Wednesday Tipsheet: Costco’s Sinegal Gets Top Award | Wmart: Most Improved in Mobile

/in

 

Happening Tomorrow:  Earnings Releases for Family Dollar, SuperValu and Costco (Dec. Sales Results)…

 

“At Wal-Mart, moving the needle on e-commerce – Neil Ashe talks to Fortune” by Jessi Hempel at Fortune.  “Wal-Mart has largely watched Amazon clean up on web retail over the past decade while it largely ignored the centrality of the Internet to the shopping experience. Ashe believes that shoppers’ shifting expectations will work to the company’s advantage. “This is about how we take the assets we have and make them contemporary,” he says.”  See the video interview / Read more

 

“Customer Satisfaction Report:  Walmart Most Improved in Mobile; Amazon #1 in Satisfaction; Publix Beats Apple in Store Satisfaction”  “Web channel: While Amazon (88) led the pack for Web satisfaction, some retail sites such as vitacost.com (86), keurig.com (84) and llbean.com (84) are creeping closer. Basspro.com (83) and crateandbarrel.com (80) tied for the most improved sites with seven-point gains in customer satisfaction from last year.”  Read more

 

“Costco co-founder Sinegal honored with top retail award” by Angel Gonzalez at Seattle Times.  “Costco Wholesale co-founder Jim Sinegal has been awarded the National Retail Federation’s Gold Medal Award, the organization said Tuesday…The award will be presented Monday in a ceremony at the National Retail Federation’s annual convention in New York City.” Read more

 

“Home Depot Uses Sales Data to Track Top Adopters of Energy Efficient Bulbs” by Mary Mazzoni at Triple Pundit.  “With the last leg of the gradual phase-out already in effect, Home Depot released a data-driven map that uses sales numbers to create a per capita look at U.S. adoption of energy efficient bulbs. By combining the latest 2010 Census data with U.S. sales from 2012 through 2013, the home improvement giant compiled a list of the top 50 cities for efficient bulb adoption”  Read more

 

“Do Online Grocers Beat Supermarkets?  A Six-City Buyer’s Test Involving 14 Basic Items” by Geoffrey Fowler at WSJ.  “The biggest surprise from our experiment is that, in a few cities, online groceries, even with their delivery charges, were actually cheaper than or roughly equivalent to going to the supermarket. For a Walmart delivery in San Francisco, my test basket of groceries cost about 10% less than at the Safeway supermarket where I usually shop.”  Read more

 

“309lb of Cocaine Sent to Aldi Stores in Banana Boxes” at BBC.  “Police in Berlin have found 140kg (309lb) of cocaine hidden in banana boxes which were sent to a supermarket in an apparent mistake by traffickers.  Cocaine valued at 6m euros (£5m; $8.2m) was found in fruit sent to five branches of Aldi-Nord in and around the German capital, police said…Smugglers probably made a “logistical error”, a police spokesman said.”  Read more

 

“If Your Phone Knows Which Aisle You’re In, Will It Have Deals on Groceries?” by Joshua Brustein at Businessweek.  “Todd Dipaola has seen the future of advertising, and it’s a Giant Eagle grocery store in Cleveland.  Dipaola’s company, inMarket, will today begin turning on a network of sensors in dozens of grocery stores in Cleveland, Seattle, and San Francisco that will allow companies to beam advertisements to people’s smartphones at the exact moment they’re standing in aisle six trying to decide which brand of beans to buy.”  Read more

 

“Amazon:  “Bar-Raisers” Must Sign Off on New Hires, “Program Exacting a Toll”  by Gren Bensinger at WSJ.  “There is no company that sticks to its process like Amazon does,” says Valerie Frederickson, whose eponymous Menlo Park, Calif., human-resources consultancy works with Silicon Valley companies…”They don’t just hire the best of what they see; they’re willing to keep looking and looking for the right talent.”  As Amazon’s payroll has swelled to 110,000 employees, however, the program is exacting a toll, current and former employees say.”  Read more

 

“Peapod Opens Digital Innovation Center in Chicago” by Alaric Dearment at Drug Store News.  “Peapod Propulsion Labs is designed to leverage Peapod’s e-commerce expertise across our organization as we continue to take steps to help customers shop where they want, how they want and when they want.”  Read more

 

“Walmart’s Chief Information Officer,  Karenann Terrell to Speak at “Future of Jobs” Summit”  “On January 14, 2014, the Diplomatic Courier, in collaboration with the STEMconnector and the CumberlandCenter’s Global Action Platform, will convene “The World In 2050: Talent Mobility and the Future of Jobs,” a global forum on January 14, 2014 from 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. at the National Press Club.”  Read more

