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☆ Chain restaurants like Chili's are coming for fast-food giants in the latest bout of the value wars
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Erin Mcdowell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

As fast-food prices increase, customers are finding more value in chain restaurants. Chains like Chili's are rolling out deals and portion sizes that could best fast-food chains. Chili's new Big Smasher burger is the latest offensive move in the value wars. The Big Smasher burger, Chili's newest menu item, was served in the company's test kitchen before its official launch on April 29. And if the sheer size and taste of the Chili's burger are anything to go by, it has a shot at beating fast-food chains in the value wars.

Persons: —, margarita, It's, Applebee's, John Peyton, Cate Gillon, Ian Borden, Scott Rodrick, Chris Kempczinski, Borden, McDonald's, Erin McDowell, We've, we've, Brian Paquette, Paquette, Big, Chili's, Richard Levine, Corbis, Felix Organizations: Service, Dallas, Mac, Business, Dine, Restaurant, UBS Global Consumer, Retail Conference, CNN, CBS News, Getty, Bloomberg Locations: New York, New York City, California, , New York

☆ P&G's initial decline had nothing to do with earnings. The market later agreed
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

For the full year, the overall sales growth rate was reiterated at 2% to 4% as was the organic growth target of 4% to 5%. On the call, Schulten said growth across categories continues to be broad-based with 8 of 10 product categories holding or growing organic sales in this quarter. In North America, organic sales rose 3% on the back of a 3% increase in volume. In Europe, focus markets rose 7% on the back of a 4% increase in volume, and in Latin America, organic sales were up 17% versus the year-ago period. Weakness continued in Greater China, with organic sales declining 10%.

Persons: Dow, Andre Schulten, Schulten, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Pantene, Justin Sullivan Organizations: Procter, Gamble, Procter & Gamble, Colgate, Palmolive, Unilever, Management, CNBC Locations: United States, American, North America, Europe, Latin America, Greater China, China, San Anselmo , California

☆ Shopify has poached at least two dozen employees from Salesforce as it pushes into enterprise e-commerce
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Holly Dresden joined Shopify as head of enterprise merchant success in December after six years with Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Evan AgostiniAs it moves further into enterprise, Shopify hasn't always been subtle about zeroing in on Salesforce as a competitor. It recently launched a webpage comparing its platform with Salesforce Commerce Cloud, encouraging merchants to "join the mass migration" of brands moving from Salesforce to Shopify. But winning over enterprise retailers requires a different approach, and it's one where Salesforce has more years of experience than Shopify. Talking the enterprise talkPoaching employees from Salesforce isn't the only way Shopify has made an effort to win over enterprise customers.

Persons: —, Shopify, Kal Stephen, Holly Dresden, Everlane, Marc Benioff, Evan Agostini, hasn't, Michael Affronti, we've, Affronti, Shopify's, Salesforce, We've, It's, Rick Watson, Watson, Demandware, Oppenheimer, Ken Wong, Wong, Harley Finkelstein Organizations: Service, Salesforce Commerce, Business, Salesforce, Adobe, SAP, Mattel, Commerce, RMW Commerce Consulting, Accenture, IDC, Manhattan Associates Locations: Salesforce, Demandware

☆ Jim Cramer says buy the dip in shares of this quality company of household brand names
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. During the Club's Morning Meeting, Jim Cramer said he's monitoring the potential impact of the massive earthquake in Taiwan on semiconductor production there. Jim Cramer called Eaton the "most megatrend big cap story there is," citing positives for the company from industrialization and artificial intelligence. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER .

Persons: Jim Cramer, Eaton, Jim, Procter, Estee Lauder, Jim Cramer's Organizations: CNBC, ADP, Treasury, Wall, Barclays, Procter, Gamble, JPMorgan Locations: Taiwan

☆ Estee Lauder sinks on disappointment that CEO Fabrizio Freda didn't have better news about China
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Estee Lauder shares declined Thursday after CEO Fabrizio Freda offered an underwhelming outlook on China at a retail conference earlier in the day. Freda, who has been CEO for 14 years, said China remains an important growth segment for Estee Lauder, and the trend of more consumption there is not changing. While management is confident that performance will improve going forward, we still see Estee Lauder as a "show me" story. In the second half of fiscal 2024, Estee Lauder said it's positioned for stronger profitability versus the first half. Pedestrians walk past the American multinational skincare, and beauty products brand, Estée Lauder (Estee Lauder) logo seen in Hong Kong.

Persons: Estee Lauder, Fabrizio Freda, Freda —, Freda, it's, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Estée Lauder, Budrul Organizations: UBS Global Consumer, Retail Conference, UBS, Management, CNBC, Lightrocket, Getty Locations: China, New York City, U.S, Asia, American, Hong Kong

☆ McDonald's says customers don't want premium burgers — they want bigger ones instead
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

McDonald's customers want bigger burgers instead of luxury ones, CFO Ian Borden said. McDonald's spent years trialing premium burgers. AdvertisementMcDonald's says its customers want bigger burgers, not premium ones. For years, McDonald's tried to target customers with offers of premium burgers, CFO Ian Borden told analysts at the UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference on Wednesday. Instead, there's a "significant" opportunity for "a large, more satiating-type burger" across McDonald's large markets, Borden said.

