CVS Health posted healthy second-quarter results, driven by growth across the enterprise, with the Retail/Long-Term Care and Pharmacy Services segments performing particularly well. Within the Retail/LTC segment, CVS’s front-store continued its positive trend, with comparable sales growing ...

The widening gap between Haves and Have Nots continues to polarize shoppers with distinctly different needs. The obvious response from both suppliers and retailers has been to reposition their offer to address the specific needs of two sets of shoppers. In some respects, this has created an ...

Ahold Delhaize USA reported 0.2% growth in Q2 2019 for both comparable sales without fuel and net sales. This growth amounted to USD10.9 billion in net sales for the quarter when a strike at its Stop & Shop banner cost the company $345 million in sales. For the first half of the year, the ...

Retailing in the Week Ahead – Week 32, 2019 Whenever a financial director talks about “the Delta”, they typically mean the difference between two points in time or between two lines in a spreadsheet. However, the word can have multiple meanings, one of these being a triangle. ...

Retailers and brands are putting the finishing touches on their final back-to-school displays in time for the height of the season. This year, time- and cash-constrained shoppers are looking for practical solutions to common problems. While back-to-school spending is still expected to rise, ...

Retailing in the Week Ahead – Week 31, 2019 There can be little doubt that retailers are accelerating their investments in sustainability. A review of two statistics should be enough to convince doubters that this is a serious topic for retailers. First, the number of pages each retailer ...

Last week Walmart announced it will integrate the finance and supply chain teams for its stores and eCommerce businesses. Michael Dastugue, Walmart US Chief Financial Officer, will lead the finance organization and report into Walmart Inc. CFO Brett Biggs; Steve Schmitt, will move from his role ...

Amazon reported another quarter of double-digit net sales growth, but operating income slowed considerably due to the rollout of one-day free shipping and other investments. Here’s a quick summary of the highlights from Amazon North America’s second-quarter earnings call yesterday: One-day ...

Albertsons Companies, Inc. reported 2019 Q1 results today with comp sales coming in at 1.5%. This completes the trifecta of the Big 3 grocers posting Q1 comps in the uninspiring range of 1.2-1.5%. (Kroger posted Q1 comps of 1.5% and Ahold Delhaize posted Q1 comps of 1.2%.) All three of these ...

Standard shopping processes are coming to an end. The relationship consumers have with retailers and brands is changing forever. Growth is harder to obtain, while a large portion of the low-hanging fruit from initial eCommerce strategies has been harvested. The ask now is to redefine commerce ...

Kantar Worldpanel, the global market leader in consumer panels, reports that the total spending of the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) grew by 6.9% in the 12 weeks to 14 June, compared to the same period last year. Stronger growth in Q2 is thanks partly to the 18-day-long online discount ...

Retailing in the Week Ahead – Week 30, 2019 Sometimes people only hear what they want to hear. I learned this lesson the hard way in June 2013. At that time Europe, and much of the world, was experiencing a ‘retail depression’ – a period where growth was decelerating. ...

Closing out the retailer’s fiscal year, Couche-Tard reported a 3.7% decline in revenue, amounting to $13.11 billion, compared to the same period prior year. Couche-Tard’s net income has decreased 25% to $293.1 million and is attributed to investment in strategic initiatives as well ...

As brands and retailers adapt to serve ever-more fragmented shopper profiles and needs, distinct opportunities can begin to emerge. Business-owning shoppers have long been an underserved segment that makes do with the options available to them. Traditionally, many of these shoppers have shopped ...

Retailing in the Week Ahead – Week 29, 2019 At the start of Ultrafresh season, we introduced four tradeoffs that retailers need to make when investing in Ultrafresh solutions. The first was space. The second was expertise. Today we will discuss the third and fourth – the level of ...