Posts Tagged ‘2011 retail predictions’

2011 Retail Analysts in Review – Part 6: Matthew Fassler, Goldman Sachs

by Quantum Retail • January 4th, 2012 • Write a comment »

Matthew Fassler, analyst at Goldman Sachs made predictions for what the 2011-year would hold for the specialty retail sector. Fassler focused his predictions on Best Buy, RadioShack, OfficeMax, Borders, Home Depot, Lowe’s and AutoZone.

A strategic growth plan lead by Best Buy

For Best Buy, Fassler essentially had a neutral rating. He trimmed his price target to $38 from $39 believing a more streamlined growth strategy would happen in 2011. He also believed warranties would help Best Buy’s profitability where past sales lacked stating that consumer electronics retailing has been “historically a low-margin business that is dependent on extended warranties for profitability.” As content business – music and movies – has continued to shrink over the years, extended warranties would prove to be even more valuable to Best Buy in 2011, according to Fassler.

Best Buy planned to open 6-to-8 large format stores in the U.S. and a total of 18 stores in the U.K., Mexico and Canada throughout 2011 and 2012. The retailer also announced its closing of namesake stores in China, shifting U.S. growth to smaller formats instead of its familiar big boxes–all part of their strategic growth plan. And as a result of restructuring, Best Buy said it would incur charges of $225 million to $245 million over fiscal year 2011, diluting earnings.

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Best Buy reported net earnings of $651 million for fiscal fourth quarter in 2011 down from $779 million for the prior-year period. Their pre-tax restructuring charges totaled $222 million consistent with what Fassler had discussed. In line with their growth strategy for 2011, Best Buy announced plans to re-brand China stores as well as exit the Turkey market in 2012.

In terms of profitability, the company continued to advance its strategy to sell more mobile phones, broadband and TV connections to customers through the evolution of its product offerings and selling model. This correlated to Fassler’s notion that Best Buy would find new ways to increase profitability due to content business slowing. The retailer saw a 20 percent growth in annual sales with 9 percent acquired from mobile phone revenue in the U.S. Moreover, Best Buy made no mention of how extended warranties fit into their 2011 strategies.

RadioShack puts focus on mobile

Significant market changes made it an appropriate time for RadioShack’s CEO Julian C. Day to retire. With that said, before Day left, he mentioned three areas that RadioShack might consider focusing on in 2011:

Mobility: The retailer would start to expand their presence in the mobility sector moving to 2-to-3 carriers nationally allowing consumers to have choice and product comparison.

Re-allocation of space in stores: The second major change Day determined RadioShack would encounter within the company’s business was to reallocate the space in their stores for mobility and some signature categories such as power.

Financial strength: Day sighted T-Mobile struggles as part of the gross margin issue RadioShack was experiencing and decided that it would probably persist. Day thought getting a better handle on their accessories would be their biggest growth margin rate opportunity to improve the financial strength of the company.

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2011 was a transitional year for RadioShack: they phased out T-Mobile and launched Verizon Wireless products and services in their company-owned stores, and they focused on offering a more compelling assortment of brands and products. As Day mentioned, their mobility platform was a key component of their growth strategy as it represented 50 percent of their revenue. The Shack recognized there was still future potential for expansion as they positioned themselves as a multi-carrier wireless retailer.

During second quarter 2011, RadioShack ended operations in their Chinese manufacturing plant and, as a result, incurred closure-related costs of $11.0 million for the first nine months of 2011. For third quarter, comparable store sales for company-operated stores and Target Mobile centers decreased 4.0 percent which was primarily due to the decline in T-Mobile postpaid wireless sales. Having ended their relationship with T-Mobile and beginning to pay attention to offering consumers more carrier options and accessory assortments, RadioShack began on the right path to success just as Day predicted.

OfficeMax slump could be permanent

Analysts were divided over whether or not the big three office supply chains – Staples, OfficeMax, and Office Depot – were in long-term danger. Fassler expected stocks to fall, but in a research note he indicated there was some promise in OfficeMax’s forecast. The rise in retail competition with the likes of Wal-Mart, Costco and Target as one-stop mass merchants has been a huge headwind for the office supply giants as well as the decline in paper usage. Although paper itself isn’t lucrative, Staples, OfficeMax and Office Depot derived about half of their revenues from those operations, which sell in bulk to other companies. Paper sales also provided sales of other products such as ink, staples and printers, and therefore, have the potential to pose a big threat for superstores long-term.

