The thing about Landini Associates, an Australia-based retail design and brand consultancy, is that it produces work of sublimity in places you least expect them.

Take, for example, Landini’s futuristic McDonald’s in Sydney Airport’s Terminal 1. It has a second-story kitchen that seems to float above the ordering counter, and an ingenious Rube Goldberg contraption—it’s like a chairlift for Happy Meals—that transports them from the kitchen down to the counter.

Now Landini is at it again, with a head-turning vision for, of all places, the post office.

Australia Post hired Landini in 2022 to help develop and implement a new design for the country’s 4,000-plus post offices. Just a few weeks ago, a prototype of a dramatically different (and retail-oriented) post office was unveiled in Orange, a city in New South Wales with a population of ~44,000. Australia Post Group CEO Paul Graham called it, “the post office for the future.”

It introduces a level of service that may seem otherworldly to Americans, who have bestowed upon the US Postal Service a rating of 1.2 out of 5 on Trustpilot.

Keep reading here.—AAN

…the EOY retail rush. The holidays are a crucial time to attract new customers and turn them into lifelong shoppers.

How to do that? Let Bluecore’s insights report point you in the right direction. They analyzed billions of data points from Black Friday to help you understand:

• how well retailers moved their shoppers to first-time buyers
• how well retailers moved previous customers to multi-time buyers
• retention-specific metrics around repeat shopping
• performance of various site and email campaigns

Bluecore uses data across eight verticals, including apparel, consumer electronics, luxury and jewelry, and toys and gifts. And they even include tips on how to use the metrics to drive revenue and retention.

Check out Bluecore’s insights report and learn how to act on them. Next year’s revenue will thank you.

Ulta Beauty continues to see glowing results, as beauty proves to be largely resilient to a pullback in consumer spending, though the category might see more promotions this holiday, CEO Dave Kimbell said in a recent earnings call.

In the company’s third quarter, net sales rose 6.4% YoY to $2.5 billion, with comparable sales up 4.5% from the previous year. Its transactions were up 5.9%, while average customer spend was down 1.4%.

• The company’s digital channel sales jumped 10%, while its stores saw low-single-digit growth. Store traffic also increased in the high single digits, Kimbell said.

Ulta also announced that CFO Scott Settersten will retire after almost 20 years at the retailer and 10+ years as CFO. SVP of Finance Paula Oyibo will take over the role, effective April 1.

Keep reading here.—EC

They say the third time’s a charm, but Victoria’s Secret & Co. has proven itself the second time around.

The company’s been working hard on a rebrand in the past few years, and while it recently reported a third quarter loss, its November sales and margin represent the “best monthly performance in nearly two years and further evidence that our initiatives are working,” CEO Martin Waters said in a statement.

“Our teams have been resiliently focused on what is within our control and working tirelessly on multiple growth initiatives designed to create momentum,” Waters added.

The company also noted “an upbeat outlook for the holiday season.”

Keep reading here.—JS