Archive for month: September, 2013

 

“Home Depot CEO’s Interview with Fortune” by Geoff Colvin at Fortune. “Retailing is among the industries most disrupted by technology. How is Home Depot adapting its business model?  The Internet does a number of things to retailers. There’s a general rule that software eats hardware, so some retailers are very disrupted — think books, CDs, DVDs, and things like that. Not so much an issue for us: You can’t digitize drywall. On the other hand, the expectation of our customer has increased.”  Read the full interview

 

“Retail stores become shipping hubs to battle Amazon” by Alistair Barr at USA TODAY.  “Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, has been shipping online orders from some stores for about two years and about 35 stores do this now.  “We started ship-from-store as a test. It has exceeded every expectation we’ve had for it,” said Neil Ashe, head of Global eCommerce at Wal-Mart. “We will probably scale this to hundreds of stores.”  Already, 10% of the items ordered on Walmart.com are shipped from stores and the majority of those packages are delivered in two days or less, according to the company.”  Read more

 

“As Whole Foods grows, so does the spotlight” by Brian Gaar at Austin-American Statesman via Charlotte Observer.  “That perception that Whole Foods is too expensive and caters to a largely affluent demographic continues to be a challenge for the company, Wolf said.“That’s been their biggest hurdle,” Wolf said. “And that remains. I mean, they’re not going to stop trying to create a better value image, because as they get bigger, they have to.”  The company has worked hard to improve its value and accessibility, Robb said.” Read more

 

“Nation’s 1st nonprofit supermarket set to open in Pennsylvania” by Alfred Lubrano at Philly Inquirer via Star-Tribune.  “In Chester, Pa., a city where hard times often plow under shiny promises, a hunger-relief agency’s pledge to build America’s first nonprofit supermarket was greeted skeptically at first.  But Philabundance may be confounding local doubters. Its Fare & Square grocery store, seven years in the making, is ready to open its doors Saturday.”  Read more

 

“Home Depot Found a Way to Plug a Huge Hole in Its Business Model” by Kyle Stock at Bloomberg.  “Door installation is a great example…Redbeacon cuts out a big chunk of that work with a series of online questions. How many doors are involved? What type of doors are they? Interior or exterior? Zip Code? At each step, it updates a chart of thousands of price quotes to detail a range of expected bids, from low to high. Replacing a regular interior door, for example, should run between $97 and $318, depending on where you live.”  Read more

 

“dunnhumby Names Menards #1 Customer-Centric Home Improvement Retailer” at Fort Mill Times.  “dunnhumby’s Customer Centricity Index™ provides quantifiable data across seven key areas that are most important to long-term customer satisfaction and business growth, and shows retailers where they can focus to best meet customer needs.”  Read more

 

“No further tinkering of FDI rules, India Ministry tells Walmart” by Amiti Sen at Business Line.  “Walmart’s attempts to press for further relaxation in the existing Foreign Direct Investment rules in India, especially those related to sourcing inputs locally, could meet with only limited success.  The Commerce & Industry Ministry has indicated to the company that it has little space to tinker with the existing rules as it cannot go for another policy amendment.”  Read more

 

“For stores, many returns aren’t so happy” by Cotten Timerblake at SF Gate.  “Many merchants have long lived by the mantra that the customer is always right, adopting liberal return policies in hopes of winning the loyalty of free-spending shoppers. But with a recent increase in the wearing and subsequent return of expensive clothes – a practice merchants call wardrobing – many retailers are taking a stronger stand against the industry’s $8.8 billion-a-year return fraud problem.”  Read more

 

“Bloomberg’s Poorly Sourced Walmart Coverage” at the City Wire.  “Melissa Lee, an anchor for CNBC Fast Money, reminded investors and viewers that this was the second time in six months that a Bloomberg report sourced from an e-mail raised false alarms. Her reminder came with an indirect suggestion that maybe the markets think twice before acting on a future Bloomberg story about Wal-Mart.”  Read more

 

“Kroger Names Steve McKinney President of Fry’s Food Stores”  “The Kroger Co. announced today the promotion of Steve McKinney as president of the Fry’s Food Stores division. Fry’s operates 119 food stores in Arizona.  Mr. McKinney, 57, has been vice president of operations at the company’s Ralphs division since 2007. He succeeds Jon Flora, who passed away unexpectedly two weeks ago.”  Read more