OfficeMax announced the closing of 20 stores in 2011 in addition to downsizing existing units and curtailing expansion costs as third quarter saw a 2.1 percent decrease in same-store sales contributing to a 1.8 percent decrease in comp-store sales overall. But OfficeMax wasn’t the only one feeling the pain in 2011. Office supplies was one of the biggest revenue losers in 2011. Staples only saw a slight gain in Q3 at 0.5 percent and Office Depot saw a 2 percent decrease appearing as if Fassler’s thoughts on long-term decreases were correct.

Barnes & Noble fares well over Borders bankruptcy

As Borders listed a debt of $1.29 billion and assets of $1.28 billion at the end of 2010, they were left to file for bankruptcy. By the time the retailer embraced new strategies and tactics such as e-commerce, the competition had already established a firm lead. Rival and leading bookseller Barnes & Noble stood to be the biggest winner in the light of the filing in 2011. Before such, Fassler upgraded Barnes & Noble to ‘neutral’ from ‘sell’ ahead of the filing.

Barnes & Noble reported record sales of $7 billion for fiscal 2011. Digital growth fueled 78 percent in fourth quarter at BN.com and increases were also driven by sales of the company’s NOOK. Strong sales for the retailer were speculated to have developed out of new business from people who used to shop at Borders.

Home Depot to improve, Lowe’s to transition

Two similar home renovation retailers have been found going in different directions. After years of evolution, Home Depot was poised for new levels of profitability while Lowe’s began to undergo a transition. Because of this, Fassler upgraded Home Depot to ‘buy’ and downgraded Lowe’s to ‘neutral’. He forecasted improvement in same-store sales over the first few quarters in 2011 in reference to a focus on home repair, remodeling and maintenance and less emphasis on appliances for Home Depot. As for Lowe’s, the company’s management has undergone substantial shuffling causing Fassler to note their biggest challenge: introducing new and innovative ideas, that there had been too much redundancy in years past.

Fassler’s prediction for Home Depot was spot on. Home Depot experienced growth in 2011 ending the third quarter of the year with net earnings of $934 million compared with net earnings of $834 million in the same period of fiscal 2010. Home Depot accredited their success to the strength in their core categories and their exceptional customer service. Like Fassler mentioned, the retailer spent prior years on transforming their merchandising efforts and introduced new initiatives to benefit the customer. 2011 was the year it all came together for Home Depot.

In regards to Lowe’s, Fassler made some very accurate projections on their current transitional stage. Lowe’s managerial moves put them in some difficult corners; however, they were necessary for the retailer in order to see new growth. Along with leadership changes, Lowe’s also experienced changes in the number of stores they operated. Store closings and discontinued projects led to reduced pre-tax earning for the third quarter, and forced Lowe’s to create strategies focused on advancement and becoming a “home improvement company” as opposed to a “home improvement retailer”. The 2011-year positioned Lowe’s with strong potential as the company continued to transform realizing that they needed to go beyond the confines of a brick and mortar store, providing customer support whenever and wherever a consumer chose.

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AutoZone takes the driver’s seat

Chairman of the Board, CEO and President, William Rhodes, spoke highly of AutoZone’s success in 2010 experiencing growth in domestic and Mexico businesses as well as in both commercial and retail sectors. Servicing the customer and providing the degree of trustworthy advice continued to be a key differentiator in the marketplace, Rhodes stated. Fassler went on to say that their incentive comp would remain close to current levels in 2011.

In 2011, AutoZone, for the first time, exceeded $8 billion in sales increasing 10 percent versus 2010. The company still believed providing great service was their number one focus and the main contribution to their growth. The retailer put an emphasis on growing the commercial business, leveraging the Internet, and investing in technology in 2011 as other sources of development. Rhodes admitted that 2011’s numbers weren’t easy to reach, but hard work and dedication put them in the driver’s seat.

