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 »
With many Americans suffering from a holiday-spending hangover, it’s not surprising when we see a lull in spending in January. Coupled with abnormal weather conditions across the country and an uncertain economy, consumer spending is likely off to a slow start this month. The Chain Store Guide (CSG) Retail Spending Index saw its largest decrease… Read more »
Disappointing holiday sales prompted iconic department store Macy’s Inc. to announce major cost-cutting moves on Wednesday. During November and December’s uncharacteristically warm weather, Macy’s same-store sales declined 4.7%. “The holiday selling season was challenging, as experienced throughout 2015 by much of the retailing industry,” said Macy’s chairman and CEO Terry Lundgren. “In the November/December period,… Read more »
Consumers are shopping 6% more with their desktops this year versus last year, with desktop spending at $35.36 billion in the first 36 days of the shopping season (Nov 1- Dec 6). This figure sets a new record. Cyber Monday week saw $9.7 billion in desktop spending, up 7%. Spending reached $1 billion + per… Read more »
Vera Bradley, Inc. has added Mary Lou Kelley to its Board of Directors, bringing extensive e-commerce experience with her. Kelley had served as President, E-Commerce of Best Buy since 2014. Prior to joining Best Buy, she served as SVP, E-Commerce for Chico’s and Marketing VP for L.L. Bean. Previously, she also held key marketing positions… Read more »
The National Retail Federation’s Consumer Holiday Spending Survey shows that 56.6% of holiday shoppers already started shopping by early November, up from 54.4% in 2014. 60% of shoppers still plan to purchase apparel or accessories, 46.2% will buy books/CDs/video games, 41.2% will buy toys and 21.8% will purchase jewelry. Over 50% of those surveyed felt… Read more »
Mark Twain famously said, “get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.” As data analyst we have a responsibility to provide an accurate and complete picture when we poor through numbers and create reports. The labor report released on Friday provides a great example of an incomplete reporting of the facts.… Read more »
The Consumer Spending Report (CSR) released in November indicates that consumer spending in October increased slightly by .9 points to close to 103 points, but still sits below the current twelve month average of 105.6. The overwhelming majority of consumers rated the economy as fair or poor, continuing this trend from September. Retail spending decreased… Read more »
What is an out of stock? A retail out of stock is when the inventory available on the shelf is either zero, or depending on the product category, when the inventory available for sale is less than the typical job lot quantity. Conceptually an out of stock is not difficult to understand and therefore one… Read more »
The Farnworth Group published a study that found that specialized retailers are taking more of the DIY market from big-box home improvement stores like Lowe’s and The Home Depot. Amazon is making its appearance as a favorite online home improvement source. The study analyzed purchase behaviors among a variety of retail channels and different buying… Read more »
Due to Christmas creep, retailers are moving out the pumpkins and putting out winter holiday right away, if not already. Some retail trends shoppers can look forward to now: Early season deals are popping up and not waiting for Black Friday. Wal-Mart announced November 1 launches “savings and holiday retailtainment”. The iPad mini will be… Read more »
