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