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☆ Retailers see a tough year ahead, so they're rolling out the recession playbook
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Melissa Repko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Now, major retailers are dusting off their playbook for a recession — or at least for a period of slower sales. Target shoppers can soon get a Starbucks coffee, make a return and retrieve an online purchases without leaving their cars. Some retailers are rethinking their approach to discounts while questioning other costs, such as giving away free shipping or deliveries without strings attached. Some retailers have also turned free shipping into a perk for only engaged or higher spending customers. Nike , for instance, offers free shipping for shoppers – if they share their personal data by joining its membership program.

☆ Best Buy will set up in-home hospital care through a new deal with Atrium Health
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Melissa Repko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Best Buy is best known for installing TVs and home theater systems. Best Buy began setting up virtual-care systems in mid-February for 10 hospitals in and around Charlotte, North Carolina. Best Buy and Atrium did not disclose specific financial terms, but said Atrium will buy the devices from Best Buy and use Geek Squad services for installation and retrieval when the patient is cleared from care. For Best Buy, the hospital-at-home program represents the latest push to turn health care into a more meaningful revenue driver. Best Buy, like retailers including Walmart and Target , has seen consumers buy fewer big-ticket and discretionary items as they pay more for food and housing.

Best Buy on Thursday reported holiday-quarter earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street's expectations, as waning demand for consumer electronics proved better than feared. "We are preparing for another down year for the [consumer electronics] industry," said CEO Corie Barry on a call with analysts. Its pandemic-era momentum has teed up challenging comparisons for the consumer electronics retailer, particularly as shoppers feel strained by bigger grocery bills and other higher expenses fueled by inflation. The key metric, also called comparable sales, tracks sales online and at stores open at least 14 months. Best Buy had joined other retailers in cutting its outlook this summer.

☆ Organized retail crime has ballooned into a $100 billion problem — and store employees are dying over it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Avery Hartmans | Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Organized retail crime increased by 26.5% in 2021, according to the National Retail Federation. It's organized retail crime, and it's a nearly $100 billion problem for the industry. A 2022 study the National Retail Federation conducted found that organized retail crime at retailers surged by 26.5% in 2021 compared to the year prior. Organized retail crime is not the $10,000 jewelry heist you see in the movies, Jake Stauch, the director of product for the security company Verkada, said. The rise of e-commerce has, in large part, fueled organized retail crime.

☆ Retailers are under pressure to turn deep discounts into big sales on Black Friday
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Melissa Repko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Shoppers walk past a sale sign as Black Friday sales begin at The Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass in Simpsonville, Kentucky, November 26, 2021. Jon Cherry | ReutersMajor retailers are under intense pressure to deliver on Black Friday after several of them reported a slowdown in sales heading into the do-or-die holiday shopping season. Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said shoppers are showing more interest in sales than usual. Barry, the Best Buy CEO, said the company's October sales were the slowest in the quarter compared with last year. She said Best Buy now expects customers to spend more during Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the two weeks leading up to Christmas.

☆ Best Buy forecasts smaller drop in sales ahead of holiday season
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Uday Sampath Kumar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 22 (Reuters) - Best Buy Co Inc (BBY.N) on Tuesday forecast a smaller drop in annual sales than it had previously estimated, saying it was confident that a ramp up in deals and discounts will bring in more inflation-weary customers during the holiday season. Best Buy expects full-year comparable sales to fall about 10%, compared with a previous forecast of a decrease of about 11%. "Best Buy may be better positioned for the holiday season than other retailers," said Jason Benowitz, senior portfolio manager at Roosevelt Investment Group. "We expect modest growth in consumer holiday spend this year and believe many companies hold too much inventory relative to demand, while Best Buy appears to have rightsized its holdings ahead of the season," Benowitz added. However, heavier discounts will take a toll on holiday-quarter profit margins, Best Buy warned.

☆ Apple's Pro iPhones will be harder to find in stores this holiday -Best Buy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 22 (Reuters) - Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) high-end iPhones will be in short supply at stores this holiday season, Best Buy Co Inc's (BBY.N) chief executive said on Tuesday, as the tech giant grapples with production issues at a virus-blighted plant in China. read moreThe supply issues are expected to most significantly impact Apple's premium iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models, which start at nearly $1,000. Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said the electronics retail giant was seeing a shortage in stocks of the premium iPhones and had factored the expected loss in sales into its holiday quarter forecast. Apple's iPhones and other products draw a lot of customers to Best Buy stores and often trigger impulse buying of other gadgets as well. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives estimates 8 million iPhone 14 units will be sold over the Black Friday weekend, about 2 million fewer than a year ago.

☆ 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.

☆ Consumer spending is slowing, but there are still pockets of strength in these three sectors
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-28 | by ( Robert Hum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Despite new signs of slowing consumer demand, pockets of strength remain in travel, payments and autos. "Travel demand surged in the second quarter, and thus far, strong demand trends continue in the third quarter," CEO Bob Jordan said. Credit card companies have been showing no signs of a letup in consumer spending, too. Remember, American Express reported very strong travel and entertainment spending . And here's the key line in the release from CEO Michael Miebach who said, "Increasing inflationary pressures have yet to significantly affect overall consumer spending."

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