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As the pandemic raged through 2020, apparel sales plummeted a record 77% while we all stayed home in our comfortable old clothes.  But the slump began to turn around in early 2021 as vaccines unleashed restless shoppers from quarantine. We were finally going out—and were ready to trade in those baggy sweatpants for a new look. 

4 Key Takeaways for 2021 Apparel Trends 

• Customers are coming back to retail and apparel spending is slowly returning, hitting pre-pandemic levels for the first time in April 2021. 

• Recovery is uneven, brand name stores, athleisure, and discount store subcategories performed well in 2021, increasing their share as well as spend. 

• Customers are making fewer trips to shop, but they are spending more per trip. 

• Many women (40%) are wearing a different size than they were when the pandemic started, which means that shoppers are ready for a wardrobe refresh. 

Let’s dig into some of the data and discover which shopping trends are growing fastest – and how they’re creating new opportunities for brands. 

 2021 Recap: Apparel Bounces Back 

After one of the most challenging years on record, the apparel industry saw sales begin to recover to 2019 levels as early as April 2021. This growth was primarily driven by increases in basket size. Customer counts and number of purchases still lag 2019 levels, but there are a few exceptions. 

Winners for overall spend growth in 2021 included brand name stores, discount, and athleisure apparel subcategories. All three have also increased their sales over 2019 levels: 

• Branded: +2% over 2019 
• Discount:  +7% over 2019 
• Athleisure:  +21% over 2019 

But when it comes to attracting new customers, athleisure and footwear were the stand-out performers this year: 

•  62% of athleisure customers were new 
•  69% of footwear customers were new 

Apparel Shopping Trends: Subcategory Spotlight 

What’s behind the consumer behavior that’s pushing these subcategories forward—and what does it mean for your brand? 

Athleisure: Comfort & Practicality 

It’s easy to understand why we reached for joggers and sweatshirts during the early days of the pandemic. But the athleisure trend was going strong long before lockdown. In fact, the ‘casualization’ of America is nothing new. Athletic fashions boomed through the 80s and in the early 2000s. 

This is no flash-in-the-pan fad—and our insights back this up. Athleisure did not see a sales decline in 2020, in part due to the growing popularity of on-demand workouts for exercising at home during the lockdown, which saw 21% growth in sales over the same time period in 2021 vs 2019.  

Unlike most other subcategories, athleisure spend was fueled by growth in the number of customers, purchases, and basket size: 

2021 YTD vs 2019 YTD 

• Customers: +6.4% 
• Purchases: + 12.1% 
• Basket: + 7.8% 

Discount Stores: Hungry for Deals 

After a rough year for the economy, many Americans are still tightening their belts and looking for deals—and they’re finding them at discount stores like Nordstrom Rack, Marshall’s, and TJ Maxx. Consumer spending growth in this subcategory is driven by basket size growth over previous years, despite fewer customers and purchases. 

2021 YTD vs 2019 YTD 

• Customers:  -8.7% 
• Purchases: -2.6% 
• Basket:   +5.7% 

Department Stores: Catching Up 

With sprawling footprints and sizable overhead, department stores are struggling to adapt to the online shopping era. A shrinking middle class that’s feeling the squeeze is heading to discount stores instead. While overall spend has increased since 2020, the numbers still haven’t returned to their year to date (YTD) pre-pandemic levels. 

Like most subcategories, basket size for department stores is up since 2019, but customer counts and purchases are down: 

2021 YTD vs 2019 YTD 

• Customers:  -13.7% 
• Trips:  -18.7% 
• Basket:  +11.4 

Children’s Apparel: Growing Strong 

There’s a strong overlap between people who purchase children’s apparel and those who shop in department stores, and these two subcategories share similar data trends. Children’s apparel sales have increased year-over-year but haven’t fully recovered to 2019 levels. 

Basket size shows an impressive improvement, yet customer counts and purchases are far below 2019 through the same period: 

2021 YTD vs 2019 YTD 

• Customers: -23.1% 
• Purchases: -32.8 
• Basket: +21.0% 

So, what does this mean for retailers?  

