Data & Analytics

BENTONVILLE, Ark. --  It turns out the announcement earlier today by Walmart that Duncan Mac Naughton would serve as head merchant of the company’s U.S. division was but one component of a more extensive shakeup at the company.

New York City -- Hannaford Supermarket’s store in Duanesburg, N.Y., was awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification by the United States Green Building Council.

Among the supermarket’s environmentally friendly features are seafood display cases that do not use ice, an energy-saving advanced refrigeration system, water-conserving restroom fixtures, high-efficiency lighting and solar-reflective roofing materials. 

The only other LEED-certified Hannaford store is in Augusta, Maine.

This just sounds problematic. To better serve cash constrained customers and compete with dollar stores, the company wants to flow less expensive smaller pack sizes to stores during the middle and the end of the month when customers have less money while larger packs sizes would be on store shelves at those times right after customers have been paid.

SEATTLE  -- Retail industry online sales ascended to new heights during the past holiday season and as Amazon.com’s fourth quarter results show it was a key driver of the growth.

The company’s fourth quarter sales increased 36% to nearly $13 billion and its full year sales increased 40% to $34.2 billion. North America fueled the increase with sales that were up in the U.S. and Canada by 45% to $7.21 billion. Profits grew at a slower pace with fourth quarter net income up 8% to $416 million and full year profits up 28% to $1.15 billion.

Seattle -- Starbucks Corp. reported that its first quarter net income rose nearly 44%, beating expectations, to $346.6 million in the period ended Jan. 2. That's up from $241.5 million a year earlier. Although the company expects its base of customers to keep growing, it offered a tepid full-year forecast, saying higher commodity costs could eat into its profit.

Revenue rose nearly 8% to $3 billion. Same store sales rose 7%, driven by a 5% boost in traffic and 2% higher average transaction. The figure rose 8% in the United States and 5% abroad.

A monthly pricing survey conducted by Credit Suisse in December shows that while Walmart remains the lowest price on a basket of 60 products across two major markets the gap continues to narrow and is now at the lowest level in three years.

This is seen as an encouraging sign by those in the financial community who interpret the data as evidence of a rational pricing environment, even though from a shoppers perspective there exists less of a clear distinction between Walmart every day low prices and those of its competitors.

By Dave Mesko, [email protected]
It’s a shopper’s market. Today, consumers have an array of options when it comes to shopping and no longer have to remain loyal to one store. In order to grow and sustain loyal customers, it’s important that retailers provide a safe environment for shoppers.

For the second consecutive year Walmart appears on an annual ranking of the Best Companies for Leadership compiled by the consulting firm Hay Group. In the 2010 version of the survey, Walmart ranked ninth, compared with the prior year when it was ranked fifth. The survey was first conducted in 2005.

Companies that ranked ahead of Walmart included, General Electric, Procter & Gamble, Intel, Siemens, Banco Santander, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Accenture.