Persons: Ian Borden, McDonald's, —, Borden Organizations: Service, UBS Global Consumer, Retail Conference, Business

☆ McDonald's says cash-strapped diners are choosing to eat at home more often
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Because of this, McDonald's said it will focus on value bundles and app offers. AdvertisementMore low-income consumers are choosing to eat at home instead of dining out after years of fast-food price hikes, McDonald's CFO says. Ian Borden told analysts at the UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference on Wednesday that lower-income consumers "are just choosing to eat at home more often." Like other fast-food chains, McDonald's increased menu prices significantly during the pandemic amid soaring wage and commodity inflation. McDonald's will focus on value bundles and app offersMcDonald's fries.

Persons: McDonald's, —, Ian Borden, it's, Borden, Erin McDowell Organizations: Service, UBS Global Consumer, Retail Conference, Bureau of Labor Statistics Locations: Germany

☆ Costco, Lowe's, Best Buy, and Tractor Supply are winning the battle against retail theft in a strikingly similar way
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Retail executives generally agree that retail theft is worse than they've ever seen. Even so, leaders from Costco, Lowe's, Best Buy, and Tractor Supply have said their businesses aren't so affected. The companies have five striking similarities that are helping them win the war on retail theft. "Organized retail crime is worse now than I've ever seen it," Tractor Supply CEO Hal Lawton told Insider in August. Meanwhile, a typical Tractor Supply location may have as many as eight people working in a relatively small, 20,000 square-foot store.

Persons: Hal Lawton, I've, Marvin Ellison, Corie Barry, Richard Galanti, We've, Lawton, Dominick Reuter, John Tlumacki, Ben Tobin, they're, Paul Hennessy, Lowe's, Mario Tama, Barrie, Ellison Organizations: Costco, Lowe's, Tractor Supply, Service, Goldman Sachs, Conference, Supply, Massachusetts Costco, Boston Globe, Getty, Electronics, Retailers, Tractor Locations: Wall, Silicon, Massachusetts, Costco, Orlando

☆ Lowe's CEO says the 'greatest deterrent' for retail theft is hiring and training workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Incidents of retail theft appear to be rising, but some companies are managing to avoid the trend. Although Lowe's has reported an increase in inventory shrink, it's not expected to hurt profits. CEO Marvin Ellison attributed low theft rates to investing in the company's workers. But unlike dozens of other retail executives, Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison says the losses from retail theft this year are not expected to have a material impact on the company's profits. Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison says the home improvement chain's low inventory shrink rate is "not by accident."

Persons: Lowe's, Marvin Ellison, Ellison, David Swanson, they've Organizations: Service, CNBC, Tractor Supply Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Walmart wants associates, not gig workers, to deliver more orders as the retailer struggles to verify the identity of its Spark drivers
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

It could signal a shift after Walmart spent years recruiting gig workers for its Spark Driver service. "We'll have associates doing more deliveries," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said Tuesday at a retail conference hosted by Goldman Sachs. AdvertisementAdvertisementWalmart has attracted hundreds of thousands of gig workers to Spark since it started the service in 2018. The number of Spark drivers tripled alone in the year between mid-2022 and mid-2023, according to the post. Other Spark drivers staged a protest in June about bots, or programs that drivers use to claim orders before other people.

Persons: Doug McMillon, DoorDash, We'll, Goldman Sachs, McMillon Organizations: Walmart, Service Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ JPMorgan says this retailer is a buy as it nears an 'inflection point'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Analyst Matthew Boss upgraded the retail stock to overweight from neutral and increased his price target by $1 to $29. His price target implies the stock will rally 65.8% over the next year from where shares ended Friday's session. He said the retailer should be able to see multiyear EBITDA margins in the low double digits due to five "self-help" growth vectors. Boss said the stock has an attractive risk-to-reward ratio and is at an attractive entry point following recent underperformance. Macy's trades at around two times its 2024 EBITDA, he said, which places it around 50% below the average of stocks in the department stores/mall-based specialty category.

☆ UBS details how consumer spending is under pressure as inflation remains a threat — and reveals 4 top retailers worth investing in
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Consumer spending hasn't collapsed due to high inflation, though pressure is building. The resilience of consumer spending might be the biggest surprise in markets in the past year. To that point, $44 billion AutoZone (AZO) indicated it hasn't seen consumer behavior change and has maintained its margins by passing on costs. 4 retail stocks to buy nowIf there's a consensus among the companies that attended UBS' conference, it's that although consumer spending has held up for now, pressure from inflation is steadily mounting. Those are listed below, along with each company's ticker and market capitalization, as well as selected insights their management teams provided at UBS' retail conference.

☆ Procrastinators, rejoice: Super Saturday is here and it could bring major discounts to shoppers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Super Saturday, the last Saturday before Christmas, could draw a record 158 million shoppers. But shoppers who take advantage of that extra time to buy are in for another treat: major discounts. "Retailers staring down time-limited inventory surpluses will do whatever they can to liquidate before the holiday season has expired." Shoppers could see major discounts on Super SaturdayBrandon Bell/Getty ImagesMajor retailers have been lamenting their inventory positions throughout 2022. The supply chain challenges that squeezed retail brands last holiday season have subsided, leaving a pandemic-induced hangover in their wake.

☆ Dollar General’s newest shoppers: People making $100,000 a year
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-08 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN Business —Middle-income and wealthier shoppers, pinched by inflation, are shopping more at Dollar General for essentials and discretionary items. Dollar General (DG) CEO Todd Vasos this week said the retail giant has been attracting customers earning $100,000 a year in recent weeks. Inflation has pushed up prices for groceries and gas, and now these shoppers are turning to Dollar General (DG) and others to try to save money. Some of these customers first shopped at Dollar General earlier in the pandemic and have now returned, he added. Dollar General has been a lifeline for lower-income shoppers, particularly in rural areas with few other retail options.

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