The specialty retail sector has had an especially difficult 2011-year. Shoppers continued to cut back on unnecessary purchases, products that were once lucrative came to a standstill, and some retailers were found caught in the midst of an identity crisis. Whether it was Lowe’s and Home Depot or AutoZone and Best Buy, specialty retailers had one thing in common: trying to keep up with consumers’ always-changing wants and needs. But that was just the beginning. Retailers then had to determine how and when shoppers were going to make purchases.

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Read Fassler’s full prediction here»

Please note that the information provided above is sourced from public releases and reports and does not include any undisclosed information from or about the retailers named.

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2011 Retail Analysts in Review – Part 4: Meredith Adler, Barclay’s Capital

by Quantum Retail • December 14th, 2011 • Write a comment »

Managing director at Barclay’s Capital, Meredith Adler, focused her 2011 retail outlooks in the supermarket, discount and pharmacy sectors.

Room for growth in supermarkets

Adler discussed in an interview with CNBC the deflated outlook of supermarket stocks stating that while grocers, like Whole Foods Market, might provide a wonderful shopping experience, analysts don’t think prospects for their growth are as good as the price would indicate. And although there is a strong niche group of consumers that can afford to shop at Whole Foods, there are many people that can’t, which might eventually create a plateau for growth.

With that said, out of multiple grocers including Supervalu, Kroger and Safeway, the only grocer Adler recommended to CNBC was Winn Dixie and that was primarily a play at valuation.

According to results from the latest Annual Food Shopping Trends Tracker Survey, rising food costs haven’t curbed Americans’ appetite for natural and organic foods with 72 percent of Americans saying they would continue to buy the same amount of organic and/or natural foods as they always have. In addition, Whole Foods released findings from a recent competitive pricing study showing a basket of popular grocery item costs $5.38 less at Whole Foods Market than at other national supermarket chains. In fact, Whole Foods’ sales increased 12 percent to $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter reporting eight consecutive quarters of accelerating two-year identical store sales growth.

Winn Dixie didn’t experience as much success as Whole Foods did in 2011. Net sales for the fourth quarter were $1.6 billion for the retailer, which was a 3.8 percent decrease compared to fourth quarter of 2010. Winn Dixie attributes inflation increases as a focus of decreased sales.

On a different note, Adler told Supermarket News (SN) that she expected Winn Dixie’s new SVP, Larry Appel, to bring a more strategic point of view to marketing. She believed decisions must be made locally and a balance between making a strong statement to customers about pricing without giving the store away was needed for Winn Dixie’s customer-centric strategy.

As part of this customer-centric strategy, Winn Dixie began renovating stores to provide guests with solutions and services to make shopping easier and fun including expanding produce, bakery and deli departments, cozy sitting areas, and bilingual store décor packages at appropriate locations.

 Learn more on creating a customer-centric supply chain here»

The discount sector

Of all the retailers in the discount sector, Adler’s favorite stock of 2011 was Dollar Tree. Adler determined that Dollar Tree could add at least 3,000 stores to the existing U.S. base plus 900 Dollar General stores in Canada as she saw dollar stores continuing to fare well even if sales started to level off. She predicted that higher-income households would start to recover from the recession and low-income families would still be suffering from high unemployment, weak disposable incomes, and high gas prices and would therefore continue to shop at discount stores.

Thus far into the year, Dollar Tree has added 257 new stores and has expanded or relocated 88 units as well as enlarging their distribution center. It doesn’t appear as if Dollar Tree will make it to the 3,000 count as Adler would like to see, but the retailer is on the right track. In terms of sales, Dollar Tree experienced an 11.9 percent increase at end of third quarter.

Family Dollar also began to expand its footprint in the discount retail industry. The retailer recently announced the grand opening of four stores in California and one in Ontario with plans to further development in California within the next year. Family Dollar didn’t have a double-digit sales increase like Dollar Tree did, but the chain reported record sales and earnings with a 9.1 percent increase.

Big Lots and the food business

Big Lots and Adler, in an earnings call on March 3, 2011, discussed expansion across many fronts paying close attention to consumables. Big Lots had plans to aggressively increase transactions and show great value at the same time. Some initiatives included in these plans were expanding fresh private label assortment, engaging Buzz Club members, Internet blowouts, and an international food fair. Big Lots CEO Steve Fisherman told Adler that he saw real opportunity in the specialty foods part of their business and that unique items set them apart.

