Research Topic

PLANO, Texas — Unseasonably cold and wet weather and cautious consumer spending negatively impacted business at Dr Pepper Snapple Group, which reported second quarter 2013 net sales of $1.61 billion, a 1% decrease from $1.62 for the same period last year. 

Reported income from operations for the quarter was $285 million, including $7 million of unrealized commodity mark-to-market losses. Reported income from operations was $300 million in the prior year period, including $6 million of unrealized commodity mark-to-market losses.

PURCHASE, N.Y. — PepsiCo reported net revenue of $16.8 billion for the second quarter of 2013, a 2% increase from $16.4 billion for the same quarter last year.

Structural changes, principally the refranchising of the company's beverage operations in Vietnam and China, negatively impacted reported net revenue performance by nearly 1% and foreign exchange translation had a 1.5% unfavorable impact in the quarter. Adjusted to exclude the impact of foreign currency translation and structural changes, revenue grew 4.2%.

Boulder, Colo. -- Trader Joe’s is North America’s favorite grocery store based on customer satisfaction, according to a new study of 6,600 consumers conducted by Market Force Information. Publix Super Markets and Whole Foods Market rounded out the top three. All three received high marks for courteous staff, inviting atmosphere and high-quality produce. Hy-Vee also scored well on those measures.

Erie, Pa. — Zoom Tan has leased a 1,559-sq.-ft. space for a tanning parlor at Liberty Center II in Erie, Pa., according to Levin Management. Flaum Management Co. Inc. represented the tenant in the transaction.

The 7,443-sq.-ft. Liberty Center II is directly across the street from the 227,000-sq.-ft. Liberty Center, which is anchored by Top’s Markets and Peebles department store.

Lewisville, Texas -- Almost six-in-10 (58%) U.S. smartphone owners, representing one-in-three overall shoppers, “showroom” or check for better prices on in-store items using their mobile devices. The Parago Dynamic Pricing Study also shows that Amazon is the number one way U.S. consumers compare prices on smartphones in store.

Fort Worth, Texas - RadioShack Corp. on Tuesday reported a second-quarter loss that was bigger than analysts expected. However, revenue beat expectations, with the first increase in same-store sales since 2010, and the chain announced it was bringing on consultants to help with its turnaround.

Sales of 31.2 million iPhones and 14.6 million iPads during third quarter ended June 29 enabled Apple to generate sales of $35.3 billion, but lower prices led to gross margin contraction and a nearly $2 billion decline in profits.

Boston -- Although Target has narrowed Walmart’s basket advantage, the world’s largest retailer continues to demonstrate its price advantage, according to Kantar Retail’s semi-annual pricing study.

With an overall branded basket 2.4% less expensive than Target’s, Walmart’s overall price gap has still remained within a few percentage points of Target’s, although its lead has narrowed since the last iteration of the study. Importantly, Target’s edible basket was within cents of Walmart’s.

Houston -- U.S. Hispanics are more likely to purchase grocery foods, dairy, and bread from convenience stores (c-stores) than non-Hispanics, reports the NPD Group, leading global information company. Spanish-dominant Hispanics are more likely to make grocery item purchases at c-stores than other Hispanics, according to the NPD report entitled The C-Store Hispanic Shopper, which examines the typical convenience store shopping behavior of Hispanics by level of acculturation and how it compares to non-Hispanics.
 

I was fortunate enough to attend the CashStar Retailer Roundtable in Portland, Maine, last week. Beyond getting to spend a beautiful summer day overlooking the sights of Casco Bay, I got to hear a lot of great speakers from companies including Google and Forrester Research discuss the latest trends in mobile commerce and electronic gift cards.