 

Follow @retaileyeretail

 

 

Tuesday Tipsheet: Lowe’s: Big Iris Talk | Velveeta Shortage | Wmart: Liquor, Salmon & China

/in

 

“Kroger:  Breaks Sales Record in ‘Perfect Storm’ “ by Alexander Coolidge at Cincy Enquirer.  “Activity at many of the 110 Greater Cincinnati Kroger stores surpassed the crowds seen in the rushed days just before Christmas, she said…Kroger ordered more than twice the normal amount of in-demand items like milk, bread, cereal, beer and snacks in anticipation of the heavy traffic.” Read more

 

“Walgreens December Sales Increase 7.2%” at WSJ.  “Calendar 2013 sales were $73.72 billion, an increase of 4.5 percent from $70.52 billion in 2012.  Fiscal 2014 year-to-date sales for the first four months were $25.54 billion, up 6.3 percent from $24.03 billion in the comparable period in fiscal 2013.”  Read more

 

“Salmon Diaries:  Walmart Execs Make Long Trek to Alaska to Appease Governor” by Mike Mason at KDLG-Alaska.  “Top executives with Wal-Mart will be in Alaska on Wednesday to discuss how to get Alaska salmon on store shelves. The issue that has prompted the visit by the Wal-Mart executives is a decision by the company to only stock seafood products labeled as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.”  Read more

 

“No Dip for You: Velveeta Shortage Could Lead to Empty Shelves” by E.J. Schultz at Ad Age.  “Given the incredible popularity of Velveeta this time of year, it is possible consumers may not be able to find their favorite product on store shelves over the next couple of weeks,” Kraft spokeswoman Jody Moore said in an email. “Our retail customers are aware of the situation and we expect it to be a short-term issue…When pressed for details, Ms. Moore said: “I can tell you there is a combination of factors involved, but the driver is really the high demand.” Read more

 

“Wal-Mart seeks to win China through the middle class” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “Foran said Sam’s Club is now exceeding Walmart expectations within China. He said the membership fee is not an obstacle for the middle income shoppers it targets and some 90% of shoppers to Sam’s Club arrive in a car, giving them the ability to stock up and buy more volume.  “This 90% of car shoppers at Sam’s Club compares to as low as 10% at a Walmart China Supercenter,” Foran said recently.”  Read more

 

“Lowe’s Claim: “In the future, every electrical device we sell” will be Internet-ready and controllable by an app” by Ely Portillo at Charlotte Observer.  “Lowe’s executives are in Las Vegas this week for the annual Consumer Electronics Show, demonstrating the newest Iris products…Lowe’s executives are confident the technology will catch on.  “I’ve often heard the argument this will never take off,” Kevin Meagher, vice president of Lowe’s Smart Home, said by phone from Las Vegas. “I believe, absolutely, it will become ubiquitous.”  Read more

 

“Party Time:  New Walmart Express at Univ. of  Missouri Technically Not on Campus So Can Sell Liquor” by Roselyn Adams at Missourian.  “The new store is modeled after are three other Walmart mini stores — called Walmart on Campus — located on campuses in the U.S.: at Arizona State University, the University of Arkansas, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Because the Columbia store is not technically on campus, it will sell beer and wine, unlike Walmart’s other campus stores.”  Read more

 

“U.S. Marine’s Sneer at Amazon Drones” by Marcus Wohlsen at Wired.  “If Jeff Bezos really wants to launch his own delivery drones, he might take a look at the flying bots that are already making deliveries for an even larger operation: the U.S. Marines. …He’s clearly got an axe to grind about the attention lavished upon Bezos, venture capitalists, and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs at the expense of the defense industry engineers who invented aerial drones. He derides the tech set as “a bunch of millennials playing on iPads and eating pizza in Palo Alto.”  Read more

 

“Chicagoland:  Trader Joe’s Poised to Grab More Business after Dominick’s Closure” by Micah Maidenberg at Chicago Crains.  “Grocery chain Trader Joe’s is making a play for shoppers in Schaumburg, which faces a void in its grocery market after the closure of two Dominick’s stores there.  Trader Joe’s signed a lease to open a 12,500-square-foot store in the Woodfield Village Green shopping center, at the northeast corner of Golf and Meacham roads in the northwest suburb.”  Read more

 

“This Could Be the Biggest Amazon Package Ever” by Jamie Condliffe at Gizmodo.  “Amazon is well-known for its habit of delivering small items in gigantic packages. But this parcel has to be perhaps the biggest that Bezos & Co. have ever had to ship.”  See the pic

