January 15, 2019 Insight Report Premium US Holiday Comparable Sales Growth Results: A Mixed Picture So FarAs US retailers report comparable sales for the 2018 holiday season, we’re seeing a mixed bag of results. Some retailers such as Costco and Boot Barn did well, reporting strong comparable sales growth and beating consensus estimates. Retailers such as Target, Barnes & Noble and Buckle showed sequential comparable sales growth improvement, but not as strong. Comparable sales at Macy’s and L Brands weakened sequentially.
January 15, 2019 Event Coverage Register for Free Access NRF 2019 Day 2: Challenging Old ParadigmsCoresight Research Founder and CEO Deborah Weinswig discussed AI in retail with experts from Guess, JD and Markable in a panel discussion called The Intelligence Revolution is Here. Weinswig discussed the massive opportunity in AI in a range of areas from communicating with customers, to optimizing prices and products, to managing inventory and delivering experiential retail.
January 15, 2019 Insight Report Premium New Retail Briefing #1: JD.com and Alibaba RestructureOn December 21, 2018, JD.com announced it would restructure its operations with JD Mall, the company’s main revenue-generating unit. JD Mall will be divided into three business departments, including serving customers; business support services; and, infrastructure control and risk management. JD.com said in its announcement that the new structure will enable it to better focus on customers. JD Mall’s restructuring also aims to diversify its management team and assuage investors that Liu Qiangdong, JD’s founder and CEO, is not the only person driving decision-making at the company.
January 14, 2019 Event Coverage Register for Free Access NRF 2019 Day 1: The Big Apple’s Big Show Does Not DisappointRich Roll, author and athlete, set the tone for the panel discussion The Wellness Revolution: Consumer Behavior in a New Retail Era, when he outlined what he sees as the secret of success for his podcast. “One reason (it) works is because it is honest and unpolished,” noted Roll. “We are starved for connection and something that is real.” Roll started a health and wellness podcast The Rich Roll Podcastmidlife after spending part of his career as a corporate attorney. Each of his podcasts has an average of 250,000 to 750,000 downloads, and he’s totaled over 50 million downloads. He encouraged retailers to embrace corporate culture that values honesty and integrity.
January 14, 2019 Flash Report Register for Free Access Alibaba Strengthens Its Presence in Digitalization Consulting with A100 Partnership ProgramAlibaba has grown from simple online marketplace to a digital commerce powerhouse, with operations in sales, marketing, product delivery, supply chain, logistics and data analytics — pretty much the whole nine yards. At an event in Hangzhou, the company announced the launch of a new collaborative program called A100.
January 12, 2019 Deep Dive Premium Understanding WeChat, China’s Super App: Part 2 — How WeChat Mini Programs Spell Opportunity for Brands and RetailersWeChat dominates the social media scene in China — so much so that even large companies are leveraging its reach over using their own apps, and even buying add space in WeChat games. To tap into this opportunity, WeChat has been developing “mini programs” that operate within WeChat but function as a separate company app would, allowing users to order, pay for, pick up or have goods delivered. What’s the opportunity?
January 11, 2019 Event Coverage Register for Free Access CES 2019 Wrap-Up: Five Cool Things You Need to KnowAt the show, we saw various applications of AI voice technology, which has expanded beyond AI appliances such as the Amazon Echo, Samsung’s Bixby, Apple’s HomePod, the Google Home and many others. Voice control has moved into the realm of home appliances, such as Amazon’s voice-controlled microwave oven, and the voice-controlled TVs and home appliances demonstrated by LG and Samsung. Voice recognition has also entered automobiles — Ford demonstrated operability with Alexa at CES two years ago, Alibaba showed interoperability with Volvo and BMW, and this week, Amazon started taking orders for Echo Auto.
January 11, 2019 Company Earnings Update Register for Free Access Tesco (LSE: TSCO) 3Q19 and Christmas Update: Strongest U.K. Christmas Growth for a DecadeTesco, the U.K.’s biggest grocery retailer, reported results for 3Q19 (ended November 24, 2018), and the subsequent six-week Christmas period (ended January 5). For the core six-week Christmas period, Tesco grew comparable sales in its U.K. operations by 2.2%, above the consensus estimate of 1.4% from StreetAccount. The company said it outperformed the market in volume and value terms and versus the market “in all key categories: food, clothing and general merchandise.”
January 11, 2019 Company Earnings Update Register for Free Access Seven & i (TSE: 3382) 9M19 Results: Struggling at Home, Silver Lining in Overseas Convenience StoresJapan-based retailer Seven & i reported net sales of ¥4,110.6 billion for the nine months ended November 30, 2018, up 15.8% year over year. Operating income came in at ¥304.3 billion, up 2.9% year over year. Gross margin on net sales decreased by 200 basis points to 19.6% and operating margin fell by 60 basis points to 6.0%. Diluted EPS was ¥176.53, up 4.7% year over year. Below, we outline the performance of convenience store operations, superstore Ito-Yokado, food supermarket York-Benimaru and department store Sogo & Seibu.
January 11, 2019 Company Earnings Update Register for Free Access B&M (LSE: BME) 3Q19 Trading Update: UK Growth Is Hit by a Tough NovemberB&M U.K reported a 1.6% decline in comparable sales, below the 0.9% growth in first half and missing the Street Account consensus of a 0.2% decline. After what the company called a “difficult November,” December B&M U.K. comps strengthened to 1.2%, while U.K. same-store cash gross margin was down in November but bounced back in December. Group sales grew 12.1% year over year to £1.09 billion, slightly above the consensus of £1.08 billion, while total U.K. sales grew 4.5% year over year to £874.5 million. B&M’s Jawoll chain in Germany grew revenues 5.5% at constant currency, while its Heron Foods chain in the U.K. grew revenues 12.6%.
January 11, 2019 Analyst Corner Register for Free Access WEINSWIG’S WEEKLY JANUARY 11, 2019Retailers in the U.S. may have enjoyed a bumper holiday season, but their counterparts elsewhere in the world have been experiencing greater uncertainty. In China, the pace of economic growth has slowed, while in Germany, shoppers have shown renewed caution. Meanwhile, in the U.K., details on Brexit remain unclear, even though the exit date is now less than three months away – raising the real possibility of a deal-less Brexit. Across the U.S., Europe and Asia, macroeconomic and political uncertainty threatens to persist for at least the first few months of 2019. In this week’s note, we look at four inflection points we expect could significantly impact the economy and consumer sentiment in various countries.
January 11, 2019 Store Tracker Databank Members Weekly Store Openings and Closures Tracker 2019, Week 2: Lidl and Wegmans to Open Three Stores While JCPenney Plans to Close Three StoresYear to date in 2019, U.S. retailers have announced 1,170 store closures and 1,176 store openings.
January 11, 2019 Store Tracker Databank Members Weekly Store Openings and Closures Tracker 2019, Week 1: Sears Confirms Closure of Additional 80 StoresIn the US, we recorded a total of 5,524 closures and 3,083 openings by major retailers over the course of 2018.
January 10, 2019 Store Tracker Databank Members Reviewing 2018 U.S. and U.K. Store ClosuresIn the U.S., major retailers closed 5,524 stores and opened 3,083 stores during 2018. By sector, apparel specialist stores led the pack with 766 closures; Payless ShoeSource contributed 408 of these closures.
January 10, 2019 Event Coverage Register for Free Access CES 2019 Day 4: Five Cool Things You Need to KnowAMD is currently giving Intel serious competition in the microprocessor wars, and announced several new processors — for desktops, servers, mobile and graphics — and AMD says this increased computing power will be needed to solve society’s challenges in education, healthcare, climate change and energy.
