RETail sales posts
FeedPosted Jan 6th 2011 12:00PM by Mark Fightmaster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Target Corp. (TGT), Costco Wholesale (COST)

December is not shaping up to have been the retail windfall that many experts predicted, which may be setting up a rather scary situation. Don't worry folks, the experts are going to blame the
poor December revenue on different factors, including strong November sales taking away from December and post-Christmas sales suffering from the Northeast blizzard.
First things first, not all retailers have reported their results -- a majority of heavy hitters will report today. Nevertheless, the results are being described as "slow and steady" rather than the expected blowout holiday shopping season. For example, Costco (
COST) reported sales that increased 6%. This is positive data, unfortunately expectations called for an increase of 6.2%. Target (
TGT) saw sales increase 0.9%, well short of the expected 4%. Of course sales were better at Macy's (
M), right? I mean they are adding jobs and all. Wrong, sales did increase (3.9%) but missed expectations (4.5%).
Continue reading Holiday Sales Falling Short of Expectations
Posted Dec 12th 2010 12:30PM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Forecasts, Best Buy (BBY), FedEx Corp (FDX), Economic Data
FedEx Corp. (FDX), the world's leading package delivery service and an ostensible bellwether of the U.S. economy, will dance its way onto the earnings stage this week. Also, with the holiday shopping season well underway, Best Buy Co. (BBY) and Discover Financial Services (DFS) are scheduled to offer up their most recent quarterly results.
Here's a closer look at what the analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting from these three, plus a peek at the week's economic calendar.
Continue reading Week in Preview: FedEx, Best Buy, Discover to Deliver Earnings
Posted Nov 26th 2010 12:00PM by Mark Fightmaster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, Recession
It seems that retailers are ready to give up on pushing the practical gifts this holiday season in hopes that weary retailers are ready to unload some cash on higher-priced items. Retailers are hoping that socks and pajamas aren't on the list but large-screen LCD TVs and other fancier gifts find their way under the tree. The hope is that shoppers will buy into mainstream optimism.
A year ago, discretionary spending (items like clothing and home furnishings) dropped to 61% of total dollars spent, hopes are that this spending will increase to 63% this year (according to estimates from Customer Growth Partners). Such an increase would equal the percentage from 2008. While two percentage points may seem small, it represents an increase of roughly $60 billion.
Continue reading Retailers to Push Luxury Items This Holiday Season
Posted Oct 15th 2010 1:40PM by Connie Madon (RSS feed)
Filed under: Good news, Consumer Experience, Economic Data

There is talk in the media about the darkened mood of the consumer but the following numbers seem to refute that notion. Retail sales rose .6% in September, much stronger than expected, as reported in the
Wall Street Journal. Economists at Dow Jones had predicted a rise of .4%.
The big mover were purchases of automobiles and auto parts, electronics and appliances. This is an extremely good sign because these items fall into the durables category, items that last more than three years. These are big ticket items indicating that the consume is stepping up to the plate and risking bigger purchases.
Continue reading Retail Sales Were Up in September
Posted Sep 1st 2010 9:30AM by Mark Fightmaster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Economic Data, Recession

According to
MasterCard's SpendingPulse data, we could be in for a bit of a nasty surprise when back-to-school sales are released. Children's clothing and consumer electronics increased compared to a year ago, but nearly all other merchandise saw spending drop. Luxury goods, along with men's and women's fashions, all dropped -- suggesting that consumers were unwilling to part with their hard-earned cash on non-essentials. Spending on women's clothing saw revenue drop to $300 million, which is roughly the same as 2004 and 2005.
Not all the news was bleak: Online sales notched a 13th-straight monthly increase -- jumping 7.2%. Last August, online sales increased 1.5%. Richard Jaffe of Stifel Nicolaus noted that he is "fairly convinced we are seeing changes in consumer behavior that will be sustained for a long time." He added that shoppers must be "very convinced and excited" before purchasing anything. It really takes a great deal or a pressing need for consumers to spend money in these tight times.
Continue reading August Retail Data Shows Caution
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