Commenting on sales for the second and third quarters, Fisherman attributed increased sales to consumables and stated that it was their strongest category. As they continued to see positive customer responses to advances to restore momentum in that category, Big Lots planned to keep working towards more advancement in their food business. Although the company’s closeout format provides an edge over traditional discount retailers such as their primary competition Target, analysts have become more cautious about the stock recently.

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Walgreens takes pharmacy to a new level

Analysts expected Walgreen’s stores that have been open for at least a year to grow 3.3 percent in 2010, not the 2.2 percent they actually grew by. Walgreen’s also expanded to 506 new locations last year, which included the acquisition of Duane Reade pharmacy chain adding 2.5 percent to total revenue growth in 2010. Consequently, Adler expected an even weaker growth for 2011 with a mere 1-percent increase in front-end revenue.

For fiscal year 2011, sales increased 7.1 percent from the prior year to a record $72.2 billion for Walgreen’s with a total of 261 new locations and 36 acquisitions. Same store sales saw an increase of 4.4 percent. Additionally, front-end sales also saw an increase of 4.6 percent in the fourth quarter. Adler’s expectations for Walgreen’s were not complementary nor were they accurate as both total sales and front-end sales saw more significant increases than anticipated.

Helping to aid in increases, which Adler may not have foreseen, was the completed acquisition of leading e-commerce site drugstore.com extending Walgreen’s multi-channel reach to an additional three million online customers and adding approximately 60,000 health, personal care and beauty products to its online offering.

Food inflation and price sensitive shoppers are simply two reasons retailers, especially those in the supermarket, pharmacy and discount sectors, have witnessed increased competition and prices throughout 2011. With retailers beginning to expand store formats and product assortments to combat 2011’s challenges more problems can arise: customers and stores vary widely across regions proving difficult to understand stock levels and the selling behavior of every product at every store. In order to keep up with the pace of expanding business and changing markets, advanced awareness needs to be paid attention to on a real-time level.

For more information on gaining a competitive advantage in today’s changing market visit»

To read Adler’s full report visit»

Please note that the information provided above is sourced from public releases and reports and does not include any undisclosed information from or about the retailers named.

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Stay posted for next week’s review from Charles Grom, JPMorgan Chase

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2011 Retail Analysts in Review – Part 2: Marie Driscoll, Standard & Poor’s

by Quantum Retail • November 30th, 2011 • Write a comment »

Marie Driscoll, head of consumer discretionary retail at S&P Equity Research, admitted that while various aspects of the labor market have continued to stay extremely poor, the 2011-year could be slightly positive for retail sales. Driscoll, along with other S&P analysts, presented a rundown of 10 trends for retailers in 2011 keeping in mind the current employment situation. Here’s a recap of the trends and whether or not these trends were on track.

1. International growth: Retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Polo Ralph Lauren and Tiffany planned to increasingly focus on international growth with many retailers closing domestic stores to take advantage of emerging markets.

Driscoll and S&P were spot on with this prediction. Abercrombie & Fitch and Tiffany both sought international expansion in emerging markets this year. Tiffany’s international sales were even set to exceed sales of its U.S. stores. The retailer now operates 31 stores in Europe. More so, Gap is an even better example to demonstrate this trend. The retailer recently planned to close approximately 200 domestic stores in the U.S. to focus on global growth and expects China to become a billion-dollar business in three to four years.

Retailers are more aggressive than ever about global supply chain expansion as they don’t want to rely solely on U.S. revenue stream. Expanding stores to new markets means retailers need a supply chain that responds to customer needs and that is efficient at distributing product on a global scale; an international presence means understanding more than IT, it’s about everything retail.

Get more resources on how to adapt to the challenges of today’s retail market here»

2. E-commerce growth: As the recession continues, consumers have begun to favor value and convenience more and more. With that said, Driscoll predicted an online growth of 10% in 2011. For retailers, the web has been the perfect place to test trends and assess customer interest. For those already involved with e-commerce initiatives, Driscoll stated it’s important that online sales don’t take away from store sales and inventory.

