Executive Summary

• VF Corporation’s fiscal 2Q19 sales rose 15.2% driven by a 26% gain at Vans and 12% growth in China. Revenues were $3.91 billion compared with the consensus estimate of $3.87 billion; fiscal 2Q19 EPS of $1.43 from continuing operations came in 7.5% above the $1.33 consensus estimate.
• Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) organic sales rose 13%, with digital sales up 31% and a mid-teen comps growth; including acquisitions, DTC and digital revenues increased by 19% and 48%, respectively.
• Fiscal 2019 (year ending March 30) guidance lifted: revenues by 11% (at the high end of previous guidance); and EPS by 16%, to $3.65 from $3.52–$3.57.

Executive Summary

In this report, we analyze the impact of US tariffs on apparel and textiles, footwear, and furniture imports from China.

• The recently announced US tariffs on Chinese imports appear to have direct implications for the fabrics and yarn categories, and furniture is likely to see more severe effects than other consumer goods categories. Apparel and footwear are largely excluded from the current tariffs, but they could be impacted if the US government extends tariffs to additional categories.
• China is the US’s largest trading partner in the apparel and textiles category. In 2016, the US imported Chinese apparel and textiles worth $45.2 billion, four times more than it imported from Vietnam that year.
• China was the largest footwear exporter to the US in 2017, accounting for 56% of US footwear imports, or $14 billion worth of shoes.
• China is also the largest furniture exporter to the US. In 2016, the US imported $24.2 billion worth of furniture, and China accounted for $13.7 billion of that, or 57% of total imports.
• If further tariffs are applied to apparel, companies such as Chico’s FAS and G-III Apparel Group are likely to be impacted, as they source heavily from China. Companies such as The Children’s Place, which uses the “China plus Vietnam plus many” sourcing strategy, are better positioned to absorb any costs that may result from future tariffs.

Executive Summary

The Coresight Research team will be attending and participating in the Groceryshop 2018 conference, which runs October 28–31 in Las Vegas. The team behind the Shoptalk retail and e-commerce conference founded this new event, which will cover the disruption of the grocery, consumer packaged goods (CPG) and related industries.

• The conference is expected to bring together 1,000 attendees and more than 150 speakers. Discussion topics will include the transformation of the retail industry, including convenience stores, supermarkets and e-commerce, and changes in the production and distribution of CPGs across multiple retail verticals. Additionally, the event will cover shifts in consumers’ shopping behavior and how they want to shop in the future in both brick-and-mortar and online formats.
• On October 28, Coresight Research CEO and Founder Deborah Weinswig will emcee a startup pitch competition featuring 12 innovative, early-stage technology companies that provide solutions to solve major problems in e-commerce, grocery retail, and/or the food or CPG sector. The participating startups are Adrich, Forager, IceCream Labs, IntraPosition, Locai Solutions, Nextuple, Observa, Packyge, Shelf.ai, Simplista, Tastry and Tochize.
• In this report, our fifth in a series of daily Countdown to Groceryshop 2018 reports, we profile Packyge, which has developed a white-label software solution that helps companies assemble e-commerce orders in-store for consumer pickup or delivery and for ship-to-store and return in-store operations.

Executive Summary

The Coresight Research team will be attending and participating in the Groceryshop 2018 conference, which runs October 28–31 in Las Vegas. The team behind the Shoptalk retail and e-commerce conference founded this new event, which will cover the disruption of the grocery, consumer packaged goods (CPG) and related industries.

• The conference is expected to bring together 1,000 attendees and more than 150 speakers. Discussion topics will include the transformation of the retail industry, including convenience stores, supermarkets and e-commerce, and changes in the production and distribution of CPGs across multiple retail verticals. Additionally, the event will cover shifts in consumers’ shopping behavior and how they want to shop in the future in both brick-and-mortar and online formats.
• On October 28, Coresight Research CEO and Founder Deborah Weinswig will emcee a startup pitch competition featuring 12 innovative, early-stage technology companies that provide solutions to solve major problems in e-commerce, grocery retail, and/or the food or CPG sector. The participating startups are Adrich, Forager, IceCream Labs, IntraPosition, Locai Solutions, Nextuple, Observa, Packyge, Shelf.ai, Simplista, Tastry and Tochize.
• In this report, our fourth in a series of daily Countdown to Groceryshop 2018 reports, we profile IceCream Labs, which has developed a machine learning–based merchandising solution that can distill text- and image-based product data from multiple sources into richer product content for retailers, brands and marketplace sellers.

Executive Summary

The Coresight Research team will be attending and participating in the Groceryshop 2018 conference, which runs October 28–31 in Las Vegas. The team behind the Shoptalk retail and e-commerce conference founded this new event, which will cover the disruption of the grocery, consumer packaged goods (CPG) and related industries.