People are willing to buy more than they need to reduce the frequency of in-store visits. Brands should focus on continuing to improve their overall experience and lean into omnichannel marketing for sustained growth. 

The takeaway 

2021 ended strong with sales matching or exceeding 2019 levels, and we can expect these sales rates to continue as long as retailers are able to contend with supply chain issues. 

Partner with Cardlytics to Leverage Insight into New Spending Habits 

The state of the apparel industry is never static, but the changes over the past two years have been especially dramatic. Every shift and every new trend creates another opportunity for brands to grow, but only if they can learn how to change, too. 

Cardlytics’ offers a brand-safe, fraud-free advertising platform that allows our partners to reach real people at the right time, all while helping them save money on their purchases. Learn how we deliver guaranteed incremental return on ad spend by contacting us today!  

Atlanta, GA – December 2, 2021 – Cardlytics, Inc., (NASDAQ: CDLX), one of the largest digital advertising platforms, today announced it will present at the Raymond James 2021 Technology Investors Conference.

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Lynne Laube, and Chief Financial Officer, Andy Christiansen, will present on Monday, December 6, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time and it will be webcast live. The live audio webcast will be available on the Cardlytics Investor Relations website at http://ir.cardlytics.com/. After the event, an archive of the webcast will also be available for a limited time on the Cardlytics Investor Relations website.

About Cardlytics

Cardlytics (NASDAQ: CDLX) is a digital advertising platform. We partner with financial institutions to run their banking rewards programs that promote customer loyalty and deepen banking relationships. In turn, we have a secure view into where and when consumers are spending their money. We use these insights to help marketers identify, reach, and influence likely buyers at scale, as well as measure the true sales impact of marketing campaigns. Headquartered in Atlanta, Cardlytics has offices in London, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin and Visakhapatnam. In March 2021, Cardlytics acquired Dosh, a transaction-based advertising platform. In May 2021, Cardlytics acquired Bridg, a customer data platform. Learn more at www.cardlytics.com.

Coined by the Harvard Business Review as the ‘sexiest job of the 21^st century, ‘data science’ still feels like a term invented only yesterday (and 'women in data science' seems even newer). And what does a data scientist do anyways? You could ask 100 professionals and get about 100 different answers.  

I thought being a data scientist meant that you needed a very specific set of skills – and a PhD – but that’s not really the case. I believed that by working as a data analyst I was missing the “science” part. Low confidence and impostor syndrome meant that I struggled to contribute to meetings. I thought others were more qualified than me and would let them take the lead on projects. This became worse when I joined a team where I was the only woman. With no one who looked or thought like me, I couldn’t feel more out of place and considered leaving the field. 

Careers in data are not a one size fits all and fixating on the long list of skills you don’t have won’t serve you well. Diversity is key to the success of an analytics team, and that doesn’t stop at gender or race. It includes diversity of thought, skills, and life experience.  

If you’re struggling to find your best fit, especially if you're a woman working in data science, then here are some tips to help put you on the right path.

Find support 

We tend to underestimate the importance of mentors, role models and advocates in our careers. All are important to find fulfillment and to progress. Mentors will bring a different perspective; they’ll help you see things for what they are and overcome challenges. Role models will show you what’s possible, what you could aspire to and potentially, how to get there. Advocates will help others see how great you are. 

I reached out to women working in the field and found a couple of amazing and inspiring mentors, like Victoria Pike, principal product manager at Sainsbury’s. She helped me understand that my differences are an asset and that I should shift my focus from my weaknesses to my strengths, and Lucy Whittemore, vice president of Retail Partnerships at Cardlytics’ UK office.  

Thanks to this group, I started finding my voice and rethinking my role. From that point, everything changed. I could finally be myself and do what I did best. 

Get to know yourself better 

Often, we go with the flow, jump from one role to another wondering where is this sexy data science career that was promised. Well, you won’t find the perfect role unless you know what that looks like for you.  

