Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet 1/7/13: Target’s ‘Project Bacon’; The Sharing Economy

“The leaders in social commerce are not the usual suspects” by Stefany Moore at Internet Retailer. “On average, retailers in the Social Media 300 get 4.25% of their total site traffic directly from Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Those numbers vary widely from top to bottom—ranging anywhere from 0.33% for sporting goods merchant The Sportsman’s Guide (No. 300) all the way to 30% of site traffic for PetFlow.com. And while it may be surprising as to which merchants are landing in the top of the rankings, it’s also important to note which ones are missing. The largest online merchant, Amazon.com Inc., and the world’s largest chain retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., both are ranked below 125. Other retail chains like Barnes & Noble Inc., Target Corp., Walgreen Co. and Best Buy Co. also fail to make the Top 100. In fact, there isn’t a single retailer with a physical store in the Top 10.” Read more: https://www.internetretailer.com/2013/01/03/leaders-social-commerce-are-not-usual-suspects

“Target dubs its retailing plan for Zellers in Canada ‘Project Bacon'” by Glenda Luymes at Times Colonist. “Project Bacon is the tongue-in-cheek name given to U.S. retail giant Target’s plan to break into the Canadian market — one of several revelations contained in a recent B.C. Labour Relations Board decision that also details the fate and value of Zellers’ pharmacy files and prescription information about thousands of customers.” Read more: https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/target-dubs-its-retailing-plan-for-zellers-in-canada-project-bacon-1.40803

“Is the Sharing Economy an Opportunity or a Threat to Existing Businesses?” by RP Siegel at Triple Pundit. “Manufacturers use the term “excess capacity” to refer to an underutilized asset that is not being fully exploited to create value, be it an idle assembly line or a factory running only one shift when it could potentially be running two or three. When viewed from this perspective, the non-commercial sector of our society can clearly be seen as overflowing with excess capacity. It could take the form of anything from an extra bedroom sitting empty, to an underutilized piece of garden equipment, to your car sitting idle while you work at home…Thus we have the basis for the sharing economy; a newly emergent business trend that might just revolutionize the way business is done.” Read more: https://www.triplepundit.com/2013/01/sharing-economy-opportunity-threat-existing-businesses/

“Eight Percent of Amazon’s Sales Are Coming From Mobile” by Tricia Duryee at All Things D. “And while many retailers, especially smaller privately held companies, were bullish on the number of transactions coming from mobile, other larger companies — especially Amazon — have remained mum on the subject. But in a report today, Citi Analyst Neil Doshi estimates that Amazon is generating $3 billion to $5 billion in annual sales from mobile devices.” Read more: https://allthingsd.com/20130104/eight-percent-of-amazons-sales-are-coming-from-mobile/

“Best Buy Complains About Walmart iPhone 5 Ads After Losing $65K Profit In One Day” by Killian Bell at Cult of Mac. ““We know competitors don’t like it when we tell customers to compare prices and see for themselves,” Walmart spokesman Steven Restivo told The Wall Street Journal. “We are confident on the legal, ethical and methodological standards associated with our price comparison ads.” Read more: https://www.cultofmac.com/208401/best-buy-complains-about-walmart-iphone-5-ads-after-losing-65k-profit-in-one-day/#0HBIUdHV2WpFOw7g.99

“Target ad campaign puts food in the spotlight” by Mae Anderson at AP via Yahoo News. “Target, with ad agency Mono in Minneapolis, created the tongue-in-cheek campaign that treats groceries and home products like fashion accessories in a photo shoot. Spending is undisclosed on the ad campaign, but it will include eight TV ads that will run throughout 2013. In addition to TV spots and newspaper inserts, it will include eight TV spots, three radio ads, and digital short films that will run as banner ads online. One TV ad shows an $11.99 bottle of Tide laundry detergent and a model in a white dress dancing fancifully. “We all yearn for something,” says a voiceover as bubbles float by the model. “And that something is the other sock.” Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/target-ad-campaign-puts-food-spotlight-210605246–finance.html

“Cerberus nears Supervalu deal -Wall Street Journal” at Reuters. “Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP and its partners are nearing a deal to buy parts of Supervalu Inc, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, sending shares of the grocery chain up 15 percent. Cerberus and its partners will buy some assets of the company and take a stake in the remainder, which is expected to remain public, the newspaper said, citing a person with knowledge of the plan.” Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/04/supervalu-cerberus-idUSL1E9C470520130104

“Wegmans Freezes Prices on 53 Products this Winter” by Katrina Rossos at Manalapan Patch. “This winter Wegmans has instituted a price freeze on over 50 products that families tend to buy the most during the winter months. The winter price freeze will last until April 6, 2013…Meat, seafood, produce, dairy, deli, bakery, grocery and frozen food products all make up the comprised list; the seasonality of the list is reflected in the produce. This year, citrus items such as Clementine tangerines and navel and Mineola oranges have been added to the list this year. Due to a successful peanut crop last year, the cost of Wegmans peanut butter has dropped from $1.99 to $1.69.” Read more: https://manalapan.patch.com/articles/wegmans-freezes-prices-on-53-products-during-winter-months

“Office Depot Announces Departure of Kevin Peters, President, North America” at Yahoo Finance. “Office Depot today announced that Kevin Peters, President, North America, is leaving the organization, effective immediately, to take the position of Chief Executive Officer at an industrial distribution company. Neil Austrian, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Office Depot, will oversee the company’s North American business.” Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/office-depot-announces-departure-kevin-210000692.html

Thanks for reading…