Executive Summary

• This week’s note “From the Desk of Deborah Weinswig” discusses how brick-and-mortar retailers can win shoppers this holiday season as well as which trends and factors will feature most heavily in offline retailing during the period.
• Fewer Americans plan to shop on Black Friday this year than in previous years, as consumers have grown increasingly accustomed to deep discounts year-round.
• Online luxury fashion retailer Net-a-Porter is set to launch an artificial intelligence robot that will enable customers to pick clothing based on their future plans.
• Ant Financial, the Alibaba affiliate that operates payment service Alipay and other digital finance products, has continued its Asia expansion with a move into Hong Kong.