 

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“McMillon, Simon top picks as next Wal-Mart CEO” by Kim Souza at City Wire.  “The Wal-Mart Board of Directors meeting scheduled for later this week may include the selection and announcement of Doug McMillon or Bill Simon as the new top boss at Wal-Mart Stores.  A majority of insiders that include analysts, academics, service providers and consultants recently interviewed for this story give the nod to 46-year-old Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart International. If McMillon is not selected, the insiders say Bill Simon, 53, CEO of Walmart U.S., will be promoted to the top job.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart Cutting Two Quarters of Orders as Inventory Swells” by Renee Dudley at Bloomberg News via SF Gate.  “Last week, an ordering manager at the company’s Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters described the pullback in an e-mail to a supplier, who said others got similar messages. “We are looking at reducing inventory for Q3 and Q4,” said the Sept. 17 e-mail, which was reviewed by Bloomberg News.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart wrestles down inventory ahead of holiday push” by Kim Souza at City Wire.  “The categories seeing the biggest cull rate include food, consumables, health and wellness and home. The aggressiveness with which Wal-Mart has cut inventory over the past 60 days has been greater than anything seen out of the retailer in recent years, according to analysts with Cleveland Research Company.” Read more

 

“Family Dollar Takeover in the Works?” by Ely Portillo at Charlotte Observer.  “For what it’s worth – and file this under “odd” – I was contacted this week by someone who identified themselves as “an investigator based in New York conducting some research on behalf of an investment fund regarding the Family Dollar company.”  They were looking for information about whether CEO (and founder’s son) Howard Levine views the business as a “family affair,” and how that might influence his decisions about the company’s future. Hm.” Read more

 

“Target Launches Online Baby Goods Subscription Plan” at Fox Business.  “Target Corp will launch a free service on Wednesday that lets shoppers set up recurring deliveries of bulky baby goods, a move that mimics Amazon.com Inc and is aimed at attracting more moms.  Target has a battle ahead since it is not the first to offer such delivery, and for now is only selling 150 items such as diapers, baby wipes and formula.”  Read more

 

“Home Depot’s CEO: ‘We’ve pretty much built all the Home Depot’s we need to build (in US)’ “  via Fortune’s Leadership Series.  See the video

 

“PayPal Seen With ‘Limited Traction’ At Home Depot” by Reinhardt Krauss at Investors Bus. Daily.  “PayPal kicked off their in-store payment option at 2,000 Home Depots across the U.S. over 12 months ago,” wrote RBC Capital analyst Mark Mahaney. “We recently re-visited 11 Home Depots in the (San Francisco) Bay Area in order to determine whether adoption of PayPal’s in-store payment functionality has increased. Overall, we discovered still limited traction.” Read more

 

“Target Introduces Target Ticket, a Family-Friendly Digital Video Service” at WSJ.  “Target partnered with Common Sense Media, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization best known for its reviews of movies and television shows. Through the partnership, Target Ticket gives guests access to thousands of reviews, making it easier for parents to choose the right content for their children.”  Read more

 

“Jewel scrapping self-checkout at some stores” by Samantha Bomkamp at Chicago Tribune.  “Jewel-Osco is getting rid of self-checkout lanes from some of its stores.  Jewel said it’s an effort to reconnect personally with all of its customers despite the higher costs the shift entails.  Theft is also a concern driving some grocers away the unmanned checkouts, as are hassles such as liquor and other purchases that require an employee to step in. Self-checkouts generally have one staff member assisting customers at four or six stations at once.”  Read more

 

“Advertisers miss chance to reach black consumers” by Robert Channick at Chicago Tribune via Seattle Times. “The buying power of African Americans continues to grow, but advertisers are missing the mark by passing over black-oriented media.  That is the conclusion of a Nielsen report, which shows that of the $75 billion spent last year in the U.S. on television, magazines, Internet and radio advertising, less than 3 percent went to media focused on black audiences.”  Read more

 

