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

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“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

 

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

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“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

 

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

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“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

 

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

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“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

 

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Friday Tipsheet: Costco Gets Its Peanuts | Hackathon Until Oct. 2015? | Target Loves Boxing Day

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“Target Canada ♥ Boxing Day” by Thomas Lee at Star-Tribune.  “Target Corp.’s campaign to win over Canadian consumers continued Thursday with 6 a.m. store openings and early bird deals for one of the nation’s top shopping events of the year — Boxing Day…Boxing Day has actually lost some of its punch over the last two years. Canadian retailers are increasingly adopting Black Friday as the premiere shopping event of the season, mostly to win back shoppers who cross the U.S. border the day after Thanksgiving looking for holiday deals.”  Read more

 

“Aldi’s $3 Billion Expansion;  It Could Have Been Walmart Instead” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “Aldi recently announced a five-year, $3 billion, strategic plan to open 650 new stores across the nation…“The model of deeply discounted groceries and heavy private label is a model that could have been a winner for Wal-Mart. It could have co-existed nicely with Wal-Mart’s current grocery strategy which is still largely a branded house,” Long said.”  Read more

 

“In About 22 Months Retailers Will be Less Likely to Get Hacked (Until Then It Could Get Worse)” by Jennifer Bjorhus at Star-Tribune.  “There is no hard deadline, but by October 2015 retailers are supposed to be ready to accept the new smart cards…Retailers who aren’t ready to accept EMV cards on that date will be held responsible for any fraud…There is concern that as the U.S. market moves toward October 2015 there could be a surge of thefts as gangs try to take full advantage of the more easily plundered magnetic stripes.  “These attacks could increase between now and 2015,” Vanderhoof said.”  Read more

 

“Amazon: Here’s The Finally Tally For All The Insane Shopping Everyone Did This Holiday Season” by Jay Yarow at Business Insider.  “Over 1 million people joined Amazon Prime, the $79 service that gives you free two-day shipping, in the third week of Christmas. Amazon now has “tens of millions” Prime members.”  Read more

 

“Chart of the Day: The most requested gift cards (Walmart #1, Target #2)” by Izzy Best at CNBC.  See the Top 20 List

 

“Costco Gets Its Peanuts Back After Ruling from Bankruptcy Judge” by Dan Flynn at Food Safety News.  “In pre-Christmas hearings before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma in Albuquerque, a complex deal was reached that allows Costco to take possession of the shelled peanuts. The short version is that Costco will have to pay accumulated monthly storage costs to two local peanut storage companies. One is owed $14,700, and $10,731 is due to the other. ”  Read more

 

“Mobile Shopping Likely Contributed to UPS Shipping Debacle” by Maria Halkias at Dallas News.  “Mobile shopping may be contributing to the volume of packages.  It’s harder to build shopping carts on phones, so more mobile shopping may mean more packages,” Last said.  More than half of Amazon’s customers shopped from a mobile device this year…Overall this holiday season, 1 in 3 orders was done on a phone or tablet vs. 1 in 4 last year, according to Custora Pulse.”  Read more

 

“Report:  Holiday Sales Increased 3.5%” at SF Gate.  “Number of the day. 3.5%.  That’s how much retail sales rose during the holiday season, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse. Sales were helped by deep discounts at malls and purchases of jewelry and children’s clothing.”  Read more

 

“Amazon Points Finger at UPS for Delays; Offers $20 Gift Cards” by Craig Trudell at Bloomberg via SF Gate.  “Amazon cited failures in UPS’s transportation network in messages to customers, saying its own fulfillment centers processed customers’ orders in time for holiday delivery. Amazon is reviewing the performance of the delivery carriers, spokeswoman Mary Osako said in an e-mail.” Read more

 

Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet Will Return 1/2/14

 

Have a Happy New Year!

 

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Thursday Tipsheet: UPS Blindsided | Costco: #1 Return Policy | Target: All OK in 2 Years?

