Who won Black Friday and Cyber Monday? The shifting state of fashion in 2018. Weirdest news of the week in retail (involves Unicorns). ---- Who won Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Winners: Best Buy According to data from QSR International, Best Buy was tagged the most in tweets categorized as "very positive," and it overall had the most successful advertising campaign of 15 brands studied. That's likely because the retailer took a different strategy this year — veering away from pushing a sense of urgency in its advertising language with phrases like "sale ends soon," "limited time" or "one day only." Instead, the retailer opted for more helpful messaging about free shipping and financing options. Amazon (duh) Mobile - According to Adobe's estimates, mobile drove 54% of visits and 37% of digital revenue. Conversions have been a tough battle for retailers in the past, but they showed progress, with rates up 16.5% for smartphones and 13% for tablets from the year-ago period. Small retailers - According to Adobe Data, Small retailers (under $10 million in annual revenue) saw 30 percent higher conversion rates on smartphones than large retailers. Losers (so harsh, we know): In-store traffic - In-store traffic dropped a combined 1.6% on those days over last year, and Black Friday visits alone decreased less than 1% when compared to Black Friday 2016, according to data collected by retail analytics company Shoppertrak. Websites! JCrew, Macy’s, Lowes (and more) - website crashes, downtime, transaction processing outages http://news.adobe.com/press-release/experience-cloud/adobe-data-shows-cyber-monday-largest-online-sales-day-history-659 https://www.retaildive.com/news/meet-the-winners-and-losers-of-black-friday-2017/511661/ https://www.retaildive.com/news/macys-lowes-hit-by-black-friday-technical-glitches/511606/ The Shifting State of Fashion for 2018 Business of Fashion and McKinsey issued a report that everyone in the retail industry should read. While it's tailored to fashion, the core tenets apply to all. Quick fact from the report: The McKinsey Global Fashion Index forecasts industry sales growth to nearly triple between 2016 and 2018, from 1.5 percent to between 3.5 to 4.5 percent. More and download: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/renewed-optimism-for-the-fashion-industry?cid=other-eml-alt-mip-mck-oth-1711 Weirdest News of the Week Welcome to our new segment! We are bringing you the weirdest, most WHAAAT inducing, shocked-emoji-face news of the week - in retail… This week it’s an old reliable that has resurfaced in an epic way. It’s Paris Hilton who is launching an "all-natural" skincare line starting with a rose water mist branded Unicorn Mist. But don’t be distracted by her history or Instagram account - she’s a savvy businesswoman who has launched 23 successful scents and is known as one of the world's top DJs, sometimes commanding $1 million a gig. According to a press release, the full skincare line will be available in early 2018, so Millennials, Paris Hilton is counting on you. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jannamandell/2017/11/30/paris-hilton-launches-skincare-line-with-unicorn-mist-cue-shocked-face/#598ba7d8592c

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