 

Follow @retaileyeretail

Monday Tipsheet: Walmart Express @ Mizzou | Kroger/Meijer Like NFL | Empty Shelves in Midwest

/in

 

“Opening Wednesday:  New Walmart Express Store Across from Missouri Campus” at 4-Traders.  “The approximately 3,700-square-foot Walmart Express store features a pharmacy and offers groceries and general merchandise, including an assortment of fresh produce, dairy and meats, dry goods, consumables, health and beauty aids, over-the-counter medicines and merchandise tailored to the campus.”  Read more

 

“Foot of Snow Wallops Midwest – Leaves Empty Store Shelves Behind” by Lauren Leone-Cross at State Journal Register. “It’s like they’re doing their holiday shopping all over again,” said Mike Greenwood, store manager for Schnucks, 2801 Chatham Road. “They’re not just stocking up on necessities. They’re stocking up on everything from fresh meat to milk and eggs. They’re buying pet food. Everything.” Read more

 

“Credit card breach at Target forces retailers to address security problems” by Thomas Lee at Star-Tribune.  “In the early 2000s, (Target) installed “smart card” technology at all its U.S. stores, designed in part to thwart the kind of security breach that Target is now scrambling to contain. The company said it ultimately abandoned the three-year pilot because no other retailer adopted the technology, which put Target at a disadvantage because the emerging technology slowed down checkout times.” Read more

 

“Cincinnati:  Kroger Buys  NFL Tickets to Avoid Blackout, Gives Away to Veterans” at WCPO.  “In what was a touching moment between two veterans, John Norris, a Vietnam vet, gave his tickets to Brett Bondurant, a veteran of Afghanistan who lost his legs during an attack two years ago. Bondurant just missed receiving tickets.  Norris felt compelled to give his fellow serviceman the tickets when he saw him walk through the door.  “He walked in on his own. When he walked in I knew I had to give him the tickets. That’s why I was standing in line, I had to give him the tickets,” the 62-year-old said.”  See the video / Read more

 

“Indy:  Meijer Buys 1,200 Tickets to Avoid NFL Blackout” at RTV 6 – Indy.  “Meijer understands just how important it is to support the communities where our customers and team members work and live, and are pleased to offer these playoff tickets to local military families as a way of thanking them for all they do,” Co-Chairman Doug Meijer said.”  Read more

 

“Columbus:  Dollar Stores are Everywhere” by Tony Adams at Ledger-Enquirer.  “But there’s more on the way, and plenty of them…”Starting in February, we’re (Dollar General) looking forward to our fiscal year ’14 when we’ll actually open 700 new stores across the country.” Ghassemi noted Dollar General just completed its 24th consecutive year of same-store sales growth…“I think a lot of people don’t understand that we do well in good economic times as well,” she said. “There’s an assimilation that bad economics means that the dollar channel is doing really well.”  Read more

 

“Rite-Aid Same Store Sales +2.9% in December” at Marketwatch.  “For the four weeks ended Dec. 28, 2013, same store sales increased 2.9 percent over the prior-year period. December front-end same store sales increased 1.0 percent.”  Read more

 

“Target hack leaves thousands without access to child support payments” at CBS 6 – Richmond.  “Unfortunately, yes. Clients will not have access to any funds that are typically accessed with their EPPI card” Read more / See the video

 

“Menards Likes Quebec”  “30 representatives of 22 Quebec companies from the hardware and construction materials industries visited Menards…This year’s event was so successful that Menards already invited Quebec to return for a third visit…Quebec is the only foreign government to enjoy privileged access to this retailer.”  Read more

 

 “Etsy:  More Than a Hobby – Time to Make Money” at The Economist.  “The maker movement can no longer be dismissed as just a bunch of tech-loving amateurs. In November Etsy published a study based on a survey of 5,500 of its American sellers, of whom 88% were women. Although 97% worked from home, 74% said they considered their Etsy shops to be businesses, not hobbies. Although most said they used Etsy to top up earnings from other work, 18% said that it was their full-time job.”  Read more

 

“Selling social media clicks becomes big business” by Martha Mendoza at AP via Charlotte Observer.  “An Associated Press examination has found a growing global marketplace for fake clicks, which tech companies struggle to police. Online records, industry studies and interviews show companies are capitalizing on the opportunity to make millions of dollars by duping social media.  For as little as a half cent each click, websites hawk everything from LinkedIn connections to make members appear more employable to Soundcloud plays to influence record label interest.”  Read more

 

Follow @retaileyeretail

 

 

Friday Tipsheet: Target: 1.5% Gain & Buzzards | Trader Joe’s: NYC Lines | Costco: A Min. Wage it Doesn’t Like?