Think about your values, what you stand for and what your strengths are. How does that translate in your role and how can you make better use of your strengths? What would you ideally be doing on a daily basis? 

Find areas where you can make a difference 

For me, it’s bringing transparency to careers in data through podcasting, but also by supporting data professionals in their career development.  

What is it for you? 

In data, there is a space for everyone, and that space might not be what is written on your job description. Fortunately, data science is a constantly evolving field, offering the best opportunities to try things out so that we can craft our own path.  

If you’re interested in pursuing a career in data science, then check out the open positions at Cardlytics. 

Karen is an analytics consultant in the Cardlytics UK office.She hosts her own podcast, Women in Data, and is the co-chair of Cardlytics’ Women of Cardlytics, with the mission to create an inclusive community committed to uplifting women in technology and establishing forums to drive connection, education and collaboration within our workplace.  

It’s the most wonderful time… to shop. With the season of giving inspiring shoppers to buy more, retailers are seeing a high volume of web traffic, spikes in sales, and some of their largest profit margins. Last year, retailers saw unprecedented growth during the holiday season. What drove that growth and how can brands shape their holiday strategy this year to capitalize on these seasonal shopping trends? Using the purchase insights we receive from 1 in every 2 card swipes in the U.S., here’s what we know... 

Capture your customer ahead of the first chill 

Every year it seems like the holidays start earlier and earlier. That’s no different this year, especially with some consumers concerned about potential supply chain-related shipping delays. One major seasonal shopping trend that we see year over year is that advertisers benefit the most by engaging with consumers early in the season. Our insights show that customers who shop earlier in the fall are 10 times more likely to return compared to the natural holiday walk-in rate. Those who engage their customers early will be rewarded with loyalty later in the season.

One-stop shops reign supreme 

Last year, mass merchandisers saw the largest spend share increase, growing +3 points from 2019, suggesting shoppers consolidated their brand shopping. This was the largest increase amongst all observed categories with mass merchandisers taking share from apparel, shoes, and health/beauty. 

The ease and convenience of buying products across multiple categories at one store is perhaps exacerbated by the pandemic’s influence on social distancing, limiting time spent in stores. As we enter the second pandemic holiday season, it’s reasonable to expect that these shopping habits will continue.  

Say... Omni! 

Consistent with what we’ve seen in other analyses, the omnichannel customer is more valuable than the single channel customer. On average during last year’s holiday season, omnichannel customers spent $1,811 while in-store customers spent $810 and online only customers spent $899. 

It should come as no surprise that omnichannel marketing has really taken off. Last year, online shoppers represented 35% of total holiday spend. With consumer spending increasingly moving online, implementing an omnichannel retail strategy should be at the top of every marketer’s to-do list.  

Open for business 24/7 

Encouraged to stay home, consumers took to ‘clicks’ instead of ‘bricks’ to satisfy their holiday shopping needs in 2020. Compared to pre-Covid behaviors, online retail is up 131% showing customers have moved online and are staying there. Growth in online spend was accelerated by increases in number of purchases rather than basket size, proving the convenience of online shopping. It’s safe to say that omnichannel retail marketing must be the new normal. Consumers can make as many purchases as they want, whenever they want, even after hours. By adopting an omnichannel retail strategy, marketers are not just getting ahead of the game, they’re meeting their customers’ expectations to be able to shop when and how they want.  

Cardlytics sees $3.6T in annual consumer spend 

Because of our view into spend, Cardlytics can deliver provable return on investment in as little as 45 days. It’s time for marketers to leverage these seasonal shopping trends so that they can drive tangible revenue. Together, we can drive holiday loyalty through repeat purchases so that your brand can drive sales, increase customer loyalty, and grow market share. Contact us today to learn more!

Atlanta, GA – October 19, 2021 – Cardlytics, Inc., (NASDAQ: CDLX), a digital advertising platform, today announced that its third quarter ended September 30, 2021 financial results will be released on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, after market close. The company will host a conference call and webcast at 5:00 PM (ET) / 2:00 PM (PT) to discuss the company’s financial results.

