In retail, companies with strong e-commerce platforms fared much better than those lacking a strong online presence. Dick’s Sporting goods was one of the relative winners in brick and mortar retail. Dick’s made investments in its online platform pre-COVID that allowed the firm to roll out a curbside pick up a few days after the company closed all of its stores. Sales were still down 30% year-over-year in the quarter, but it could have been worse. Kohl’s reported sales down 45% for the quarter. The Coronavirus crisis should be a wakeup call to all brick and mortar retailers. Being able to … [Read more...]

As shutdown orders have closed other retailers without grocery stores attached, Walmart has been the only place open to many would-be shoppers. Walmart's sales have surged during the coronavirus shutdown. Sarah Nassauer writes in The Wall Street Journal: Walmart Inc. WMT +0.54% is reaping the rewards of being one of few retailers positioned to successfully navigate a global pandemic, reporting a surge in quarterly sales as consumers turned to its giant stores to stock up on food and household goods. The country’s largest retailer said U.S. comparable sales, those from stores and digital … [Read more...]

After Amazon set about decimating retail competitors across America, coronavirus has come along and helped it finish the job. Suzanne Kapner and Sarah Nassauer report in The Wall Street Journal: Amazon. AMZN 0.68% com hurt many retailers. Coronavirus will finish some of them off. Even as malls and stores begin to reopen, the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on an industry already battered by the shift to online shopping. More than two million retail jobs disappeared in April as many stores closed. The damage will be clear Friday when the U.S. government reports what is expected to be one … [Read more...]

The coronavirus effect has halted a trend toward startup consumer companies that has been ongoing in the industry for years. Carol Ryan reports in The Wall Street Journal: Seeking comfort while sheltering at home, shoppers are reaching for Hershey Bars rather than gluten-free energy balls. That is bad news for challenger brands, whose healthy snacks were taking market share from global food companies until very recently. Discussing their latest quarterly results, executives at Nestlé, NSRGY -0.32% Kraft Heinz and Procter & Gamble PG -0.66% all said consumers are returning to … [Read more...]

Dana Mattioli reports in the Wall Street Journal that Amazon may have lied to both its third-party sellers and Congress regarding its data policies. Mattioli's article alleges that Amazon used information from its independent sellers to enhance its own product lineup. She writes: Amazon.com Inc. employees have used data about independent sellers on the company’s platform to develop competing products, a practice at odds with the company’s stated policies. The online retailing giant has long asserted, including to Congress, that when it makes and sells its own products, it doesn’t use … [Read more...]

Matthew Boyle reports at Bloomberg that Walmart is developing its own membership program to rival Amazon Prime. He writes: The world’s largest retailer is developing a paid membership program to challenge the internet giant’s Prime offering -- which has become the default online shopping option for millions around the globe. The service, called Walmart+, will expand on the retailer’s existing grocery-delivery subscription service, which it introduced last year. Chief Customer Officer Janey Whiteside will spearhead the service’s development and rollout. A Walmart spokeswoman confirmed the … [Read more...]

In The Wall Street Journal, Jennifer Smith outlines the characters of the grocery store of the future: small, local, and robotic. She writes: Grocers looking to fill online orders more quickly are testing micro-fulfillment systems that can spit out as many as 4,000 orders a week but can still be housed in the back of stores or in urban areas where space is at a premium. The store owners are evaluating whether automation can help tamp down costs while speeding up deliveries and they are turning to a new set of startups aiming to make e-commerce fulfillment more efficient in a small … [Read more...]

Target is using a completely rebuilt tech department to transform its e-commerce sales. At current growth rates, Target will become one of the top 10 retail e-commerce companies by next year. Sara Castellanos reports for The Wall Street Journal: To be sure, Target’s financial performance isn’t solely tied to its technology efforts. The company has refurbished stores over the past few years and it has debuted new brands that are attracting customers, said Neil Saunders, a managing director with GlobalData PLC. “The most important thing is to have products people want to buy,” Mr. Saunders … [Read more...]

Sarah Nassauer reports in The Wall Street Journal that American consumers are showing no signs of being held by tariffs, as they push Walmart sales to a five-year growth streak. She writes: American consumers showed no signs of belt-tightening in sales results from Walmart Inc., offering comfort to retailers worried about fallout from the trade war and the health of the global economy as the holiday shopping season nears. Walmart said its U.S. comparable sales, those from stores and websites operating for at least 12 months, rose 3.2% in the period ended Oct. 25, marking a five-year streak … [Read more...]

Nike has pulled the plug on an attempt to sell through Amazon.com directly after the online retailer couldn't clean up unauthorized resellers from its website. Despite Amazon.com's dominance of online retail, Nike has charted a course that may be a guide for other brand name companies. Nike has pushed more sales through its own channels, both in its own stores and through its apps and website. Khadeeja Safdar reports for The Wall Street Journal: For years, Nike had refused to sell directly to Amazon, fearing it would undermine its brand. Nike executives were unhappy with how unauthorized … [Read more...]