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“Christmas Meltdown:  UPS Blindsided by Late Web Buying Surge” by Shelly Banjo at WSJ.  “UPS determined late Tuesday that it wouldn’t deliver some goods in time for Christmas, as a spike in last-minute shopping overwhelmed its system. “The volume of air packages in the UPS system did exceed capacity as demand was much greater than our forecast,” a UPS spokeswoman said.  Consumers were reporting missing deliveries from FedEx as well, although a FedEx spokesman said the company wasn’t experiencing significant delays.”  Read more

 

“UPS driver: 2013 ‘worst Christmas ever’ for delivery” by Natalie DiBlasio at USA Today.  “Social media exploded on Christmas with complaints about UPS and FedEx from customers furious about empty spots under their trees…”This has been the worst Christmas ever,” said Larry Ledet, 55, of Houston, who has been a UPS driver for 27 years…Even though Ledet and other UPS drivers have been pulling 60-hour weeks, thousands of holiday gifts didn’t arrive by Christmas.”  Read more

 

“It Never Ends:  8 in 10 Plan to Shop Year-End Sales After Holidays” by Tiffany Hsu & James Barragan at LA Times.  “Data firm ShopperTrak predicts that the after-holiday crowds will be the fifth-largest of the year…Wal-Mart, which expects Thursday to be one of its busiest shopping days of the year, said it is offering 25% to 50% off on thousands of items.”  Read more

 

“The Big Retail Brands That Drove Customers Away This Holiday (Costco #2, Lowe’s #5)” by Carol Tice at Forbes.  “As the 2013 holiday-shopping season winds down, which brands succeeded in hanging onto their customers, and which saw them stampede out the door to competitors?”  See the List / Read more

 

“Report:  Costco Has Top Return Policy (Target #6, Home Depot #7)” at Gobankingrates.com.  “A new investigation by GoBankingRates examined the return policies of more than 20 popular retail stores in the country. Its findings uncovered that a sizable number of retailers are offering some of the best return policies of 2013.”  See the Top Ten List

 

“E-commerce & its Dirty Little Secret:  Up to a third of all Internet sales get returned” by Shelly Banjo at WSJ.  “The stakes get even higher during the holidays, when return volume peaks. So this year, chains are digging through past transactions to weed out chronic returners, train shoppers to make better decisions or stem buyer’s remorse.”  Read more

 

“Home Depot Drops to #2 in Radio Spots; Macy’s Jumps to #3” at Radio Ink.  “Home Depot had been radio’s best advertiser for many weeks until last week when it was edged out by GEICO by 944 commercials according to media Monitors. GEICO ran 31,932 commercials on radio last week, compared to Home Depot’s 30,988.”  Read more

 

“Blogger who broke Target data breach story now trying  to track down the hackers himself” by Julie Bort at Business Insider.  “He believes he’s found the real life identity of a Ukraine man that has, Krebs alleges, been involved with various underground markets that sell stolen credit cards. He’s even engaged in an online chat with the person, while also admitting that he has no idea if this particular guy “was involved in hacking Target,” Krebs writes, adding, “but it’s a good bet that he at least knows who was.”  Read more

 

“Professor:  Target Data Breach Fraud may last Years” at WLFI-8 (IN).  “”People have to be vigilant for the next six months, year, even up to two years,” Rogers said…because criminals have gotten smarter, the wait to see if you are affected may get longer…”They figure out the prime time they are going to get caught is usually within the first few days of this being made public,” Rogers said.”  Read more

 

“Target caught ‘flat-footed’; Strives to repair image” by Thomas Lee at Star-Tribune.  “The fact remains that Target was behind when this first broke,” said Jason Maloni, who heads the data security and privacy team for the Levick strategic communications firm in Washington, D.C. “Anytime you are not controlling the release of information, you lose the opportunity to cast yourself in the role of the hero rather than the villain.”  Read more

 

“The Party’s Over:  Retailer Profits Not What They Used to Be During Holidays” by Thomas Lee at Star-Tribune.  “But with the glaring lights of the Internet, endless promotions, and perks like free shipping and price matching, the holiday season isn’t the Big Kahuna it used to be. The period accounts for just 20 to 40 percent of annual sales, down from two-thirds a decade ago, according to the National Retail Federation.”  Read more 

 

“Prada CEO:  U.S. Department Stores are Too Low-Rent” by Kyle Stock at SF Gate.  “In the most recent quarter, 86 percent of its (Prada) revenue came directly through its stores and websites, up from 53 percent five years ago.”  Read more

 

“This Is What It Looks Like Inside an Amazon Warehouse” by Jason Del Ray at All Things D.  See the 26 Pics

 

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Monday Tipsheet: Amazon is Most Trusted Retailer (Lowe’s #2) | 40% of Holiday Sales from Online?