A live audio webcast of the event will be available on the Cardlytics Investor Relations website at http://ir.cardlytics.com/.

A live dial-in will be available at (866) 385-4179 (domestic) or (210) 874-7775 (international).  The conference ID number is 2781489. Shortly after the conclusion of the call, a replay of this conference call will be available through 8:00 PM ET on November 9, 2021 at (855) 859-2056 (domestic) or (404) 537-3406 (international).  The replay passcode is 2781489.

About Cardlytics

Cardlytics (NASDAQ: CDLX) is a digital advertising platform. We partner with financial institutions to run their banking rewards programs that promote customer loyalty and deepen banking relationships. In turn, we have a secure view into where and when consumers are spending their money. We use these insights to help marketers identify, reach, and influence likely buyers at scale, as well as measure the true sales impact of marketing campaigns. Headquartered in Atlanta, we have offices in London, New York, San Francisco, Austin, Los Angeles and Visakhapatnam. Learn more at www.cardlytics.com.

ATLANTA, GA – September 28, 2021 – Cardlytics (NASDAQ: CDLX), a digital advertising platform, today announced the appointment of Chris Suh, corporate vice president and CFO,  Cloud+ AI Group at Microsoft, to its Board of Directors and Audit Committee.

Mr. Suh is a 25-year veteran at Microsoft. He was appointed to his current position as CFO of Microsoft’s strategically important Cloud+ AI business in 2018. Prior to that, he has held a number of leadership positions throughout the organization in investor relations, sales and marketing, FP&A and internal audit. Prior to joining Microsoft, Suh began his career as a CPA at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

“Chris brings a wealth of highly relevant experience to the Cardlytics Board,” said Lynne Laube, CEO and co-founder of Cardlytics. “He deeply understands the journey we are on to scale our platform, enhance our user experience, and apply AI to enable self-service. Chris will also be a great thought partner as we expand our cloud business and move to recurring revenue pricing models.”

“All of our Directors are excited by what Chris will bring to Cardlytics. We continue to shape our Board to make sure we have the skills and experience that align with what’s most critical to drive long-term growth,” said Scott Grimes, Executive Chairman and co-founder.

About Cardlytics

Cardlytics (NASDAQ: CDLX) is a digital advertising platform. We partner with financial institutions to run their banking rewards programs that promote customer loyalty and deepen banking relationships. In turn, we have a secure view into where and when consumers are spending their money. We use these insights to help marketers identify, reach, and influence likely buyers at scale, as well as measure the true sales impact of marketing campaigns. Headquartered in Atlanta, Cardlytics has offices in London, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin and Visakhapatnam. In March 2021, we acquired Dosh, a transaction-based advertising platform and in May 2021 we acquired Bridg, a customer data platform. Learn more at www.cardlytics.com.

We’ve seen a dramatic shift in how people spend. One of the larger takeaways is that online spending among consumers has increased and remains high even as lockdown restrictions have been lifted. Compared to pre-Covid behaviors, online retail and restaurant delivery are both up 131% and 244% year over year respectively, showing customers have moved online and are staying there. However, the question on most marketers’ minds is: how do we maintain this momentum?  To help answer this question, Michael Novosel, Grocery Industry Lead, shares some tips on how grocers can capitalize on the opportunity in front of them and accelerate omnichannel grocery adoption to maximize customer lifetime value. 

Convert those ‘bricks’ to ‘clicks’

We know that 75.1% of customers are in-store only – converting these shoppers through an omnichannel grocery plan to an online channel means opening net new lanes of revenue. Online shoppers spend more and do so more often than shoppers that primarily shop in store. 

Through Cardlytics’ view into observed consumer spend, we have seen online basket ranges in excess of $15, greater than the typical in-store basket size –likely because consumers are now using online retailers to ‘stock up’ on every day or repeat items.  

