Glossy

Income will have an impact on spending behaviors, but consumers across income levels will be tightening their purse strings. While lower-income households plan to buy less expensive full-price gifts, higher earners are more likely to save by waiting for sales.

On Thursday, President Trump announced Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as his nominee for health secretary, a role which oversees the world’s largest public health agency and its $1.7 trillion budget. If confirmed by the Senate, Kennedy would oversee several agencies and their combined 80,000 employees, which include doctors, scientists and researchers. They also include officials who power the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Food and Drug Administration, the latter of which regulates the beauty and wellness industries.

Ekaterina Royzen, vp of -e-commerce and digital services for L'Oréal Dermatological Beauty, described the initiative as a customer-driven move. “The launch was driven by a commitment to enhancing the customer experience,” said Royzen. “We recognized a growing need for accessible expert guidance, and this service offers personalized support directly from top medical aesthetic professionals.” The service will be marketed in social channels and emails, and will have prominent placement on the SkinCeuticals website.

According to Linda Li Steiner, head of customer activation and marketing for H&M, the show is an example of a “non-transactional benefit” of a loyalty program. “With any loyalty program, you have transactional benefits — like discounts and birthday gifts — but we wanted to lean into these non-transactional benefits that you can only get from a brand like H&M,” Li said. “It’s about taking this really unique thing — a concert in Times Square — making it available to anyone, and then layering on extra benefits for our most loyal members.”

Although banner fall shopping events like the Halloween holiday and back-to-school promotions typically drive third-quarter sales for the nation’s biggest retailers, this week Target reported approximately flat comparable third-quarter sales. Rivals The TJX Companies, Inc., which owns TJ Maxx, Marshalls and Homegoods, and Walmart reported opposite results this week. Both retailers saw an increase in sales compared to the same quarter last year. Read more: https://lnkd.in/epAgaWjQ

Flamingo Estate founder Richard Christiansen joins the Glossy Beauty Podcast to discuss his brand's fundraising journey — which included more than 160 investor meetings over the past two years — and his newest book, “The Guide To Becoming Alive,” available this week from Chronicle Books. Listen to the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/d96enqWH

“You have to figure out the sweet spot of protecting your brand but then also looking at the content and saying, ‘OK, well, this is what’s working for their channel, and this is actually driving sales.’ You have to give up a little bit of that brand piece of it on TikTok Shop and be willing to try something different. And that’s why it’s so challenging.” #tiktokshop

This week, we talk about Black Friday and some of the ways brands are approaching the holiday shopping season. Later, we discuss Target’s struggles to keep up with rivals like Walmart and fashion’s potential return to the cryptocurrency well now that a crypto-friendly president is coming to the White House.

In retail hubs like Manhattan, store window displays have long been a signal of the official beginning of the holiday season. But this year, some stores are taking different approaches to setting up their windows. But at least one brand is going bigger with this year’s holiday window displays. On Friday, Ralph Lauren unveiled its new window displays at flagship stores in New York, London, Tokyo and Chicago. The displays use AI technology to make the displays interactive. Story by Danny Parisi

"Wicked," which hit theaters on Friday, is dousing everything it touches in two colors: There's pink, for Glinda, the Good Witch, played by Ariana Granda; and green, for Elphaba, the Wicked Witch, played by Cynthia Erivo. On the apparel and accessories side, there are collaborative collections from Gap, Vera Bradley, BÉIS, Roots, Crocs, Eugenia Kim, Foster Grant, Rebecca Minkoff, Cambridge Satchel and Lingua Franca, among other brands. And Paul Tazewell, the film's costume designer, created a capsule collection for Target. In this piece by Sara Spruch-Feiner, we speak to Kaitlin Rinehart of Ulta Beauty, Daianara Grullon AMALFITANO of ALDO Group, Stephanie Kraus of NBCUniversal, Stacey McCormick of Aerie by AEO, Inc., and Amy Pellicane.