Research Topic

Boca Raton, Fla. – Office Depot has raised its full-year adjusted operating income forecast as cost savings from the closure of some U.S. stores related to its acquisition of OfficeMax are expected to be higher than previously anticipated. As previously announced, Office Depot plans to close at least 400 stores by the end of 2016, with about 165 closures in 2014.

San Francisco – Shopper traffic declined 6% in July 2014 compared to the same month in 2013, due to real wage pressure, favorable summer weather, and a shift towards big-ticket item purchases, according to monthly benchmarks from in-store analytics provider Euclid.

Pittsburgh -- Smartphone-generated revenue by consumers to retailer smartphone-optimized websites was up 97.6%, from July 2014 versus July 2013, according to Branding Brand, a mobile commerce platform.  

The firm’s Mobile Commerce Index for July 2014 shows that smartphones generated 34.9% of total online visits (61.8% iOS, 37.4% Android) up 19.9% from July 2013. Meanwhile, the market share of non-mobile (desktop) visits decreased 13.7%, from July 2013 to July 2014.

As an article that appeared recently right here in Chain Store Age noted, there is something interesting going on with back-to-school shopping this year.

San Francisco – Out-of-stocks and placement continue to be key issues for back-to-school retail efforts. According to a field study of 465 retailers across the U.S. from mobile contractor Gigwalk, 47% of the retailers visited had an issue with their back-to-school displays.

Forty-five percent were due to the product being out of stock, followed by missing price and having the product in the wrong display. Other findings include:

• 49% plan to spend more this back-to-school season.

In a move to streamline and simplify Procter & Gamble’s business and brand portfolio, the company will trim its brand portfolio to focus on 70 to 80 of its largest and best-performing brands, A. G. Lafley, president and CEO, told analysts on Friday during its fourth quarter conference call.

In the next 12 to 24 months, P&G will “harvest, partner, discontinue or divest” 90 to 100 brands, whose sales have been declining 3% per year over the past three years. Profits have been declining 16%.

Dallas – The global Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.03% during the period 2013-2018. According to a new report from Sandler Research, one of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the reduction in labor costs.

The global Electronic Shelf Labels market has also been witnessing the increasing demand for ESL by retail stores. However, Sandler Research advises the increasing competition among vendors could pose a challenge to the growth of this market.

While some retailers and brands are now conducting actual e-commerce from their Facebook pages, the “buy” button holds the potential to substantially increase Facebook’s potential as a platform for executing omnichannel transactions. Smart retailers will offer, and even encourage, buy online-pick-up-in-store functionality through the buy button. Many consumers prefer the immediacy of picking up an item in a nearby store to waiting for a delivery, and retailers benefit from the resulting increase in store traffic and secondary purchases.