REI Opts Out Of Black Friday To Go Outside -11/29/19

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your daily briefing.

Introduction

With your Retail E-Commerce Briefing for today, Friday, November 29th, I'm Vincent Phamvan.

REI is choosing to Opt Outside on one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Instead of taking part in the shopping craze, the retailer has shut its doors and is encouraging employees and customers to get outside.

First, here are some retail headlines.

Dunkin' and Homesick Candles Partner Up On Limited Edition Candles

Dunkin’ has partnered with Homesick Candles to make three limited-edition candles for the holidays: Old-Fashioned Donuts, Original Blend Coffee, and Peppermint Mocha Coffee. Dunkin’s director of strategic partnerships said that candles make sense for the brand because people can bring the smell of doughnuts home with them. Homesick and Dunkin’ started working together in early 2019 with the expectation of releasing candles during the holiday season. Homesick isn’t a stranger to collaborating with companies. Earlier this year, the candle company partnered with Tinder to create a Single Not Sorry candle.

Piterest Debuts “Pintrest Shop”

Pinterest is debuting Pinterest Shop. The online marketplace showcases a number of smaller merchants who sell products on the platform. The rollout of the new feature is timed before Small Business Saturday, an annual occasion encouraging consumers to support small and local businesses during the holidays. Each merchant’s pin board has around 20 products that shoppers can click to reach its checkout page. According to a statement, Pinterest plans to update the Pinterest Shop account with even more products from small businesses.

Allbirds Co-Founder Calls Out Amazon

Allbirds co-founder, Joey Zwillinger, called out Amazon for copying a pair of their popular environmentally-friendly sneakers. Zwillinger wrote, “We are flattered at the similarities that your private label shoe shares with ours, but hoped the commonalities would include these environmentally-friendly materials as well.” Allbirds is the latest brand to take a shot at Amazon, with Williams-Sonoma suing the retail giant last year over a strikingly similar chair to one its West Elm brand sells. Nike also recently stopped selling on the marketplace to have a more direct relationship with its customers.

REI Opts Out Of Black Friday To Go Outside

Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping days of the year. One retailer though is opting out of the shopping craze today. For the fifth year, REI is shutting its doors on Black Friday. Instead, the retailer is encouraging more people to go outside. As part of its Opt Outside initiative, REI won’t also won’t process online payments, but will pay its 13,000 employees. This year, the company is taking its Opt Outside initiative to a new level.

REI is asking its employees and 18 million members to “opt to act” and join a nationwide clean-up effort. Locations of environmental clean-ups are listed on the company’s website. CEO, Eric Artz said, “We’re still going to go outside and play – but this time we’re bringing our work gloves. And we’re inviting you to join us...It’s time to fight for life outdoors – and life on this planet.”

REI started its opt outside initiative in 2015 and has been working toward zero-waste operations and challenging the industry to eliminate unnecessary packaging. Artz said this is a first step for the company. They will also be launching 52 weeks of climate action to invite customers to take small steps each of us can make to be more environmentally-conscious.

Closing

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