• The conference is expected to bring together 1,000 attendees and more than 150 speakers. Discussion topics will include the transformation of the retail industry, including convenience stores, supermarkets and e-commerce, and changes in the production and distribution of CPGs across multiple retail verticals. Additionally, the event will cover shifts in consumers’ shopping behavior and how they want to shop in the future in both brick-and-mortar and online formats.
• On October 28, Coresight Research CEO and Founder Deborah Weinswig will emcee a startup pitch competition featuring 12 innovative, early-stage technology companies that provide solutions to solve major problems in e-commerce, grocery retail, and/or the food or CPG sector. The participating startups are Adrich, Forager, IceCream Labs, IntraPosition, Locai Solutions, Nextuple, Observa, Packyge, Shelf.ai, Simplista, Tastry and Tochize.
• In this report, our third in a series of daily Countdown to Groceryshop 2018 reports, we profile Adrich, which creates smart labels that can generate a stream of product usage data even after a shopper has taken an item home.

Executive Summary

On October 17, Coresight Research cohosted a showcase event with Li & Fung called “3D Sampling and Design Reduces Costs and Enables Product Development.” Held in Li & Fung’s showroom in New York City, the event focused on the benefits that 3D sampling and design technologies can bring to retailers and brands.

• Sean Coxall, President of Supply Chain Solutions at Li & Fung, described Li & Fung’s view of the future of the supply chain, particularly for apparel and accessories.
• Coxall discussed some of the challenges the retail industry faces, including economic and political issues, the need for greater speed and the need to alter mind-sets within the industry, and talked about how Li & Fung’s platform solutions address many of these challenges.
• In terms of solutions, Coxall mainly focused on two Li & Fung platforms: the materials platform and the digital design platform.

Executive Summary

Walmart hosted its 2018 Investment Community Meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas, on October 16. Key messages from the presentations made at the meeting include:

• Execution: Management cited 16 consecutive quarters of positive comps as evidence of its momentum and said that investments made over the past few years are paying off.
• Unique assets: The company has built a portfolio of assets that include shopping, social media and loyalty, financial services, health and wellness, digital entertainment, advertising, logistics and home and personal services.
• Reduced earnings guidance due to acquisition of Flipkart: The company reduced its FY19 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) guidance to $4.65–$4.80 from $4.90–$5.05 previously. Walmart expects comparable sales of 2.5%–3% and e-commerce net growth of 35% in FY2019.

Executive Summary

• Groupe Casino reported steady growth in French comparable sales, which rose by 1.9% year over year in 3Q18.
• General merchandise website Cdiscount saw revenues fall but gross merchandise volume increase, due to a higher proportion of third-party sales. Comp growth in Latin America accelerated.
• In France, Monoprix recently started selling via Amazon Prime Now and management reported that the number of orders placed through Prime Now had exceeded its projections.

Executive Summary

The Coresight Research team will be attending and participating in the Groceryshop 2018 conference, which runs October 28–31in Las Vegas. The team behind the Shoptalk retail and e-commerce conference founded this new event, which will cover the disruption of the grocery, consumer packaged goods (CPG) and related industries.

• The conference is expected to bring together 1,000 attendees and more than 150 speakers. Discussion topics will include the transformation of the retail industry, including convenience stores, supermarkets and e-commerce, and changes in the production and distribution of CPGs across multiple retail verticals. Additionally, the event will cover shifts in consumers’ shopping behavior and how they want to shop in the future in both brick-and-mortar and online formats.
• On October 28, Coresight Research CEO and Founder Deborah Weinswig will emcee a startup pitch competition featuring 12 innovative, early-stage technology companies that provide solutions to solve major problems in e-commerce, grocery retail, and/or the food or CPG sector.The participating startups are Adrich, Forager, IceCream Labs, IntraPosition, Locai Solutions, Nextuple,Observa, Packyge, Shelf.ai, Simplista,Tastry and Tochize.
• In this report, our second in a series of daily Countdown to Groceryshop 2018 reports, we profile Shelf.ai, which facilitates grocery conversational commerce, making it easy for retailers to integrate voice-based shopping capabilities into existing e-commerce and loyalty systems and intuitive for shoppers to build orders by speaking.

Executive Summary

The Coresight Research team will be attending and participating in the Groceryshop 2018 conference, which runs October 28–31in Las Vegas. The team behind the Shoptalk retail and e-commerce conference founded this new event, which will cover the disruption of the grocery, consumer packaged goods (CPG) and related industries.

• The conference is expected to bring together 1,000 attendees and more than 150 speakers. Discussion topics will include the transformation of the retail industry, including convenience stores, supermarkets and e-commerce, and changes in the production and distribution of CPGs across multiple retail verticals. Additionally, the event will cover shifts in consumers’ shopping behavior and how they want to shop in the future in both brick-and-mortar and online formats.
• On October 28, Coresight Research CEO and Founder Deborah Weinswig will emcee a startup pitch competition featuring12 innovative, early-stage technology companies that provide solutions to solve major problems in e-commerce, grocery retail, and/or the food or CPG sector.The participating startups are Adrich, Forager, IceCreamLabs, IntraPosition, Locai Solutions, Nextuple, Observa, Packyge, Shelf.ai, Simplista, Tastry and Tochize.
• In this report, our first in a series of daily Countdown to Groceryshop 2018 reports, we profile Locai Solutions,whose turnkey e-commerce platform is specifically designed for grocery retail. The fully customizable, end-to-end solution combines an engaging shopper-facing front end with fulfillment management software. The front end provides personalized product and recipe recommendations as well as endless-aisle capability.