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What Driscoll and S&P have proposed here is very accurate in a sense that e-commerce has become a major trend and now accounts for a large percentage of sales for retailers. Most retailers have even begun to offer free shipping with no restrictions for the large percentage of consumers that prefer to shop online and, as a result of increased demand, retailers are also offering hard-to-beat deals exclusively for online shoppers. Online retailers have gone a step further and created a Black Friday counterpart: Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday is the one-day of the year in which retailers and e-commerce sites offer deals similar to those of Black Friday.

3. M-commerce growth: Becoming more common, increased price comparisons and retailer enabled Wi-Fi hot spots in stores have given rise to m-commerce. S&P speculated that 50% of consumers would have smartphones by the end of 2011 and that sales associates would also be empowered by this greater access to information.

Tablets and handheld devices are becoming staples for tech-smart retailers allowing associates to search online warehouses, other stores in a chain, and other retailers for specific products and prices. In turn, allowing consumers to make purchases right then and there. Google Wallet is making an appearance in retail store locations as well. OfficeMax added the new service to checkout terminals to make it easier for customers to pay, redeem coupons and utilize its loyalty program all through the use of their smartphones. Mobile services that enhance the shopping experience will soon become a necessity, not an option.

4. Social media growth: Driscoll determined that companies would more than likely rely on social media as an effective way for retailers to manage image and brand.

Retailers and companies are definitely capitalizing on all the possibilities that social media offers as its proven that consumers who connect with a brand via social media have a deeper emotional commitment to the brand or company and therefore, spend more money. According to a report by Bain & Company, those people that engage with brands through social media spend between 20% and 40% more on the products offered by the brands they follow compared with other customers.

5. Green/organic growth: S&P analysts expected consumers to increasingly seek out organic or green products in 2011.

This trend was not as predominant as anticipated. Companies are “going green” more often these days, but as far as green products are concerned, consumers are confused by what exactly ‘green’ means and are trying to request better clarification.

New research from Ryan Partnership Chicago and Mambo Sprouts Marketing determined that consumers would spend more money on sustainable products if they knew which products were “truly green”. The survey also concluded that more than half of shoppers prefer that sustainability information such as packaging and labels be displayed within the store.

6. Meeting individual consumer demand: It’s been important for retailers to personalize service, catering to individual consumer demands by providing greater service and marketing. But, the fact of the matter is that every store and consumer behaves differently.

More retailers are developing new sites and apps that allow consumers to input information about themselves for more tailored product searches. However, retailers such as Nordstrom don’t consider this a trend – it’s a best business practice for them in which each department within a store caters to a specific lifestyle. Moreover, Nordstrom offers free personal shoppers to help each customer find exactly what he or she looking for. For Nordstrom, it’s always been about the individual consumer.

7. Increasing the divide between high-end and value merchants: The success of high-end luxury stores benefiting from the wealthy and low-end retailers being aided by value-seeking consumers will continue throughout 2011.

This has been a very true trend for quite some time now especially as, despite the recession, the wealthy have continued to shop high-end stores and value driven consumers are taking a step back. Retailers that cater to consumers on the tightest budgets stand to lose the most.

8. Increasing the thrill factor: Consumers will seek out new and exciting experiences. S&P predicted stores that are able to thrill, surprise, delight and engage would probably win in this category.

 It is not just the thrill factor that consumers are enticed by; it’s the ambiance of a store or the interactivity of a web site. Department stores, particularly, need to better enhance the shopping experience such as with the use of lavish displays, celebrity appearances or live music to attract more foot traffic.

9. Increasing consumer personalization: Brands are testing the waters of mass collaboration, providing the consumer with the opportunity for community input in product designs.

S&P analysts might be on to something with this prediction. Although it has not proven to be a major theme for retailers in 2011, this may be something to look forward to and something for retailers to consider in the future.

10. Increased coupon use to lead to decreased margin: More and more consumers have started searching for coupons as a means of creating value for their purchases.

Extreme couponing has become one of the most popular trends of 2011 especially in the grocery and household goods sectors. Consumers who engage in couponing are becoming less loyal to retailers, stores and brands, and are focusing on where the money-saving coupons take them. Shoppers are also seeking deals in different forms such as cash-back rewards, in-store contests and gift-card giveaways.

