Archive for year: 2013

 

“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

 

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“Facebook, Google dip their toes in sale of physical goods” by Brandon Bailey in San Jose Mercury News.  “Google in particular may have reason to be concerned. While it still dominates the business of selling advertising keyed to Internet search queries, online shoppers today are more likely to start their quests on Amazon than Google, according to some studies. If that trend continues, analysts warn, it could make Google’s site less attractive to retail advertisers.  Facebook also has good reasons to offer shopping on its site, as the social network seeks to broaden its business beyond selling advertising and games. Facebook made Gifts available to all U.S. users less than two weeks ago. But Sterne Agee investment analyst Arvind Bhatia estimated the program could become a significant revenue source, contributing “several hundred million dollars” of annual earnings.”  https://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_22239886/facebook-google-dip-their-toes-sale-physical-goods?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com

 

“From IPads to Crocs, New Patent Law Protects Design” by Jeff John Roberts in Bloomberg Businessweek.  “Design patents, which protect the ornamental features of an invention, are nothing new…The just-signed Patent Law Treaties Implantation Act of 2012 will see more design patent requests flood in from more places. The main purpose of the law is to harmonize America’s design patent laws with the rest of the world—in particular, by letting “inventors” use a single application filed anywhere in the world to seek design rights in many countries at once. For instance, Ikea could submit drawings of a chair in Sweden and get a U.S. design patent based on the same application. The law, which will take effect in about a year, will also increase the design patent term from 14 years to 15 years and allow applicants to seek 100 different design inventions with a single application.”  https://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-12-28/from-ipads-to-crocs-new-patent-law-protects-design 

 

“Home Depot Radio’s #1 Advertiser in 2012” at Radio Ink.  Here’s the list:

2012 Rank / Company/ # of spots aired / (2011 Rank)

1) The Home Depot – 2,093,047 (2)

2) GEICO Berkshire Hathaway – 1,937,625 (1)

3) McDonald’s – 1,366,786 (3)

4) AutoZone – 990,822 (5)

5) Wal-Mart Stores – 802,351 (4)

6) Lowe’s Companies – 786,490 (9)

7) State Farm Insurance Co. – 770,512 (6)

8) Macy’s – 613,485 (17)

9) Subway – 606,883 (18)

10) Walgreens – 597,840 (23)

https://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=2600010&spid=24698

 

“Epic Retail Fail: Where Did the Target + Neiman Marcus Collection Go Wrong?”  by Martha C. White at Time.  “…The consensus seems to be that items like these — or rather, prices like these — just don’t belong at Target. Indeed, prices were criticized repeatedly in the blogosphere. Sure, it’s cheap for stuff with a designer’s name on it, but the prices are still much higher than what Target shoppers are used to paying, and many bloggers groused that quality was markedly inferior. Target’s Facebook fans were also underwhelmed. The words “cheap” and “overpriced” popped up often — never good, but in combination, a death sentence.”   https://business.time.com/2013/01/02/epic-retail-fail-where-did-the-target-neiman-marcus-collection-go-wrong/#ixzz2GulVT2iuW 

 

“How to Shop Target Like a Pro” by Sam Grobart at Bloomberg Business Week (Graphical Illustrations).  https://images.businessweek.com/photos/2012-12-31/how-to-shop-target-like-a-pro#slide1

 

“Amazon’s and Facebook’s Ad Privacy Practices Irk Ad Agencies” by Kate Kaye at Ad Age.  “Two of the biggest publishers on the web don’t use the advertising industry’s standardized ad-privacy program, and it’s a problem for even the largest digital-media buyers.  Facebook and Amazon both offer targeted display advertising that can sometimes incorporate behavioral data from third parties. However, while nearly every other relevant media firm, ad network and ad-data firm either uses the industry’s self-regulatory Ad Choices program or operates one that can be easily integrated with it, Facebook and Amazon do not.”  https://adage.com/article/digital/amazon-s-facebook-s-ad-privacy-practices-irk-ad-agencies/238946/

 

“Safeway CEO Steve Burd to Retire in May” by Debbie Cai in The Wall Street Journal.  “Mr. Burd said Wednesday that he needs more personal time and “given my extensive work in health care, I want to pursue that interest further.”  Like its peers, Safeway—which operates regional grocery-store chains such as its namesake stores, Vons, and Randalls—has seen its sales and profit margin squeezed by high fuel prices, increasing food costs and weak consumer confidence…Mr. Burd will help with the search and continue to assist the company after he retires from his roles on May 14, at the company’s annual stockholders meeting.” https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323374504578218062266137592.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

 

“Costco December same-store sales up 9 percent” at Reuters.  “U.S. retailer Costco Wholesale Corp has posted a better-than-expected 9 percent rise in December sales at stores open at least a year, mainly helped by an additional sales day in the reporting period.  “This year’s December retail month had one additional day compared to last year … As a result, December total and comparable sales results benefited by approximately 2 percent,” said David Sherwood, director of finance and investor relations.”  https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/03/costco-results-december-idUSL4N0A82F420130103

 

“Amazon’s Record Holiday Season Boosted Its Third-Party Sellers Marketplace, Too: Sales Up 40% Year-Over-Year” by Sarah Perez at Tech Crunch.  “The Amazon Marketplace allows business customers to sell on Amazon, tapping into the e-commerce giant’s worldwide reach for a monthly subscription fee plus a selling fee when the item is purchased. According to today’s release, there are now over 2 million of these third-party sellers on Amazon, reaching the company’s 188 million active customers around the world, including the 50 U.S. states.  Amazon previously reported that 2012 was its biggest holiday season ever with over 26.5 million items ordered worldwide on its peak day, which is a record-breaking 306 items per second. Also on its peak day, Amazon’s worldwide fulfillment network shipped over 15.6 million units across all product categories. Third-party sellers apparently benefitted from the boost as well. One longtime electronics seller, Amazing Deals Online, who has been on Amazon for twelve years, reported a record holiday with an over 70 percent increase in sales from last year.”  https://techcrunch.com/2013/01/02/amazons-record-holiday-season-boosted-its-third-party-sellers-marketplace-too-sales-up-40-year-over-year/

 

“Lowe’s to open first Washington, D.C., store” in Charlotte Business Journal.  “Mooresville-based Lowe’s will occupy a 130,000-square-foot building in a new shopping center being developed by Fort Lincoln New Town Corp. The home improvement retailer joins Costco Wholesale Corp. as an anchor for the center.  Lowe’s operates more than 1,745 stores in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, generating $50.2 billion in sales in 2011. It has roughly 248,000 employees. In October 2011, the home improvement retailer announced it would close 20 underperforming stores in 15 states, but it later announced it would open a dozen new stores in fiscal 2012.”  https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/morning-edition/2013/01/lowes-to-open-first-washington-dc.html

 

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