Retailing in the Week Ahead, Week 28 You are forgiven. Every 10 years, retail analysts are given a big round number. In 1999 we were gifted the biggest ever – 2000 – not just a new decade, or a new century, but a new millennium. However, in 2009 it was still pretty cool, despite ...

18 June, dubbed as China’s mid-year Black Friday, is the second most prominent ecommerce shopping festival after Singles Day in China. This ecommerce event, as always, creates a huge sales opportunity for consumer brands in China and, given this is the first big event post COVID-19, it ...

Third time’s a charm? After two aborted bids to go public and 2015 and 2018, Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons Companies, riding the COVID-fueled grocery boom, finally launched its initial public offering (IPO). Fifty million shares were sold at $16 per share, below the retailer’s initial ...

Retailing in the Week Ahead, Week 27 Just over five years ago, Kantar’s IQ team made a major push for CPG companies to embrace the ‘Age of Shopper-First’. Our goal was to help CPG companies prepare for the year 2020, a year when the best of the best retailers would be using ...

Despite concerns relating to COVID-19, Q1 was a strong quarter for Rite Aid. The retailer posted revenue of $6.03 billion, growing 11% from $5.37 billion in the same quarter last year. Net losses remain high, albeit shrinking - net loss from continuing operations was $72.7 million, declining ...

Retailing in the Week Ahead, Week 26 Most years, when trading conditions are normal, CPG (FMCG) companies are rapidly putting the final touches of their Q4 retail promotional plans together in Week 26. Q4 includes the big ones like Halloween, Black Friday, Christmas, New Year and localized ...

Q4 2020 Empire Companies Limited’s (“The Company”) sales for Q4 2020, which ended May 2, 2020, grew 12.7% and reached CAD7.0 billion versus CAD6.2 during the same period prior year. This sales growth was mostly attributable to food sales related to COVID-19 and partially offset ...

Not surprisingly, Kroger delivered double-digit identical (ID) sales gains for Q1 2020 as shoppers sheltered at home and stocked their pantries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Identical sales, excluding fuel, rose 19% for the quarter compared to an ID sales increase of 1.5% in Q1 2019. ...

Denmark’s Salling Group, which today announced the acquisition of the Tesco Polska operation, is an ambitious company that is pledging significant funding to build its Netto soft-discount banner in the market. The plan is undoubtedly bold and presents opportunity and challenges in equal ...

Key takeaways:  Even with a return to top-line retail sales growth, modest growth is expected in the coming months as high unemployment remains. Online and home improvement were among the biggest beneficiaries of stimulus checks that went out starting in mid-April. Shoppers were slow ...

After one day of trading in the UK, it is clear that retailers are still trying to perfect the formula for operating safely on site. Tales of endless queues outside Primark and shoppers neglecting social distancing rules mean staff have a real challenge in balancing safety on site with encouraging ...

Retailing in the Week Ahead, Week 25 In our industry, we often speak about ‘final mile’ economics. This makes sense given the internal battles that take place in most companies around what to do about ecommerce, how much money to spend on ecommerce, and when will ecommerce go from ...

Walmart is evolving its offer to meet changing consumer needs and preferences. The big-box powerhouse continues to pilot new products and services to innovate its brand and offer for retail now and in the future. The rapid changes to retail brought on by the COVID-19 crisis has only paused some ...

With COVID-19 accelerating grocery shoppers’ adoption and use of online pickup and delivery by an estimated three to five years, Kroger is ramping up long-term investment in its fulfillment model. The retailer announced plans late last week to expand its partnership with Ocado, adding ...

Performance  Though comps remained strongly positive with 7.8% growth globally excluding fuel and foreign exchange, Costco’s performance in any given month of Q3 2020 was all over the map. In March, Costco’s comps increased over 12% both in the US and globally as the club reaped ...