Consumer behavior has never been more diverse this holiday season, but some trends have begun to emerge. … READ MORE >
consumer products
Consumer products holiday season countdown: Shopping has already started
What’s in store for retailers and other consumer products companies this holiday shopping season? We explore in our holiday season countdown series. … READ MORE >
Food sales remain steady as we move into fall
While top-line retail sales data for September increased by 0.7%, beating analyst expectations of a 0.2% decline, food-focused categories remained only slightly up from August. … READ MORE >
Managing a supply chain: The short and long game for consumer goods companies
Persistent bottlenecks throughout the global supply chain stand in the way of middle market consumer goods companies’ ability to meet robust consumer demand. … READ MORE >
Chart of the day: Strong back-to-school retail sales may signal positive holiday season
In what retailers hope is a preview of the holiday shopping season, retail sales from the critical back-to-school month of August increased by 0.7% on the month. … READ MORE >
Already hot ‘buy now, pay later’ space gets a big boost from Amazon
Amazon partnering with Affirm is one of the latest signals that “buy now, pay later” offerings are here to stay, on the heels of strong performance last year, and also signals that online and brick-and-mortar retailers that don’t have BNPL options should assess what that means for their competitiveness. … READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Apparel goods pricing takes a mid-summer slide
The Consumer Price Index—which has indicated elevated pricing on apparel goods earlier this summer—appears to be declining on a year-over-year basis, according to Department of Labor data released Aug. 11. … READ MORE >
Grocers get margin relief, but it may only be temporary
Food retailers experienced better profit margins in June as they were able to pass along price increases to customers while their costs from suppliers dropped. … 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 >