Insight Report | April 17, 2019 Premium March 2019 US Monthly Retail Traffic and In-Store Metrics Report: Traffic Decline SteepensUS store traffic declined 7.9% year over year in March. Year over year, the conversion rate fell 0.4 percentage points, average transaction value (ATV) grew 3.3% and the product return rate decreased by 0.3 percentage points. Read More
Insight Report | April 15, 2019 Premium March 2019 US Same-Store Sales: Costco and Buckle Comps Show Sequential Improvement; Cato Comparable Sales Continue to SlideCostco’s same-store sales growth showed a sequential strengthening, led by strong store traffic. Its e-commerce segment continued to post strong growth Read More
Deep Dive | April 11, 2019 Premium The Greater Bay Area, or “China’s Silicon Valley”: What is It, How Will It Develop and How Can Businesses Benefit?The Greater Bay Area could be China’s answer to Silicon Valley. On February 18, 2019, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council of the People’s Republic of China released a development plan for the Greater Bay Area. Read More
Insight Report | April 3, 2019 Premium Insights from China: Italy to Become the First G7 Country to Join China’s Belt and Road InitiativeOn March 23, 2019, Italy and China signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative. Italy has become the first member of the G7 major advanced economies to sign up to this initiative. Read More
Insight Report | April 2, 2019 Premium February 2019 US Retail Sales: Slowdown Seen Across Sectors with Major Softening in Home-ImprovementTotal retail sales excluding gasoline and automobiles increased 2.7% year over year in February 2019, a substantial slowing from the revised 4.9% year-over-year increase in January. Read More
Insight Report | April 2, 2019 Premium 4-5-4 US Retail Calendar, 2019 vs. 2018The 4-5-4 US retail calendar is a guide to the fiscal year ending February 1, 2020. The calendar, used by many US retailers, ensures comparability between years by dividing the year into months based on a ‘4 weeks–5 weeks–4 weeks’ format. Read More
Insight Report | March 29, 2019 Premium February 2019 Monthly Consumer Update: US, UK and ChinaEach month, we round up key metrics that reflect consumer demand in the US, the UK and China. In these updates, we focus on direct, leading indicators of the health of the consumer economy — namely, wage growth, price changes and retail sales growth. Read More
Insight Report | March 25, 2019 Premium February 2019 UK Retail Sales: Fragmented Sectors Drive Strong Total Growth, But Core Sectors Show SoftnessThe Office for National Statistics reported a strengthening of retail growth to 4.0% year over year in February 2019, supported by a 3.5% increase in volumes. Read More
Insight Report | March 19, 2019 Premium February 2019 US Monthly Retail Traffic and In-Store Metrics Report: Traffic Decline EasesUS store-based traffic and sales declined in February, while the conversion rate grew 0.4 percentage points. Average transaction value (ATV) grew 1.8%, slower than the 5.5% growth reported in January. Read More
Insight Report | March 15, 2019 Premium February 2019 US Same-Store Sales: Costco Comps Decelerate, Buckle and Cato Comparable Sales FallIn February, Costco’s same-store sales growth showed a sequential slowdown. The company posted accelerated growth in e-commerce comparable sales. Adverse weather conditions, holiday shift and forex currency fluctuations negatively impacted Costco’s performance. Read More
Insight Report | March 14, 2019 Premium Insights from China: Slowing Growth, Further Opening of China’s Economy, and Demands to Accelerate the Digital Transformation — Key Points from China’s “Two Sessions”In our weekly series Insights from China, we curate ongoing developments to distill what international brands and retailers need to know about China to succeed in the country. We cover areas such as policy, consumer behavior, consumer sentiment, government regulations and the competitive landscape – as they affect international companies selling to Chinese consumers or looking to enter the market. Read More
Insight Report | March 13, 2019 Premium January 2019 US Retail Sales: Retail Rebound, Supported by Strong Sales at Home-Improvement StoresTotal retail sales excluding fuel and automobiles increased 3.7% year over year in January, growing substantially from the revised 0.1% year-over-year decline reported for December. Read More
Insight Report | March 7, 2019 Premium January 2019 Monthly Consumer Update: US, UK and ChinaEach month, we round up key metrics that reflect consumer demand in the US, the UK and China. In these updates, we focus on direct, leading indicators of the health of the consumer economy. Read More
Insight Report | February 22, 2019 Premium January 2019 US Monthly Retail Traffic and In-Store Metrics Report: Post-Holiday Fatigue and Inclement Weather Drive Underwhelming January TrafficAll regions posted sales and traffic declines in January compared to the same period last year. The Midwest registered the largest year-over-year decline in traffic of all regions at 17.5%, owing to severe weather conditions. With warmer and wetter conditions, the South experienced the lowest decline, at 5.8%. The Midwest also recorded the largest year-over-year in-store sales decline among all regions, down 16.8%, whereas the West, which enjoyed warmer and drier conditions, reported the smallest decline, down 1.4%. Read More
Company Earnings Update | February 18, 2019 Register for Free Access Unicharm (TYO: 8113) FY18 Results: Revenue Below Consensus, China Remains a Main MarketUnicharm reported FY18 revenue of ¥688.3 billion, slightly below the consensus estimate of ¥689.2 billion and up 7.3% from FY17. Read More