Implementing a digital shopping experience is your opportunity to connect with your best customers, in a new format they’ve yet to experience. You can meet more of your customers where they are, increasing basket size, trip frequency, and revenue. For many of our grocers, it starts first with investing in owned and paid personalization strategies to ensure that when your habitual in-store consumer considers online trial, they’re presented with the products and pairings that they most frequently consider when spending in-store. 

Then, through a partnership with Cardlytics, we work to identify: 

1. Habitual in-store shoppers 
2. Shoppers that have not yet spent with you online but show consistent online spend at your peer set 

Target declining shoppers

Did you experience a lapse in customers once restaurants started reopening? Or maybe you gained new customers that tried your brand once but did not return. You are not alone. Grocery dominance was eclipsed by restaurant re-openings earlier this year and dollar share is being redistributed back to pre-pandemic times. Consumers haven’t stopped spending in this category, they’ve just shifted their money elsewhere, either to a new grocer or to restaurants. We help client brands grow market share by giving them a “whole wallet view” into how their ideal customers are spending with competitors and in untapped categories that may have stolen your customers away— like ready to eat meals, meal kits or even non-food items. Cardlytics identifies where these lapsed customers and trialists went, whether they’re worth re-engaging, and delivers a targeted marketing campaign to bring them back to your brand. 

Online adoption is in the early innings. But there’s plenty of opportunity for growth

Total penetration of online shoppers remains below 10%. Even if you are a brand that saw strong and sustained adoption of your investment in e-commerce, don’t get comfortable, because the trend has barely started and there is plenty of room to grow. The right omnichannel marketing strategy will unlock huge opportunity to continue this momentum by analyzing where residual opportunity remains that may have been inadvertently overlooked during the surge of early Covid.  

Investing in the customer experience to boost revenue

According to this recent survey, half of [grocery] shoppers abandoned the e-commerce channel after one online purchase but those who stayed engaged became more loyal. And according to our insights, customers that engage in omnichannel behavior typically spend between 2 and 2.5 times more than regular customers.  In turn, retailers able to retain online and omnichannel shoppers — and nudge in-store shoppers to make online purchases — will gain long-term loyalty. 

With Cardlytics, you can drive tangible revenue thanks to our ability to ‘align the stars,’ by connecting the right people to the right rewards. Our insights-led approach to identifying, targeting and converting your ideal buyers can jumpstart new marketing-attributable incremental sales and position your omnichannel grocery strategy as an important driver of your broader customer and growth initiatives. 

As a data guy, I love purchase data. Because for me the data is a signal. A positive confirmation that something we want to happen, happened. In our world it drives conversions, and we are drowning with conversions, in a good way. I participated in a fireside chat at this year’s Loyalty Summit to talk more about purchase data as it relates to loyalty, customer relationship management (CRM), and Cardlytics. Here are some of the highlights from that chat.

Mutual Loyalty in a Closed Loop Program

Thirteen years ago, we created an industry that would benefit banks, brands, and their shared consumer. As an advertising platform within banks’ digital channels, we are able to capture anonymized customer spend data that helps us target the consumers brands want to reach. Ultimately, this drives loyalty for the bank and the brand. At Cardlytics, we call this “mutual loyalty.”  

Here’s a simplified example of how this works… Most retailers know who comes into their store, but they don’t know what happens after they leave. They don’t know if they are getting their full share of a consumer’s category spend or only a fraction.  By partnering with financial institutions, Cardlytics is able to understand the full view of the consumer, allowing a relevant offer to be delivered to a consumer that will ultimately grow the brand’s share of category. Brands get efficient use of marketing dollars while financial institutions get to deliver meaningful value that funded by the advertiser, to their customers.

It starts with a (data) signal

We also work with the banks to help create an experience of reward and delight. We know that customers log into their mobile app or online bank between 10 to 12 times a month to look at their balance, transaction history, etc. We inherently become another channel or extension of the CRM system for advertising partners, creating a full closed loop loyalty program. It’s a win, win, win - the advertiser reaches its intended audience to create a sale, the bank gets to delight its customer with cash back rewards from some of the top brands in the country, and the customer receives cash back into their account.

