Gap

Grocery shoppers are already using digital in myriad ways, from product research to purchasing groceries online for at-home delivery or in-store pickup. Meanwhile, brands have been building robust websites, as well as employing video and social media to market their products. For shoppers, however, the divide between using digital to research products and actually buying them remains wide, according to a new eMarketer report, CPG's Digital Conundrum: Turning Digital Shoppers into Digital Buyers. Nonetheless, the consumer product goods (CPG) category is poised for significant growth in online sales.

Business of Fashion (BoF) published an op-ed asking the following question about the economic sustainability of the fast-fashion model: Can $5 T-shirts and $10 jeans really support a business these days? The answer is sort of. For decades, the basic tenants of the fast-fashion industry have been cheap materials, cheap labor and dizzyingly fast production schedules. Those principes yielded affordable, trendy products that consumers can't seem to get enough of (the top four fashion companies in the world are fast-fashion chains: Zara, H&M, Gap and Uniqlo). But now that labor costs in China are on the rise, BoF is saying only the strongest business models will survive.

While Times Square was preparing to drop a ball and Kimye was preparing to drop a bomb on New Year's Eve, Gap was finalizing the details of its acquisition of specialty retailer Intermix. WWD reports that the deal, which fueled some rumors and speculation last month, closed on Dec. 31 to the tune of $130 million. The partnership should aid both brands: Intermix can use Gap's massive reach to grow its own retail and e-tail presence, while Gap can benefit from Intermix's expertise in the contemporary luxury market. But most exciting: Gap also intends to beef up Intermix's website with some innovative-sounding improvements.

Gap Inc. is buying women's fashion boutique Intermix Inc. for $130 million, a deal that will give the mostly casual-clothes retailer an opening to the all-important luxury market. The acquisition is the first in half a decade for Gap, which is coming off a string of rare fashion successes that boosted its sales and stock price last year. Intermix doesn't produce its own clothes and only has around 30 stores in the U.S. and Canada. But the chain has relationships with designers, including Herve Leger, Yves Saint Laurent and Rag & Bone, from which Gap could benefit.

In the latter half of the 1990s, Sharon Stone topped best-dressed lists not once, but twice for her unorthodox pairing of a casual Gap top with a designer skirt at the Oscars. Nearly 15 years have elapsed since then — years that saw Gap's fashion fizzle and its marketing lose relevance. But early signs indicate the brand may finally retake its position as the arbiter of casually cool, classically American style. That is, if it wins the next few weeks, which, while important for any retailer, will be particularly telling for Gap.

Zara produces 850 million clothing items a year. That's a hell of a lot of clothing and a hell of a lot to be concerned about if, as Greenpeace claims, those items are chock-full of toxic chemicals. Two weeks ago, Greenpeace released a report detailing the hazardous chemicals it found in mass market clothing. The organization tested apparel items from 20 leading brands, including Emporio Armani, Mango, Zara, Gap, Victoria's Secret, Levi's, Calvin Klein and Benetton.

Last week the Gap announced a social media promotion for the holidays: the brand's Facebook fans can send their own photos as real, printed postcards to their Facebook friends for free. Gap is the first brand to use startup Sincerely's new "brand-centric service" Postagram Direct, which launched last week. Gap's Facebook fans can each send up to two free postcards, which are delivered with a pop-out square photo and the user's message. The cards usually cost 99 cents each, but Gap is giving away up to 1 million free postcards through the end of the holidays.

Victoria's Secret's runway show doesn't air until Dec. 4, but one image from the show won't make the final cut: Karlie Kloss draped in a feathered headdress and turquoise. The look struck a sour chord with the U.S.’ indigenous communities. That's hardly a surprise considering this kind of thing has been done before and it rarely goes well. Let's count the most recent ways: (1) Last year's Urban Outfitters Navajo Hipster panties controversy (2) Last month's Gap "Manifest Destiny" fiasco (3) Victoria's Secret's sexy little geisha kerfuffle from two months ago and (4) America's Top Model making Native American Mariah Watchman dress like Pocahontas for a photo shoot.

Move over, Navajo panties. Urban Outfitters has been supplanted as the retailer most hated by Native Americans. Gap started selling a "Manifest Destiny" T-shirt recently, but the retailer removed the shirt from its stores after a flood of complaints organized by members of the Native American community. Critics left angry Facebook messages, sent tweets and posted negative reviews of the shirt on Gap's website. 

Retailers seeking to grow revenues in a tough global economy are increasingly tapping into booming e-commerce markets in developing countries, according to a recent report by management consulting firm A.T. Kearney. The most promising e-commerce market of all is China.