In the race to reach new customers, mega-grocer Kroger has signed a partnership with Walgreens to embed mini grocery stores in the pharmacy chain's locations. Heather Haddon reports at The Wall Street Journal: Kroger and Walgreens executives wouldn’t say how the companies would share sales revenue or provide financial details of the deal. Kroger and Walgreens will supply and operate the Kroger-branded sections together, officials said. Kroger won’t sell store-brand items that compete with Walgreens’s private-label products, but it will take over its supply for branded goods, the companies … [Read more...]
Is this the Start of a Profound Structural Change in E-Commerce?
Amazon is moving into advertising in a big way. The implications and opportunities of such a shift are profound, but there are also risks. Will consumers accept ads on Amazon’s platform? If they do, what does that mean for small businesses on Amazon’s platform? How will big businesses use the platform? What does this mean for Amazon’s competitors? It is still early days here, but this is a trend all investors should be watching. The WSJ has the story. “I think the giant has been awoken,” said Bill Wise, chief executive of Mediaocean, a software platform that processes over $150 billion of ad … [Read more...]
Can Amazon Ever Crack the Fashion Code?
Amazon is working hard to sell its own private label fashion brands, but success isn't coming easy to what could be a potentially profitable business. Amazon's women's clothing brands are doing especially poorly, with "more than 4 of 5 Amazon women’s clothing brands selling fewer than 100 items per month," says Bloomberg's Spencer Soper. Soper writes that a report by Jungle Scout finds poor performance among Amazon's apparel brands: The report shows that Seattle-based Amazon’s apparel brands aren’t benefiting from consumers’ greater interest in buying clothing online. Online sales made up … [Read more...]
Retail Fight: Prepare for the Holidays
Target is ramping up its efforts to compete with rivals Walmart and Amazon by offering free two-day shipping on online orders during the holiday season. Khadeeja Safdar reports in The Wall Street Journal: Target Corp. TGT +0.77% said it plans to offer free two-day shipping on online orders this holiday season, undercutting competitors like Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -0.61% and WalmartInc. WMT +0.51% that have requirements for similar services. The Minneapolis-based retailer on Tuesday said starting Nov. 1 until Dec. 22, it will offer the service on hundreds of thousands of items without a … [Read more...]
A Story of Retail Dominance Ends
Sears filed for bankruptcy this week. NBC News provides a timeline of Sears' storied history. Sears was the Amazon of its day, creating businesses in many different industries and disrupting the dominant retailing model of the time. Here's how Sears got its start: 1886 — Richard Sears begins selling watches at a railroad station At age 22, Sears, who was working as a railroad station agent in North Redwood, Minnesota, began selling watches to fellow agents as a way to supplement his income. 1886 — Mail order business, the Amazon of its time Within six months, Sears’ watch business … [Read more...]
Eddie Lampert Determined to Prevent Sears Going the Way of Toys R Us
In the latest episode of retail carnage, Sears has filed for bankruptcy. Sears' controlling shareholder, Eddie Lampert, has spent years and millions of dollars keeping America's most famed retail brand alive. With a chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Lampert hopes Sears will avoid the fate that befell Toys R Us earlier this year. He's looking forward to a speedy bankruptcy process and a return to control of Sears. Lillian Rizzo writes at The Wall Street Journal: Sears Holdings Corp. controlling shareholder Edward Lampert spent years keeping the retailer out of bankruptcy court. Now a $300 million … [Read more...]
The Internet: The Perfectly Competitive Market We’ve Been Waiting For
Jacob Passy, writing at MarketWatch, explains that the Internet is taking what was once difficult—finding the best price—and making it easy. Because e-retailers can't have the physical advantages a location can generate, they are forced to compete on price. In economics, perfect competition is sometimes just a theory, but the Internet is bringing that theory closer to reality for retail consumers. Passy writes: As more shoppers move online, the competition they are fueling between e-retailers like Amazon AMZN, -0.50% and traditional retailers like WalmartWMT, -0.08% and … [Read more...]
Has the Internet Broken the Grocery Store Model for Good?
Most grocery stores are set up in more or less the same way. Aisles and aisles of refined carbohydrates stacked in the middle, surrounded by produce on one side, meat in the back, and dairy on the other. On the ends of each aisle are high calorie impulse purchases tempting shoppers who must pass by to get to the healthier options. Online sales may break this time-tested model. Online shoppers are less likely to want impulse foods because they have more time to consider their options and plan ahead. In response to online shopping behavior, at least one store chain, Smart & Final, is … [Read more...]
Bed Bath Misses Out on Brick and Mortar Revival
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Elizabeth Winkler explains that Bed Bath and Beyond hasn't been able to capitalize on the resurgence in retail customers at brick and mortar stores. She writes: Buoyed by a strong economy, consumers are happily spending money at brick-and-mortar retailers from Walmart to Nordstrom—just about anywhere it seems, except Bed Bath & Beyond . The stock fell nearly 50% in 2017 and a further 18% thus far in 2018. On Wednesday, after reporting second-quarter earnings that missed estimates, investors sent it down another 15% in after-hours trading. The … [Read more...]
Would You Go to Walmart if You Didn’t Have to Go In?
Walmart is a hard place to shop. The long—seemingly endless—aisles and big-box lighting do not make a trip to Walmart an enjoyable time. Is there a better way? Walmart has submitted plans in a Chicago suburb to create a pickup only location. There are many Walmart stores today that offer pickup options, but they also have traditional retail sales areas inside. The new facility would simply be a warehouse with a pickup area for online orders. Tom Ryan reports at Retail Wire: Walmart predicts the number of pickup trips at this facility, which includes 24 stalls, will be about 180 per hour … [Read more...]
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