Rakuten to Open New York City Pop-up for the Holidays
Rakuten, the shopping destination that offers cash back and rewards, will have its first in-person immersive pop-up experience in New York City.
Slated for Nov. 12 and 13, the 6,000-square-foot pop-up, dubbed “Sleigh Your Shopping,” takes place at 666 Broadway in NoHo. The pop-up will feature Rakuten’s breadth of retailers across beauty, fashion, wellness and other categories. Consumers will be able to shop for brands and get 10 percent cash back in-person at the event, as well as an additional 10 percent directly to their Rakuten account.
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Among the brands that will be carried are Inbloom, JVH Hair, Favorite Daughter, Patrick Ta Beauty, Naadam, Eberjey, Fresh Beauty, Ugg, Quay Australia and Aurate.
The brand boutiques will have items that shoppers can touch and feel, but there won’t be any try-on rooms on-site. All purchases will take place digitally through the Rakuten platform. One doesn’t need to be a member to shop at the pop-up.
“Consumers have weathered a lot these last couple of holiday seasons — last year with supply chain issues and this year with inflation. Rakuten wanted to inspire shoppers by creating a holiday shopping destination with impactful rewards,” said Vicki McRae, senior vice president of brand, creative and communications at Rakuten Rewards.
She said they were happy to bring Rakuten’s online platform to life in New York City because “seeing is believing,” adding that the site offers more than 3,500 across numerous categories.
The pop-up will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., EST.
For those not in New York, shoppers can earn 10 percent cash back from giftable brands by shopping Rakuten’s online holiday gifting destination, “The Holiday Edit,” from Thursday to Nov. 13. Among the “Holiday Gift” gifting lists are Kate Hudson’s wellness edit and Erin and Sara Foster’s fashion edit.
“We’re long-time fans of Rakuten and the Sleigh Your Shopping holiday pop-up is the perfect setting to bring Favorite Daughter to New Yorkers,” said Sara and Erin Foster, in a statement, adding it’s the first time they’re bringing Favorite Daughter to New York City in person.
Since its founding in 1999, Rakuten’s members have earned $3.5 billion in cash back by shopping through the platform.
Discussing Rakuten’s upcoming holiday season, Kristen Gall, president of Rakuten Rewards, told WWD, “I predict that it will be a solid holiday season overall and that shopping behavior will be in line with the current increases in retail sales — likely in the high single digit range. The industry has a lot of excess inventory to move, so we expect retailers to offer major discounts during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping holidays — and throughout the entire season.
“This will drive down prices and help consumers to continue shopping their holiday lists. Pandemic savings, the desire for a more typical holiday season, and a robust U.S. job market will also help to bolster spending this season. While concerns about challenges with this year’s inflation and increased costs will remain, consumers will continue to shop throughout the holiday season but with a focus on finding the best deals. That said, retailers will find more ways to incentivize the cost-conscious shopper with more discounts, cash back and rewards,” said Gall.
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