It’s a fast-moving space but we are excited for the success our banks, advertisers and end consumers are seeing through our program.

You can listen to my recent session at The Loyalty Summit- CRM.

In 2021, digital advertising in the United States grew to $139.8 billion with a lot of marketing dollars relying on a strategy upon which both Google and Apple have put a firm expiration date.

The bulk of digital ad spend still relies on third-party cookies for targeting. However, Google has announced the removal of third-party cookies by the end of 2022 when using the Chrome browser. Meanwhile Apple’s iOS is already allowing users to block cookie-based tracking. Therefore, it's imperative for brands and digital marketers to have a plan for cookie-free digital advertising.  

What Are Third-Party Cookies? 

Two kinds of cookies are created by a web browser when someone visits a website: a first-party cookie and a third-party cookie.  

A first-party cookie is hosted and used by the visited website, but third-party cookies are hosted by third-party servers such as an ad server. These digital advertisers aggregate data from third-party cookies to create a profile for personalized ads. Third-party cookies give brands the ability to target potential customers, generate item-level data, and increase sales. 

However, because third-party cookies lack consumer consent, regulators in the US and elsewhere have enacted regulations to phase them out. In the EU, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires consent to place a cookie on a user’s device and California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) which is a state-wide data privacy law that regulates how businesses all over the world are allowed to handle the personal information (PI) of California residents. 

Consumer attitudes towards data privacy 

A 2020 Consumer Reports study found that 96% of Americans agree that more should be done to ensure that companies protect the privacy of consumers and 42% of consumers believe that companies should be the most responsible for user privacy. A better overall consumer experience is why Cardlytics uses only first-party purchase intelligence data from its bank partners to target and serve content within its advertising platform and does not require third-party information to operate.  

User privacy has always been a central part of the Cardlytics DNA.  

Beginning our journey as a partner to banks and financial institutions required an intense focus on protecting sensitive data and respecting the limits of usage as a trusted platform. As we've grown and expanded our offering, we've maintained that focus on user privacy and found unique and respectful ways to bring the insights from our expansive dataset into the hands of our brand partners.

Cardlytics uses cookies when validating how well our advertising platform is performing. For example, cookies allow us to verify when a consumer makes a purchase after clicking on our ad so we can validate the program’s success to our bank and advertising partners. We only see a consumer as an ID number and never receive any of their Personally Identifiable Information (PII). Google’s announcement does not impact the way in which we measure, report, or use cookies for performance validation. 

Increasing consumer preference for online shopping, coupled with the disappearance of third-party online tracking data, means that marketers will need to rewrite their digital marketing playbook. 

Here’s a look at some comparable tools for digital advertisers to explore: 

Data Collection: Optimize first-party data at the item-level 

The main advantages of third-party cookie data for marketers are the ability to present personalized offers to new customers and provide item-level data for retailers. To continue access to this data, analyze SKU-level purchase data from past transactions to identify purchase trends by demographic, location, or income level. 

Web Traffic: Leverage first-party tools to generate sales and reach 

Third-party cookie data is useful in initiating online calls-to-action like driving traffic to a brand’s website or product pages. To augment the web traffic that was coming from digital ads, engage a card-linked platform to drive click-throughs to the website or app. 

Discovery: Explore marketing tools that engage customers’ emotions 

Third-party cookie data helped retailers and brands capture new customers by tracking web browser history. To identify new customers now, retailers should work with Cardlytics because we identify opportunity through Purchase Intelligence. Our powerful AI and dozens of analysts have insight into where and when customers buy both online and in-store, answering questions that inform business decisions.  

With the industry shift towards better user privacy and the move away from third-party cookies, our first-party purchase intelligence data remains reliable, actionable, and protected. Working with Cardlytics will help marketers better reach the right audience with more relevant offers in a third-party cookie free world.