/in

 

“10 Ways Shopping At Wal-Mart In China Is Completely Different From How It Is In The US” by Ashley Lutz at Business Insider via SF Gate.  “Despite the recent scandal, the mega-retailer has become wildly popular in China. Wal-Mart plans to open 110 additional stores there in the next few years.  Shopping at a Chinese Wal-Mart is totally different from shopping in one in the U.S.  We highlighted some notable contrasts…”  Read more / See the Pics

 

“Costco CEO Can’t Fully Support $15 Minimum Wage Proposal (Without Looking into it Further)” by Nina Shapiro at Seattle Weekly.  “We at Costco could manage it,” (Jelinek) says.  What he says he doesn’t know is whether small businesses could manage it. And that’s why he says he can’t fully support a $15 minimum wage without looking into the matter more.  The plight of small businesses is one of the central questions everyone will be looking at as the $15 wage movement comes to Seattle.”  Read more

 

“NYC Residents Line-up at Trader Joe’s (Yesterday) Ahead of Snow Storm” by Pamela Engel at Business Insider.  “People have been tweeting pictures of the crazy lines at multiple Trader Joe’s locations.  The Union Square location has a line out the door.”  See the Pics / Read more

 

…and in Philly  See the Pics

 

“Walk 14 Miles, Get $5 in Store Credit at Sears & Kmart” by Sandra Guy at Chicago Grid.  “Sears officials have said the company has invested “several hundred” million dollars in the Shop Your Way program to transition 124-year-old Sears into an omnichannel (retailer)…The fitness tracking announcement follows a similar move by Walgreen Co., which recently introduced a program for Walgreens loyalty-program users to track their activity in exchange for points that can be redeemed for in-store cash.”  Read more

 

“Enter the Buzzards:  Class-Action Lawyers Hope Target Is a Bull’s-Eye” by Randy Maniloff at WSJ.  “As of year-end, about 40 suits seeking class-action status have been filed against Target in federal courts around the country. Seven were filed on Dec. 19, the same day the company disclosed the data breach. For some plaintiffs’ lawyers this was the Black Friday door buster to end all others.”  Read more

 

“Analyst:  Bullish on Target; Raises Holiday Estimate to 1.5% Gain” by Thomas Lee at Star-Tribune.  “Piper Jaffray & Co. on Thursday predicted relatively strong holiday sales for Target Corp. despite the recent theft of credit and debit card information at its stores.  Thanks to strong sales of video-game consoles and a solid debut of its promotion to buy online, pick up in store, analyst Sean Naughton said he believes sales at stores open for at least a year will rise 1.5 percent, compared with his earlier prediction of flat results.”  Read more

 

“Dominick’s Suspends Worker (On His Last Day) Over ‘Thanks Safeway’ Sci-Fi Video Skewering Store Closings” at Huff Po.  “The video, titled “Thanks Safeway,” was created by Steve Yamamoto and posted on YouTube on Friday, Dec. 27. Before long, the video was noticed by area media outlets and, come Saturday, Yamamoto was informed he had been suspended.”  See the video / Read more

 

“Wal-Mart recalls card table, chair sets after finger amputations” at NBC News.  “The Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday that Wal-Mart has received 10 reports of injuries, including one finger amputation, three fingertip amputations, sprained or fractured fingers and one report of a sore back.”  Read more

 

“Amazon Starts Collection of Sales Tax in Indiana, Nevada, and Tennessee” by Jasmine Harper at Morning News.  “The online retailer started in January 1 the collection of sales tax in every order in those three states. Thus, Amazon now collects those levies in a total of 19 states.”  Read more

 

“Whole Foods Commits $25 Million in Funding for Loans to Local Growers”  “Whole Foods Market announced today that its Local Producer Loan Program has reached the initial goal of funding $10 million in low-interest loans to local and independent food businesses, and has now committed up to $25 million in funding. The Local Producer Loan Program has provided 184 loans to 155 companies since its inception in 2007.”  Read more

 

“Man Defrauds Home Depot of Nearly Half a Million $ in Elaborate ‘Identical Shopping Cart’ Scheme” by Naomi Nix at The Star-Ledger. “Chalet and his partners would assemble two shopping carts with identical items and stash one in the store somewhere…They would then purchase the items in one of the carts with cash or fraudulently obtained store credit…Chalet and his partners would go back into the store with the receipt they got from the first cart and retrieve the second cart from its hiding place in the store.  The group would say they had forgotten to buy an item, and deceive the cashier into believing that they had already purchased the items in the second cart by presenting the receipt they had from the first cart.”  Read more

