Research Topic

Denton, Texas -- Sally Beauty Holdings Inc. reported Thursday that profit in the first quarter nearly doubled year-over-year – from $30.1 million to $59 million – but results still missed Wall Street expectations.

Revenue rose 4.7% to $905.4 million, shy of analysts’ expected $915.1 million in revenue.

Same-store sales rose 2.8%.

In case you missed it, one of America’s biggest and most iconic brands was in the news recently for something other than the latest sales figures: Wal-Mart announced an ambitious plan to hire approximately 100,000 veterans over the next five years.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Limited Brands reported that comparable-store sales for the fourth quarter were up 5% and that net sales for the same period were $3.86 billion compared with $3.5 billion for the same period last year.

For the month of February, the company posted sales of $986.4 million compared with $774.5 million for the same period last year. Same-store sales for the month rose 9%. 

Reston, Va. -- A report released Thursday by comScore found that retail e-commerce sales in the U.S. rose to $186.2 billion in 2012, an increase of 15% and the strongest annual growth rate since before the recession.

Fourth quarter 2012 sales grew 14% year-over-year to $56.8 billion, marking the first-ever $50 billion quarter. It also represents the 13th consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and ninth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.
 

Online sales returned to pre-recession growth levels in 2012, advancing 15% to a record $186.2 billion, according to a year end recap by online measurement firm comScore.

Los Angeles -- Survey results released Thursday by PriceGrabber found that 62% of consumers plan to spend as much as $100 on gifts for Valentine’s Day, down from 68% in 2012. However, 36% plan to spend more than $100 compared with 28% last year.  

Austin, Texas -- Online coupon site RetailMeNot.com reported Thursday that men outspend women by more than $120 on Valentine’s Day gift giving.

According to the just-released results of the Valentine edition of RetailMeNot.com’s Shoppers Trend Report, the average person in a relationship plans to spend $226 for Valentine’s Day this year; the break-out is dominated by men, however, as they plan to spend $287 versus women at $164.

New York -- Social media isn’t likely to become an important retail channel anytime soon, according to a new report by PwC. The study, “Demystifying the Online Shopper: 10 Myths of Multichannel Retailing,” found that in-store shopping is still center to the shopping experience.

“Our report finds that the physical store remains the centerpiece of the purchase journey, while devices are used significantly for product research and deals,” said Susan McPartlin, PwC’s U.S. retail & consumer sector leader.