|
Retail Paradox Weekly
Retail News Analysis by RSR Research
8/5/2008
What a Difference Eighteen Months Makes: Home Depot Poised for a Comeback
By Paula Rosenblum, Managing Partner
8/5/2008
It has been eighteen short months since Robert Nardelli resigned as CEO of Home Depot. Given the housing market’s implosion over those eighteen months, it’s not surprising that HD hasn’t seen robust comparable store sales increases. In fact, in financial results released for the most recent fiscal quarter the chain reported comp store sales decreases of 6.5% and a decreased average ticket of 2.8%. Arch competitor Lowe’s has not fared much better, with comparable store sales decreases of 8.4% and a $2.00 decrease in average ticket. While some retailers use the uncertain economy as an excuse for poor performance, retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s are genuinely suffering the pain.
In this post-Nardelli era... More
Live from eTail: Is There Already More 'Wisdom in the Crowd' than We Know?
By Steve Rowen, Partner
8/5/2008
Most of the people attending the eTail 2008 Conference got here by way of a flight devoid of peanuts, pillows, or blankets. Why? One presenter says he knows the reasoning, and is applying that same methodology to retail analytics to optimize online sales.
“The airlines recently learned that 87% of their profits come from... More
iCustomer Mobility Gets an eTicket: Part III...
By Brian Kilcourse, Managing Partner
8/5//2008
In our 11/06/07 Retail Paradox Weekly, we highlighted UK company i-movo’s (www.i-movo.com) innovative application of the SMS messaging capabilities of modern mobile phones to target vouchers (coupons) directly to consumers and subsequently to track redemption of those vouchers. In a press release last week, the company’s latest move to expand the reach of digital cash alternatives was highlighted.
The UK newspaper Evening Standard announced a partnership with Paypoint... More
Survey Says Fewer Brand Decisions Made at the Shelf
By Nikki Baird, Managing Partner, with RetailWire
8/5/2008
Last week RetailWire ran a discussion on a new study about brand decisions at the shelf – instead of the old rule of thumb that 70% of decisions are made at the shelf, this new study pegs the number at closer to 40%. The commentary, a sample of which is included below, focused on a couple of angles: does it matter if it’s 70% or 40% as long as there is some opportunity to influence customers? Also, the newer study is based on interviews, where the original study looked at behavior. Is the 40% statistic relevant given the different research methodologies?
I asked a different question... More
RSR Featured FastFact: Customer Centric Merchandising
Thirty-three precent of Winning Retailers report they are hesitant because “we are trying to simplify our business, not make it more complex.” This number is even higher among large retailers ($1-$5 billion in annual sales), weighing in at a whopping 55%. This presents a clear-cut need - and opportunity – for technology vendors to better prove (and educate) that the new generation of merchandising systems do not require rocket scientists to run them, nor are they so hard to integrate that they add to the plate of “spaghetti” already in IT portfolios.
To read the full report, click here
Copyright © 2008 RSR Research LLC. RSR is a tradename of Retail Systems Research LLC. All Rights Reserved
|
