These stocks could emerge as big winners from premium retail’s new frontier — your living room
Call it 2021’s spin on a Tupperware party, but without the obligation of getting friends together.
Premium retailers are taking unprecedented steps to bring the consumer experience to your living room, according to Loup Ventures’ Gene Munster.
“We are just at the cusp of what is going to be a paradigm shift [in the industry],” the firm’s founder and managing partner told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Tuesday. “These changes come around about every quarter of a century.”
Munster suggests it’s part of an evolution gripping retail companies, particularly in technology. He compares the change to the shopping mall’s birth in the 1950s and the rise of big-box retailers in the 1980s.
He tackled the trend in a recent note and believes there’s big money in it.
“These premium brands have a massive opportunity to come into their [customers’] home to support. Imagine getting tech support,” said Munster. “An Apple salesperson essentially comes to you.”
It’s an arrangement that’s already being tested.
Enjoy, which is one of Loup’s portfolio companies, is partnering with Apple in the San Francisco, Los Angeles and Dallas-Fort Worth regions to offer at-home service and tech support. Enjoy is led by former JCPenney CEO and Apple retail president Ron Johnson.
Munster speculates that the mega retail shift to homes should endure post-coronavirus pandemic because of the convenience to consumers. He notes it’s a fundamental part of an accelerating digital transformation.
“If you look at a company like Apple, they’re not going to be adding more stores,” he said. “But they will, I believe, have an opportunity to kind of expand their retail presence going through the door somewhere to what Peloton is doing.”
Munster lists Apple and Peloton as big winners from the big changes, as well as Tesla.
“About 80% of the maintenance of their vehicles is at your home,” he added. “This is a big deal.”
And, that could leave traditional retailers in the dust.
“You either have to be Target or Amazon on the one end or you need to be premium brands coming through the door,” Munster said. “If you’re caught somewhere in between, I’m sorry it doesn’t look good.”
Disclosure: Munster’s firm Loup Ventures has a stake in Enjoy.
