Why Out-of-stocks, Data Mismatch, and Hidden Demand Still Catch Out Beauty Brands When beauty brands review retail performance, the picture often looks reassuring. Availability appears high. Sales reports feel complete. Forecasts are built on what was sold. But our conversations with brands working directly with Ulta and Sephora reveal a more complicated reality. One where... Read more »
Walmart announced earlier this week its decision to acquire 13 Target locations in Canada. Lowe’s followed suit, announcing it will also acquire 13 Target Canada leases as well as a distribution center in Ontario. The Lowe’s deal is worth $125 million. The store sites are across Canada and include markets where Lowe’s has low penetration.… Read more »
An early Easter did not cause a drop in store visits in April. Shopper traffic increased 12% compared to April 2014. However, storefront conversion increased less than1% year-over-year, as more targeted shopping trips were seen in a more promotional environment. Several retail verticals saw a decline in sales versus same time last year: 1.15 decline… Read more »
Canadian Tire is three years into a total digital transformation that includes investments in agile technology solutions to advance its digital strategy, improve store operations and digitally power customer and employee interactions. It is opening a new facility, “Digital Garage” in Waterloo, Ontario. This innovation lab will give the company’s top digital innovators an opportunity… Read more »
Accelerated Analytics was proud to visit Swarovski’s flagship store in Las Vegas this week. Swarovski is a customer of Accelerated Analytics, obtaining POS sales and inventory data and analytics for its retailer partners. Analytics include sales and inventory levels, out of stock, sales to stock ratios, sell thru percent and more. Accelerated Analytics was in… Read more »
A new report from Branding Brand’s Mobile Commerce Index released Wednesday indicates that revenue from shoppers on smartphones rose 73% over last year. In April 2015, smartphone revenue accounted for 13% of total online revenue, which represents a 63% year-over-year increase. Identifying retail trends for 50 US mobile websites, smartphone conversion increased 31% since April… Read more »
Based on overwhelmingly positive shopper response to its store pickup for online orders service, Kohl’s is rolling out the service to all of its 1,164 stores in the US. The service allows shoppers to pick up in store within hours of placing an order online. Kohl’s piloted the service at more than 100 stores in… Read more »
As Americans increased their borrowing in March, retailers hope this will result in increased sales. For retail planners of major supply chains, a big question is whether consumers will come back to the stores or get back to buying by going online. Online commerce is far outpacing storefront sales around the world, creating competition for… Read more »
Nordstrom is piloting a new service for customers in several US stores, including at its flagship store in downtown Seattle. The service gives customers the ability to text or call the store ahead of time and a store associate will be waiting on the curb with their products when the customer arrives. Nordstrom has allowed… Read more »
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for April came in at 95.2. Expectations were to see an increase to 102.2 over March’s index of 101.3. March was very high, beating the consensus forecast of 96.4. Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at the Conference Board, said in the release: “This month’s retreat was prompted by a… Read more »
Starting May 1, J.C.Penney Co. Inc. is expanding its in-store partnership with Sephora, introducing Sephora to 25 additional J.C. Penney stores. Since the exclusive partnership began in 2006, more than 500 J.C. Penney stores feature a full-service Sephora offering. In addition to these openings, J.C. Penney will expand its square footage of Sephora inside 6… Read more »
