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Earnings Insights 4Q20, Week 4: Home Categories Stand Strong, While Apparel Sees Weak Demand

Our weekly Earnings Insights reports feature highlights from recent management commentary at major US retailers as they report fourth-quarter 2020 earnings. This week, there are highlights from companies that reported in the week ended February 28—namely, Best Buy, Farfetch, Home Depot, L Brands, Lowe’s, Macy’s, The RealReal, The TJX Companies and Wayfair.

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US Retail’s Updated Gift Card Guidelines: Accounting for Breakage and Bankruptcy

US retailers witnessed a surge in gift cards sales in 2020. We discuss how US retailers account for gift cards under the updated revenue recognition model issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). We cover how retailers record sales and redemptions of gift cards, as well as the two methods of accounting for unredeemed gift cards under FASB’s Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 606 update. We also explore retailers’ liabilities toward gift card holders in the event of bankruptcy and liquidation.

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The New Value Retailers: Online Marketplaces Challenge Brick-and-Mortar Budget Formats

The value retail sector is expanding beyond traditional brick-and-mortar budget formats (including discount variety retailers such as dollar stores) with the emergence of online value marketplaces. We see the growth of these e-commerce platforms as presenting challenges to predominantly offline retailers in the value retail sector. We discuss the key online players, with a focus on the US, the UK and China.

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Earnings Insights 4Q20, Week 3: Walmart and CVS Health Remain Strong, While L’Oréal Sees Recovery

Our weekly Earnings Insights reports feature highlights from recent management commentary at major US retailers as they report fourth-quarter 2020 earnings. This week, there are highlights from companies that reported in the week ended February 21—namely, beauty brand owner L’Oréal, drugstore retailer CVS Health and mass merchandiser Walmart.

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US Warehouse Clubs and Dollar Stores Forge Ahead with Omnichannel Initiatives and Physical Expansion

Continuing to ride on the pandemic-driven e-commerce wave of 2020, warehouse clubs and dollar stores are likely to remain in growth mode through 2021 and beyond. We look at the omnichannel initiatives and real estate expansion plans of major warehouse clubs (BJ’s Wholesale Club, Costco and Sam’s Club) and discount variety storers (dollar stores Dollar General and Dollar Tree, as well as discount retailers Big Lots and Five Below) in the US as they aim to attract and retain consumers across the income spectrum.

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Frictionless Grocery: Pandemic Ushers In Smart Checkout Technologies

Alongside the shift to e-commerce, the Covid-19 pandemic has been driving the digitalization of grocery at brick-and-mortar locations. In this report, we discuss three smart checkout technologies that grocery retailers are increasingly implementing in stores to meet heightened consumer demand for convenience, safety and efficiency in the physical shopping journey: automated checkout, smart carts and scan-and-go.

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Earnings Insights 4Q20, Week 2: Apparel and Beauty Brand Owners Experience Mixed Recovery; REITs Remain Badly Hit

Our weekly Earnings Insights reports feature highlights from recent management commentary at major US retailers as they report fourth-quarter 2020 earnings. This week, there are highlights from companies that reported in the week ended February 14—namely, brand owners Coty, Estée Lauder, Hanesbrands and Under Armour, as well as three REITs: Macerich Company, Simon Property Group and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.

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Earnings Insights 4Q20, Week 1: E-Commerce Players Stand Strong, While Luxury Retailers Witness Mixed Recovery

Our weekly Earnings Insights reports feature highlights from recent management commentary at major US retailers as they report fourth-quarter 2020 earnings. This week, there are highlights from companies that reported in the week ended February 7, namely Alibaba, Amazon, Brookfield Property Partners, Canada Goose, Capri Holdings, eBay, Ralph Lauren and Tapestry.

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Market Outlook: Understanding India’s $800 Billion Retail Sector

In this Market Outlook report, we explore India’s retail sector. We analyze data on the sector size and present our growth estimates for 2021. We discuss key market drivers and e-commerce penetration in India’s retail market compared to other global markets. This report also covers a breakdown of India’s top 15 retail companies by revenue,—including Avenue Supermarts, Flipkart Internet, Reliance Retail and V-Mart Retail.

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