Knowing the customer has become especially important in the digital age, when a company like Amazon has leveraged its extensive use of customer data to help it become one of the nation’s largest retailers. … READ MORE >
Consumer products
U.S. retail sales grew at a healthy 0.3% in October
With the critical holiday shopping season fast approaching, American consumers continued to open their wallets in October, though at a decelerating pace. The October increase of 0.3% in top-line domestic retail sales and the control estimate that feeds into the calculation of domestic gross domestic product reaffirm that the consumer remains on a solid footing. … READ MORE >
How middle market retailers can compete with free delivery
In a recent survey from the National Retail Federation, free shipping and shipping promotions ranked fourth on the list of factors that consumers said would affect their choice of retailer. … READ MORE >
No holiday break for fashion and apparel
Fresh 15% tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese goods are set to take effect next week. Despite an effort to mitigate the blow amid the impending holiday season by delaying some items on the list, the apparel industry didn’t catch a break. RSM’s Chris Shaker and Carol Lapidus break down the expected impact. … READ MORE >
US data deluge: cold cup of coffee on a sunny summer day
This morning’s data deluge provided a perfect snapshot of the U.S. economy at the current time. A robust consumer, driven by strong real compensation in the first quarter of the year, continued to prop up the American economy, even as the domestic manufacturing sector contracted by 0.5% on a year-ago basis. … READ MORE >
Think China is paying for tariffs? Guess again
So far in 2019, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol is on pace to collect more than $72 billion in import duties as a result of U.S. tariffs. An oft-repeated claim is that China is paying the cost of the tariffs. But we have data showing exactly who is paying for the tariffs: U.S. businesses and households. … READ MORE >
Despite strong consumer spending, higher costs bite into consumer margins
Even as trade disputes and other economic headwinds surface in 2019, the U.S. consumer has held strong and continues to fuel growth in the domestic economy, albeit at a slower pace than in recent years. … READ MORE >
Consumer companies stand to gain from opportunity zones
Opportunity zones—those specially created districts that offer tax breaks to investors—provide some attractive benefits to consumer businesses. The combination of tax deferral and potential tax avoidance on certain capital gains can be very attractive to any entity that plans to make future investments in real estate … READ MORE >
A data scientist could keep Amazon from kicking you off its platform
On May 28, Bloomberg reported that Amazon may stop taking wholesale orders from smaller vendors, a move intended to drive efficiencies and ensure that the tech giant maintains healthy supplies of its most in-demand products. Whether or not this report is true, it begs a broader question: What is your digital strategy and how does Amazon fit into it? … READ MORE >
Can consumers carry the economy amid weak business investment?
Durable goods orders in April showed broad weakness as expected, down 2.1 percent. However, in addition to April results, March durable goods numbers were also revised downward, compounding the impact and creating a weaker trend. Can consumer spending pick up the slack? … READ MORE >