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 »
JC Penney announced it will be closing 138 stores and a supply chain facility in Lakeland, FL. The retailer explained the closings were strategically chosen to cut costs in order to focus growing sales at its best-performing locations. Texas and Minnesota were the hardest hit, with 9 and 8 store closures, respectively. “We believe closing… Read more »
Each month as our team researches and compiles the Retail Industry Briefing Book, different facts and figures stand out, and we inevitably notice trends and patterns in the data we report. Notable this month was the number of macro-economic indexes that are currently on an upward trend, and the 90-day temperature outlook, which was certainly… Read more »
Probably three of the ugliest words for a retailer or vendor are — out of stock. Each and every time an out of stock (OOS) occurs, the retailer, vendor, and consumer lose. Revenues and profitability go down, and consumer frustration rises. This is not a newsflash; it’s easy to find a wealth of OOS research… Read more »
Both The Home Depot and Lowe’s continue to focus on the “Pro” customer as the key growth driver for sales. In the case of The Home Depot, there are some interesting store attributes available to vendors, which The Home Depot uses as store descriptors. Last week, I was working with one of our customers who… Read more »
Last week, I had the opportunity to work with two different customers analyzing their sales at The Home Depot. One sells products in the paint department and the other sells into the building materials department. The analysis goal for both customer projects was to deconstruct their YTD sales and identify the factors contributing to higher… Read more »
At Accelerated Analytics, I work with over 20 beauty brands to supply key reports and analysis of how their products are performing at their retail stores. Our expertise, based on years of working with beauty retailers like Dillard’s, Ulta, Sephora and Nordstrom, help account executives, planners and sales reps to track sales to goals, store… Read more »
That’s the question that the Harvard Business Review set out to answer in a recent study conducted between June 2015 and August 2016. They collaborated with a major U.S. Company which operates hundreds of retail stores across the country and studied the behavior of 46,000 shoppers. The customers were asked about “every aspect of their… Read more »
The string of beauty deals continues in the new year with significant beauty acquisitions for Accelerated Analytics customers L’Oréal and Coty, all within a 48-hour period earlier this week. L’Oréal will almost double the size of its Active Cosmetics Division with the acquisition of CeraVe, AcneFree and Ambi for a reported $1.3 billion. Founded in… Read more »
The latest in a recent flurry of moves to raise cash, Sears Holding announced Thursday that it will sell its well-known Craftsman tools brand to Stanley Black and Decker. The value of the deal could top $1 billion. Stanley will pay $525 million up front – the deal is expected to close later this year… Read more »
Yesterday, President-elect Trump named veteran Washington trade lawyer Robert Lighthizer as his chief trade negotiator in a move that confirms Mr. Trump’s intention to get tough with China, Mexico and other trade partners. Lighthizer, who is with the firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom and was deputy trade representative during the Reagan administration, would replace… Read more »