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“Walmart Launches Online Reality Series” at Seeking Alpha.  “The five weekly “webisodes,” which go live on Tuesdays beginning at 12:01 a.m. ET from Sept. 24 through Oct. 22, feature a group of finalists under the same theme, such as Kid Stuff or Great Gadgets. The webisodes give viewers a chance to learn more about the entrepreneurs behind the inventions and watch as they pitch their product to a panel of Walmart.com judges.”  Read more

 

“Sears Canada CEO Departs” by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail.  “The departure was sparked over differing views with parent Sears Holdings Corp., whose controlling shareholder is Edward Lampert. The disagreement was tied to “the pace at which capital was being deployed to keep the momentum of the transformation going,” according to a source.”  Read more

 

“Nordstrom: How To Remain Relevant In A Tech Savvy World” by Walter Loeb at Forbes.  “Nordstrom Labs is a small team of techies, designers, entrepreneurs, statisticians, researchers and artists whose mission it is to discover what will be in the future of retailing. It is one of the most important initiatives underway at Nordstrom, as management looks to build on its legacy of customer service and care in a technological world.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart Tries Workforce Surge to Battle Sparse Shelves” by Susan Berfield at Businessweek.  “The decision to increase Wal-Mart’s permanent workforce comes amid reports that its stores have been understaffed and its customers frustrated. The U.S. workforce at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club fell by about 120,000 employees in the past five years, to 1.3 million, according to Bloomberg News, even as the company added more than 500 stores.”  Read more

 

“As Piggly Wiggly Gets Carved Up, Customers Cry” by Kyle Stock at Businessweek.  “The name helped, too. It isn’t a grocery chain, or even a store; it’s simply “The Pig”—a brand the company fattened up with a pile of branded souvenirs in every store. This week, customers are rushing to snap up beer koozies, t-shirts, Frisbees and other swag plastered with the company’s porcine logo.”  Read more

 

“Facebook Quietly Rolls Out Its Mobile Payments “Autofill” Product” by Mike Issac at All Things D.  “Beginning on Monday evening, Facebook will make that product public, slowly rolling it out to its billion-strong user network.  It’s (aptly) named “Autofill with Facebook,” and it’s a simple yet seemingly useful proposition. If you’ve stored your address and credit card information on Facebook, retail apps partnered with the company in the pilot program — currently only Jack Threads and Mosaic — will display a small drop-down prompt when hitting the payment info screen upon checkout.”  Read more

 

“In D.C., Wal-Mart job seekers want work. Any work.” by Petula Dvorak at Washington Post.  ” “Is this the line for Wal-Mart jobs?” asked Stephon Holly, 18, who arrived interview-ready. His wingtips were polished, his cardigan buttoned. He had a black portfolio packed with copies of his resume and talking points written on the legal pad to help him through a face-to-face.  But it never happened.  Wal-Mart reps were standing on the sidewalk, handing out fliers instructing the job seekers to apply online.”  Read more

 

“Walmart opens hiring centers in D.C.” by Sam Ford at WJLA-ABC.  “Retail giant Walmart isn’t wasting any time. Just days after the D.C. city council failed to override the Mayor’s veto of the controversial living wage bill, the company has opened two hiring centers.”  See the Video

 

“China Reportedly Lifts Ban On Facebook In The Shanghai Free-Trade Zone”  by Catherine Shu at TechCrunch.  “The Chinese government will allow access to some banned Web sites in the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone, including Facebook, Twitter and The New York Times, the South China Morning Post reports, citing anonymous government sources.”  Read more

 

” ‘Made in USA’ fuels new manufacturing hubs in apparel” by Heesun Wee at CNBC.  “More small merchants and independent designers have been calculating the costs associated with international manufacturing and are opting to make clothing domestically. Think Raleigh, N.C., which boasts a rich textile history. Or consider Fort Wayne, Ind., in the Rust Belt.  These fashion manufacturing hubs are small compared to New York and Los Angeles. But armed with laptops and websites, entrepreneurs with a passion for domestic manufacturing are rolling the dice in smaller cities.”  Read more

 