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“Report:  Amazon #1 Most Trusted Retailer (Lowe’s #2, Home Depot #3, Target #4…)” at Motley Fool. “Lowe’s is most popular among Baby Boomers. The company’s slogan of “Never Stop Improving” seems to be effective, but at the same time, that slogan doesn’t appeal to most Millennials…Home Depot attracts more Millennials.”  Read more

 

“NPD Group Claim:  Online Sales Will Account for 40% of Holiday Sales (Up from 26% in 2012)” by Jay Green at The Seattle Times.  “At the start of the holiday season, Cohen expected online shopping to account for 33 to 34 percent of total holiday sales, up from 26 percent in 2012. Now, Cohen believes online sales will account for closer to 40 percent.  Online retailers have benefited from a compressed holiday season.”  Read more

 

“Target:  Here Come the Lawsuits” by Mike Snider at USA Today via CNBC.  “Three class-action lawsuits have been filed in the wake of the theft of data on about 40 million credit and debit card accounts of shoppers at Target from Nov. 27 to Dec. 15. More than $5 million in damages is being sought in the cases, two of which were filed in California and one in Oregon.  The Attorney General in at least four states—Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and South Dakota—have asked Target for information about the breach. That’s the first step to a possible multi-state investigation into the breach.”  Read more

 

“Target Still Not Setting Limits on Red Cards” by Jason Del Ray at All Things D.  “Security blogger Brian Krebs reported Friday that some card info from the Target heist is already for sale on underground markets.  Chase’s decision to set limits and issue new cards comes as Target continues to say that it has no reason to believe that debit card PIN codes were stolen, while names, card numbers and expiration dates were.”  Read more

 

“Beyonce Goes to Walmart to Buy Her New CD;  Hands Out $37K in Gift Cards” by Rachel Maresca at NY Daily News.  “Beyonce not only spread holiday cheer to her fans when she released her surprise self-titled album last week, but on Friday she shocked shoppers with an impromptu trip to a Massachusetts Walmart. The 32-year-old songstress showed up to the store in Tewksbury around 7 p.m., grabbed a cart and started strutting through the aisles.”  Read more / See the Pics

 

“Toronto:  Ice Storm Doesn’t Stop Mall Shoppers – Even After Half the Stores Lose Power” by Jenny Yuen at Toronto Star.  “Sunday’s brutal ice storm failed to keep last-minute Christmas shoppers from hitting Yorkdale Mall, even though half the stores lost power.  People gasped as the lights flickered and turned off around 2 p.m., causing an evacuation of the food court to the lower shopping level. Still, there was a sea of people intent on Christmas shopping.”  Read more

 

“Amazon vs. Google: It’s A War for the Shopping Search” by Rolfe Winkler at WSJ.  “By directly helping searchers who know what they want, Google’s “product-listing ads,” as they are called, reduce the number of clicks before users get to the “buy” button. Searchers click on product ads 34% more frequently than regular text ads, according to Adobe Systems Inc.’s research arm.”  Read more

 

“Arts and crafts retailer Michaels to file for IPO” by Maria Halkias at Dallas Star.  “The timing, number of shares to be sold and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined, the company said in a press release Friday.  In 2012, it delayed plans for an IPO as it worked on improving the business and hiring a new CEO. On Friday, it withdrew the old registration statement.”  Read more

 

“Costco & Aldi Ignite Price War in Australia” at Sydney Morning Herald.  “Aldi has carved out a 5 per cent market share since it arrived in Australia in 2001, while Costco, which opened its first Australian store in 2009, has less than 1 per cent. IBISWorld predicts both chains will “grow strongly”.  “The biggest battle the industry is fighting today is against Aldi and Costco,” said Citi analyst Craig Woolford.”  Read more

 

“EBay’s Strategy for Taking On Amazon” by Jeff Himmelman at NY Times.  “Most people think of eBay as an online auction house, the world’s biggest garage sale, which it has been for most of its life. But since Donahoe took over in 2008, he has slowly moved the company beyond auctions, developing technology partnerships with big retailers like Home Depot, Macy’s, Toys ‘‘R’’ Us and Target and expanding eBay’s online marketplace to include reliable, returnable goods at fixed prices. (Auctions currently represent just 30 percent of the purchases made at eBay.com.)…Read more

 

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Eye-on-Retail will return 12/26

 

Have a Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

Friday Tipsheet: Target: Hack Timing ‘No Coincidence’ | Breaking: Walgreen Q1 Comps +2.4%