 

Follow @retaileyeretail

 

Thursday Tipsheet: H.Depot Copies Apple | Target = #1 Mobile Retailer in ’13 | Walmart’s Free Pills

/in

 

“How Home Depot Copied Apple to Build an Ingenious New Bucket” by Joseph Flaherty at Wired.  “Home Depot’s new Big Gripper all-purpose bucket is a handy improvement on the old school, five-gallon contractor pail.  An ergonomic handle and patent pending “pocket grip” on the underside sets the product apart on the shelf, but more importantly, the design is a showpiece for a new approach to big box merchandising. Brick-and-mortar retailers have learned a lesson from Apple and are following their vertically integrated approach by developing high-quality, and exclusive, products to remain competitive in the age of Amazon.”  Read more / See the video

 

“Target is 2013 Mobile Retailer of the Year” by Chantal Tode at Mobile Commerce Daily.  “The Mobile Retailer of the Year is the most prestigious honor for smart, strategic and creative use of the mobile medium by a retailer. EBay won in 2009, Sears took top prize in 2011 and Walmart received the honor in 2012.”  Read more

 

“Walmart & Walgreens Offer Free Prescriptions for Obamacare Customers” at City Wire.  “Customers who have signed up for the public health exchanges should be able to access their benefits immediately. That’s why, starting (Jan. 1) through the end of January, we will fill up to a 30-day supply of prescriptions with no upfront cost to customers who have enrolled but have not yet received their plan identification information from their insurance providers, said John Agwunobi, president, health wellness for Walmart U.S.”  Read more

 

“Report:  Up to 40,000 Target Gift Cards Were Not Activated” by Kelli Grant at CNBC.  “Target confirmed Tuesday that a number of gift cards sold during the holiday period were not fully activated, so shoppers attempting to use them would find they had no value…A Fox station in Minneapolis reported that the foul-up could affect as many as 40,000 cards—a figure Target disputed…”The numbers that have been reported in the media are much higher than what we experienced.” Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said in a statement.” Read more 

 

“2013 Holiday Shopping Season:  Winners & Losers” by Thomas Lee at Star-Tribune.  “Mobile retail:  2013 will likely be remembered the year that smartphones and tablets fully morphed from pure research tools into pure buying devices. The Consumer Electronics Association estimates holiday sales through mobile devices totaled $8.4 billion, or 14.8 percent of total online sales, compared to $1 billion, or 3 percent of total online sales, in 2010.”  Read more

 

“Costco gets another $110 million from US parent for Australian expansion” by Eli Greenblat at Sydney Morning Herald.  “The extra dollop of funding from its US parent has already helped Costco construct and open its fourth and fifth warehouse stores in Australia this year, giving it two locations in Melbourne and Sydney. The discounter is already building its sixth store, in Brisbane, and another is to follow in Adelaide soon.”  Read more / See the video

 

“Will Target debacle spell demise of the debit card?” by Mark Calvey at San Francisco Business Times.  “It just taught me a lesson. My debit card will not pay for a retail purchase ever again,” said Bert Lampley, a Charlotte resident who paid with his debit card at Target between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15 and recently found his bank account drained from fraudulent ATM withdrawals near the Chicago airport, according to a ABC News’s national report last Friday.”  Read more

 

“How to Sell More Booze than Costco – Deliver It” by Soumya Karlamangla at LA Times via Star Tribune.  “Decades ago, Hollywood’s lavish parties created a demand for businesses that quickly delivered alcohol. And now, this relic of Hollywood’s past is giving small liquor stores like Almor an edge in a market inundated with other ways to buy booze.  Although Southern California is dotted with stores that deliver alcohol to homes and businesses, the concentration is particularly high in and around Tinseltown. Within a 3-mile radius of the Hollywood & Highland Center are at least 10 stores that offer door-to-door alcohol delivery.”  Read more

 

“Target data breach ruins a man’s dream backpacking trip” by Anna Canzano at KATU.  “For Tim Nolan of Hillsboro, the breach ruined what was supposed to a dream backpacking trip in Central America. He found himself cut off from his own bank account, all because he picked up some toothpaste at the Sunset Esplanade Target in Hillsboro the day before he left…Nolan cut his trip short by 11 days. A disappointing end to a life experience he considered priceless.”  Read more

 

Follow @retaileyeretail