Eye-on-Retail 12/5/12: Lowe’s analyst call today; New Kroger 123K sf store; “Mansumer”
Calendar at a Glance:
Lowe’s: 12/5 @ 10:00 am EST — Lowe’s Analyst & Investor Conference Call
https://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=95223&p=irol-eventDetails&EventId=4857135
Interview with Apple’s Tim Cook: 12/6 @10:00 pm EST on NBC’s Rock Center — Apple’s Tim Cook Interviewed By NBC’s Brian Williams. https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apples-tim-cook-interviewed-by-nbcs-williams-airs-thursday
Orchard Supply Hardware: 12/10 @ 4:30 pm EST — Orchard Supply Q3 Financial Results Conference Call
Kroger opens largest store in Mid-Atlantic @ 123K Square Feet; includes furniture department…watch the video below…
“New Kroger to open on Midlothian Turnpike” by Sarah Bloom at NBC 12 News (Video and Text). “But perfection will take a lot of work. The store is 123,000 square feet, complete with its own satellite police station, a furniture section, and baby section…Officials say if this store does well, they expect to open two other stores like it in the coming years. The next store will be built in the North side of Richmond at Staples Mill and Hungary Springs Road. That store is expected to open summer of 2014 with construction starting in mid-2013.” https://www.nbc12.com/story/20260609/new-kroger-to-open-on-midlothian-turnpike
Lowe’s Outlines Strong Financial Position, Strategic Investments and Financial Targets at 2012 Analyst and Investor Conference. “Gregory M. Bridgeford, chief customer officer: “We are building on our core strengths with Value Improvement and Product Differentiation. These focus areas are expected to deliver comparable store transaction growth, higher gross margins and improved inventory productivity. You might think of Value Improvement as the inner circle enhancing the core, and Product Differentiation as the outer circle driving excitement and flexibility.” https://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsLang=en&newsId=20121205005110&div=-1245645151
“Same-Day Delivery: Losing Money Is O.K. If You’re Winning Over Customers” by Brad Tuttle at Time. “Because retailers and online marketplaces see huge potential in same-day delivery, competition is fierce to win over consumers and get them in the habit of utilizing their same-day service specifically. Amazon has offered same-day delivery in limited markets for several years now. Obviously, the possibility of comprehensive, affordable same-day delivery would eliminate the need for many shoppers to take a quick run to, say, the local Walmart—which is why Walmart announced same-day delivery services in October.” https://business.time.com/2012/12/04/same-day-delivery-losing-money-is-ok-if-youre-winning-over-customers/
“Simple Ways E-commerce Sites Can Compete With eBay and Amazon” by Lydian Dishman in Forbes. “Why is the web littered with abandoned virtual shopping carts? Monotype found that 90% of consumers want e-commerce sites to look as good as they function and won’t stick around for a slowly loading product page. Citing Google’s research that 400 milliseconds (think: the blink of an eye) is too long for many people to wait, Monotype says people will visit a site less often if it is slower than a close competitor by more than 250 milliseconds or if it takes too many steps to find what they are looking for.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/lydiadishman/2012/12/04/simple-ways-e-commerce-sites-can-compete-with-ebay-and-amazon/
“How Walmart got a foot in the door of (India) retail market” in Reuters. “Mumbai: Walmart Stores Inc prepared its entry into India’s supermarket sector in 2010 with a $100 million investment into a consultancy with no employees, no profits and a scant $14,000 in revenue. The company, called Cedar Support Services, might have been a more obvious selection four months earlier: it began its corporate life as Bharti Retail Holdings Ltd, according to documents filed with India’s Registrar of Companies.” https://ibnlive.in.com/news/how-walmart-got-a-foot-in-the-door-of-retail-market/308946-7.html
“More Large Retailers Ease Customers’ Path To Credit” by Yuki Noguchi in Kera News. “”I think there’s also a group of the population that engages in these services, frankly because their needs are not being met by ‘mainstream financial services,’ and are unhappy about the value proposition or the costs,” he says, adding that those customers “have found that this is a better way for them to manage and control their finances, and is more accessible to them.” https://keranews.org/post/more-large-retailers-ease-customers-path-credit
“Big Lots Inc. Earnings: Tops Wall Street Profit Estimate” by Derek Hoffman at Wall St. Cheat Sheet. “A year-over-year revenue decrease last quarter breaks a four-quarter streak of revenue increases. The best quarter in that span was the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, which saw revenue rise 9.9%. After two quarters of falling short, the company beat estimates last quarter. In the second quarter, it missed the mark by 5 cents, and in the first quarter, it came in under estimates by one cent. https://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/big-lots-inc-earnings-tops-wall-street-profit-estimate.html/
“Food fight: Discounters try to outdo each other” by Tom Harison in Ohio McClatchy-Tribune. “We’re in a milk war right now in Evansville, Indiana, with 99 cent gallon milk,” said Mark Combs, director of marketing at Jay C Food Stores, the Seymour, Ind.,-based subsidiary of Kroger Co. that operates Ruler Foods. “They’re getting a very, very good value at that price…The new Lima store is Ohio’s first Ruler Foods. Kroger bought Jay C in 1999, and it is one of two dozen banners under which the Cincinnati-based food giant does business.” https://www.equities.com/news/headline-story?dt=2012-12-04&val=787285&cat=goods
This Holiday Shopping Season, It’s All about the “Mansumer” “BPN, the global media agency network within IPG Mediabrands, the global media and innovation division of the Interpublic Group today released its 2013 Retail Trends Report. Highlights:
* 40% of men are now the primary grocery shopper in the household; 44% of men say they equally share in housecleaning and a whopping 86% of men agree being a man equals doing what is necessary to keep the household running. And that includes buying the holiday gifts.
* Men Shop Differently: For men, shopping activity is more functional than emotional, and the purpose is to solve a problem or meet a need. To them, the priority is convenience and most of all that their ability to make informative decision is met.