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“Breaking:  Walgreens Q1 Front-End Comp Sales Up 2.4%”  Q1 sales increased 5.9 percent from the prior-year quarter to a record $18.3 billion. Front-end comparable store sales increased 2.4 percent in the first quarter, customer traffic in comparable stores increased 0.2 percent and basket size increased 2.2 percent, while total sales in comparable stores increased 5.4 percent.  Prescription sales, which accounted for 64.7 percent of sales in the quarter, increased 7.3 percent, while prescription sales in comparable stores increased 7.2 percent.”  Read the Full Q1 Release

 

“Walgreens Q1 Conference Call Today at 8:30 AM ET”  Listen to the Webcast

 

“Shop at Target? Maybe in a Few Weeks” by Kelli Grant at CNBC.  “The breach of data for 40 million shoppers at Target over the heart of the holiday shopping season could cast a pall over the few days left before Christmas…”I probably won’t go there for a few weeks until they figure this out,” Lane said. Instead, she’ll head to the nearby Trader Joe’s and Wal-Mart…Other Target customers concerned about their accounts were unable to get answers Thursday. Target’s credit card web site has been down, and its toll-free hotline for questions about the breach was jammed.”  Read more

 

“Expert:  Timing of Hack Planned; Target Won’t Cancel Cards This Close to Christmas” by Jennifer Bjorhus & Steve Alexander.  “Marcus Rogers, a professor of cyberforensics at Purdue University, said one option to prevent the risk of compromised card numbers being used by thieves is to immediately cancel the cards and issue new ones.  But Rogers said canceling huge numbers of credit and debit cards in the late days of the holiday season would cause “chaos” that retailers want to avoid so close to Christmas.  For the thieves, the timing is no coincidence,” Rogers said. “They are betting that Target and the credit card companies don’t want to hurt the economy by canceling the stolen cards.”  Read more

 

“Walmart:  Most Prolific Holiday Advertiser with 40+ Unique Pieces of Creative” by Karl Greenberg at MediaPost.  “Its top ad, “Christmas Magic,” bested the average score by 26%. The ad is also the highest-scoring Walmart ad since July 2010. Consumers found the ad’s message to be a good example of the spirit of the season.”  Read more

 

“See Walmart’s #1 Rated “Christmas Magic” Ad”  See the Video

 

“Optimism:  Target’s Data Breach Won’t Hurt the Retailer” by Paula Rosenblum at Forbes.  “When TJX suffered its massive data breach in 2007, sales continued to rise, as did the company’s stock. Retailers are not held responsible beyond any fines they have to pay if they did something to contribute to the theft… I don’t expect to see Target suffer any loss of business as part of this breach, nor do I expect to see shoppers’ credit card accounts suffering huge, non-reimbursable losses. Stolen card numbers will be passed around to various credit card processors quickly and losses will be stopped.”  Read more

 

“Newcomers turn up the heat in Houston’s grocery wars” by Olivia Pulsinelli at Houston Business Journal.  “Some are speculating that the war is about to see its first casualty. Randalls is shuttering one of its top Houston stores, a 74,000-square-foot location in the Westchase Shopping Center, and parent company California-based Safeway Inc. has shown signs of struggling in other areas of the country, as well.”  Read more

 

“Rite Aid cuts full-year profit forecast; shares off 10%” at CNBC.  “This outlook contrasts that of CVS Caremark Corp, which said on Wednesday that it expected sales and earnings to rise in 2014 and forecast good growth in its pharmacy benefits management business.”  Read more

 

“Report:  People Are More Freaked Out by Hacking Than Tracking” by Liz Gannes at All Things D.  “Some 75 percent of those surveyed said they are worried about hackers stealing their personal information, while 54 percent are worried about their browsing history being tracked by advertisers.”  Read more

 

“Study:  Serial Returners Cut Online Retailer’s Profits by 50%” at The Economist.  “Mr Schulze studied 5.9m transactions in Germany, involving 166,000 customers, for a large European online retailer. He looked only at those who had bought at least five items over a five-year period, and found that 5% of them sent back more than 80% of the things they had bought; and that 1% of customers sent back at least 90% of their purchases. Without the cost of returns, the retailer’s profits would be almost 50% higher, the study found.”  Read more

 

“Overstock.com to Become First Major US Retailer to Accept Bitcoin” by John Southurst at Coin Desk.  “Overstock.com’s CEO, Patrick Byrne. The company had hinted at accepting bitcoin in a New York Times interview in October, but Byrne said he was waiting for more legal clarification before going ahead. It now seems to be moving towards a more definite schedule.”  Read more

 

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