just really big opportunity for these brands to think about, you know, what it means to promote this holiday season and the different type of consumer you might be going after this year.

It sounds like there's just such really interesting tailwinds. And I think that really goes into our, like, you know, takeaways too, that we're seeing, right? Like, especially going into Halloween. Right? And all that's so top of mind for customers right now, especially as, like, hey, we're using YouTube to get out our messaging ourselves. You and I are. We're. We're marketers ourselves now, you know, and then using even shorts to, you know, search for inspiration on what to wear, you know, and it's such an interesting mix with all those points you mentioned with the ERAs tour travel being on the rise again. And then I would say, like, what do you think are, like, top trending costumes right now? I think you and I both have.

Different thoughts, but for sure, I would say Barbie has been a massive, massive trend coming out of the big boom from the movie this summer. I personally, before going to the eras tour, did watch YouTube videos, shorts and clips, even on other platforms like reels or Tik Tok, whatever that might be to think about inspiration. So video in general, for the apparel category, people are garnering more inspiration from video than they are from text or image. And I think that is an opportunity for us to think about. But Barbie costumes have absolutely been up there. I think also the Little Mermaid had a really good, big success this past summer. So thinking about what it means to dress up as a mermaid, but also, especially with the Barbie category, people are not going to traditional just costume stores to find that typical, you know, Barbie outfit that's already put together. They're buying or leveraging their own clothing in colors and different fashionable ways to make that costume themselves. So a few do it yourselfers could be another interesting audience segment for people to think about.

Well, like I said, Amanda, you are hands down one of the coolest people I know. So we are gonna. Yeah, we are gonna find some time to brainstorm, like a maybe DIY costume that I can do and maybe, maybe for a future episode, we can be in our own Halloween costumes just to, you know, bring the spirit for. For October there. Well, yeah, it's so good to have you back. Like, I missed you so much when you were traveling and I know, you know, we, we continue to exchange notes and everything and, like, be on the lookout for more content from us. Again, this is our second episode. We've had a ton of positive response from the first. And so thank you to all our viewers and folks for sending us, you know, amazing thoughts and feedback, too. We're, we're only going to turn up the volume as we get into, you know, cyber 12, Halloween, the, the rest of the holidays. I'm going to need another cup of coffee, Amanda, because it's, it's only going to get more intense as we go. But yeah, thank you everyone for joining us for a second episode today. And yeah, stop on by Commerce Corner. Commerce Corner. Excuse me. I got, we got our coffees ready to go and it's going to be a great season.

See you soon, Michael.

Thanks, Amanda.