THE DAILY PERIMETER, 07/12/21: Following a silent Black Friday event that saw the first-ever year-over-year sales decline, there has been an understandable influx of anxiety in the retail space. However, data released yesterday by NPD paints a pretty positive picture for the retail sector in 2021. In early December, 2021 U.S. general merchandise sales revenue already reached 100% of sales peaks in 2019 and 98% of peak sales in 2019. 2020. For the week of Thanksgiving, which typically marks the start of holiday shopping nationwide, sales were up 14% from 2020 but were still lower 5% from pre-pandemic 2019 levels. The main takeaway from all of this data is that the state of retail is healthy in 2021 and has shown a resurgence in the struggles of 2020, even in the face of the lingering effects of the pandemic and global supply chain issues.
In other news, Nationwide Marketing Group announced that it will continue to focus on the buyer decision journey at its upcoming Winter PrimeTime event, to be held February 5-8, 2022 in Phoenix. The event will feature an in-depth analysis of the Shopper Decision Journey, which aims to help independent retailers overcome e-commerce distractions to win business with consumers. The event will also feature a plethora of shopping, education and networking opportunities ranging from a 90-minute PrimeTime Palooza shopping spree with insane deals to over 100 hours of Nationwide Learning Academy educational materials. . Members wishing to register should visit https://www.nationwideprimetime.com/.
Recently, we’ve talked a lot about brand utility by harnessing the power of influencers to reach Gen Z consumers. A study conducted by IBM reported that among Gen Z youth, only 36% say they have strong with a brand, but in the older segment (20+) that number jumps to 46%. Therefore, brands would do well to act now to impose themselves on this future consumer base. However, the influencer community is not immune to the racial pay gaps that are commonplace in our workforce; in fact, it’s rather more likely, as influencers make their living reflecting public opinion.
A new study released by MSL US found that the pay gap between white influencers and black, Indigenous, or other people of color influencers is 29%. Much of the influencer industry relies on referrals to make money, with black respondents saying they receive marketing offers below market value for the number of people they reach. This pay gap in the influencer community far exceeds that of other sectors of the economy. By comparison, the pay gap is 8% in education, 16% in commerce and finance, 19% in construction and 16% in entertainment. In response to this shocking pay gap, MSL US, an influential public relations firm, is issuing a call to action for BIPOC influencers to identify themselves with the hashtag #diversecreator. The goal of this campaign is to increase industry-wide discoverability and create an opportunity for brands and agencies to expand the BIPOC influencer talent pool.
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