Budgets/Spending/Market Size

Both sides of a West Coast labor dispute are entering extra time as the contract between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Long Shore and Warehouse Union officially expired June 30.

As expected, both sides are negotiating in an effort to avoid the economic damage from a costly strike on the docks that, according to a recent study, could cost as much as $2.5 billion per day. 

San Jose, Calif. – Despite an 8.1% year-over-year drop in traffic and decline of one full conversion point, sales on Father’s Day (June 16) remained essentially flat. According to data from in-store analytics provider RetailNext, a 15.4% increase in average transaction value (ATV) helped sales grow 0.1%.

For the week leading up to Father’s Day, sales declined every day compared to the equivalent day a year earlier. Daily decreases ranged from a high of 10.3% on June 13 to a low of 4% on June 9.

Union, N.J. – Bed, Bath and Beyond Inc. had a difficult first quarter of fiscal 2014, missing Wall Street estimates on both profits and sales. Net earnings fell 8% to $187.1 million, from $202.5 million in the same period a year earlier. Sales rose 2% to $2.66 billion from $2.61 billion, and same-store sales climbed 0.4%.

New York -- China's Alibaba Group Holdings plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, Bloomberg reported. In a filing on Thursday, the company revealed it will use the ticket "BABA."

Alibaba filed for its IPO in May. The online giant is looking to sell about a 12% stake, the report said. Experts have said it could be the largest U.S. IPO ever.

Waban, Mass. - After a drop in daily Facebook usage on computers in 2013, U.S. consumers increased their daily use of Facebook, from 42.5% of the population in 2013 to 46.5% in 2014, according to new research by the Temkin Group. The "Social Media Benchmark Study, 2014" examines 10,000 U.S. consumers' use of several different social media sites, on computers and mobile devices, and compares the results to previous studies from 2012 and 2013.

The bad weather that hurt Bed Bath & Beyond during the fourth quarter may have abated, but the company’s sales still grew at a slower than expected pace during the first quarter and caused profits to come in toward the low end of expectations.

Rebates for lighting upgrades are alive and well, with rebate organizations having updated their rebate and incentive programs for 2014. Currently, 71% of the country is covered by an active commercial lighting rebate, according to BriteSwitch, Princeton, New Jersey, which helps large national companies take advantage of rebate and incentive programs that exist across the United States and Canada.

Here is a review of major rebate trends from BriteSwitch: 

Believe it or not (and I can barely believe it myself), the critical back-to-school period at the end of summer is right around the corner. While back-to-school is always big for retailers, this year’s period could be an especially important one, as 2014 has been underwhelming so far.

▲ Investing in energy conservation makes business sense: According to ASHRAE, energy is the second highest retailer operating expense. A new white paper by the Retail Leaders Industry Association (RILA) and Schneider Electric notes that recent weather extremes have increased energy costs for retailers, and the trend is expected to continue. Factor in potential electricity price increases in the near future, and increases in energy costs could be significant.

Washington, D.C. - A clear majority of Americans say social media has no effect at all on their purchasing decisions. According to a new Gallup poll, 62% in the U.S. say Facebook and Twitter, among other sites, do not have any influence on their decisions to purchase products.