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“Why Target’s New Digital Video Service Could Face Complications” by Todd Spangler at Variety.  “But on the eve of Target’s big digital video launch, the company faces a potential wrinkle: The core system it is using just changed ownership.  On Sept. 1, entertainment technology firm Rovi completed the sale of its money-losing Rovi Entertainment Store, a one-stop shop for video e-commerce that powers Target Ticket, to an entity called Reliance Majestic Holdings — a Beverly Hills startup that is staying silent as to its plans.”  Read more

 

“Rite-Aid Swings to Unexpected Quarterly Profit” at WSJ.  “For the period ended Aug. 31, Rite Aid reported a profit of $32.8 million, or three cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $38.8 million, or five cents a share.”  Read more

 

“The End of The Beginning Of Ecommerce” by Doug Stephens at Retail Prophet.  “So, I think it’s fair to say that anyone anticipating an imminent plateau in ecommerce growth is likely to be disappointed… for a long time. Not only is the volume and velocity of digital commerce likely to continue at its present clip but the net profitability of resulting sales is likely to improve as well – representing a renewed, double-threat to any less-than remarkable brick and mortar experience in the market.”  Read more

 

“Rare bottle of scotch selling for $17,000 at Costco” at Fox News.  “While $17,000 might sound like a lot, the price at this Costco is apparently a steal. Bottles typically sell for about $20,000.  That breaks down to about $1000 a shot, if you’re counting.”  Read more

 

“Home Depot Sending 20,000 Part-Timers to Health Exchanges” by Chris Burritt at Bloomberg.  “Home Depot Inc. plans to end medical coverage for about 20,000 part-time employees and direct them to government-sponsored exchanges scheduled to open next month as companies revamp benefits to fit the U.S. Affordable Care Act.  Employees with fewer than 30 hours a week will no longer be offered limited liability medical coverage.”  Read more

 

“Traditional grocers poised to join e-commerce boom” by Bob Sullivan at CNBC.  “Rather than wait for a delivery van, online shoppers select items on a store’s website and then set up a time to rendezvous with their purchases at a designated pickup center. In the past 12 months, the Stop & Shop and Grand Union grocery chains have set up 70 such locations in the Northeast with delivery partner Peapod. Specialty food stores such as Harris Teeter are also experimenting with click and collect.”  Read more

 

“Target matching Walmart’s $79 iPhone 5c deal, preorders start today” at 9 to 5 Mac.  “While the iPhone 5c will begin selling in stores tomorrow starting at $99 on contract through most retailers, we’ve just learned that Target will be matching the $79 offer that Walmart recently announced for preorders of the iPhone 5c. It will also throw in an extra 5% off for those with a Target REDcard.” Read more

 

“Coke cancels Canadian campaign after bottle caps appear with offensive phrases” at The Vancouver Sun.  “Coca-Cola has cancelled a Canadian promotion that paired randomly generated English and French words inside bottle caps after an Edmonton woman got one that said “You Retard.”  Blake Loates says she and her husband were eating at a restaurant in Edmonton earlier this week when her husband read the cap of his bottle of Vitaminwater.  Loates says they thought at first it was a prank by a rogue employee at the bottling plant.”  Read more

 

“Pinterest Promises Users It Won’t Mess Up the Site With Ads (Oh, and It’s Going to Do Ads)” by Liz Gannes at All Things D.  “They’ll be called “promoted pins” (a la Twitter’s “promoted tweets”) and they’ll be ways for brands to pay to make their pins appear near the top of search results and category feeds.  Silbermann told users that if they see such ads, it’s because Pinterest is going to start testing them for free, because it wants user feedback.”  Read more

 

“DIPP tells Walmart to invest in India before 2014 elections” by Rituparna Bhuyan at Money Control.  “Asia CEO Scot Price today met senior officials of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to seek clarity on the FDI policy on multi brand retail. In his second visit in less than a month to Udyog Bhawan, the message that he got from the DIPP was — submit your proposal to FIPB as soon as possible, preferably before the general elections are announced… because once approved, Walmart’s investments will be secure.”  Read more

 

“Valpak Integrates Coupons into Google Wallet”  “The Valpak.com “Save to Google” feature will be available for desktop and mobile web users later this week, providing the ability for almost anyone with a smart phone to access the capability and convenience of the Google Wallet. Valpak is one of the first local coupon companies to be incorporated into the Google Wallet.”  Read more

 

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Have a great weekend!