Retailers face the fear that all the effort and money put into coupons and deals is going to be thrown away to one-time buyers with no return. And with increased costs, heavy promotions and constant coupon use, margins have started to suffer.

Retailers have become considerably aggressive over the past year pursuing new opportunities to drive sales. Driscoll and her fellow analysts at S&P declared 10 ways in which retailers would improve sales in 2011 and while some of the trends were more prevailing than others, it’s best for retailers to keep an eye out for those that will become major game changers in the coming years.

To read Driscoll’s full report visit»

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Please note that the information provided above is sourced from public releases and reports and does not include any undisclosed information from or about the retailers named.

Stay posted for next week’s review with insight from Liz Dunn, FBR Capital Markets

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2011 Retail Analysts in Review – Part 1: Deborah Weinswig, Citigroup

by Quantum Retail • November 16th, 2011 • Write a comment »

Early in the year, Deborah Weinswig, retail analyst at Citigroup, made some predictions of what the 2011-year might hold for retailers. Weinswig and Citigroup made speculations that technology would play a large role in 2011 and that certain retailers would capitalize on it. Weinswig expected retailers to utilize technology in the following ways:

  • Drive sales across multiple channels
  • Improve buying and allocation decisions
  • Enhance margins with next generation optimization tools
  • Leverage strong toplines with workforce management

Citigroup also predicted that CVS, JC Penney and Macy’s were the most likely to use technology with two themes taking front-and-center: optimization technologies and multi-channel fulfillment.

  • Optimization technologies are building new technologies onto existing platforms and capabilities. The best approaches are from the store-level up and are in real time to maximize inventory productivity. Next generation technologies allow retailers to go above and beyond price, markdown and size optimization, to focus on profit and loss.

Learn more about next generation technologies here»

  • Multi-channel fulfillment streamlines assortments from all channels – online, in-store, catalog, etc. – to create a more refined experience for consumers ensuring retailers have the ability to fulfill orders and purchases from all inventories. Integrating product availability and distribution from vendors and warehouses to actual brick-and-mortar stores assures product doesn’t go out of stock at any channel.

Taking advantage of technology in 2011

Macy’s was indeed a major retailer to take advantage of technology in 2011 as Weinswig and Citigroup anticipated.

Having recently announced their international sales launch to online shoppers in 91 countries, Macy’s began expanding their e-commerce business in 2011. The retailer also rolled out new technologies to benefit customers by increasing their omnichannel platform. In addition to expanding their Search & Send initiative, which permits stores to search for a product that is out of stock or unavailable at a location through Macys.com and then send the product to the customer’s location of choice, they are now implementing the use of tablets and handheld devices in select stores. This will give consumers access to larger selections, product features and other offerings while allowing them to purchase items through Search & Send.

For more information on multi-level distribution here»

With that said, Macy’s began an adoption process for an RFID program focused on optimization technologies and inventory accessibility through multiple channels. The program is a way for Macy’s to build on their already-existing capabilities streamlining in-store and online merchandise, increasing sales and assisting with e-commerce integration as Citigroup projected.

CVS and JC Penney also utilized technology in 2011, but their presences did not appear to be as strong. CVS made IT investments to support services that pharmacists provided as well as to improve access and treatment of health care for their consumers. Other initiatives for CVS included rolling out a Pharmacy Advisor program that added value to clients by offering face-to-face counseling within pharmacies, and advancements to their Consumer Engagement Engine which identifies cost savings or health improvement opportunities. These new technologies have given CVS the ability to integrate all of their target key points: retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies and call centers.

JC Penney, on the other hand, utilized technology to launch new mobile plans including a mobile commerce site and location based check-in offers. The retailer also dispersed iPad devices to 50 fine jewelry departments in conjunction with the introduction of their Modern Bride concept that can be accessed in-store, on jcp.com and on modernbride.com.

Aside from the aforementioned retailers, Lowe’s is another retailer that exemplified Citigroup’s technology projections. Their more recent program, called MyLowe’s, allows all purchases, whether made in-store or online, to be tracked automatically and amassed on a customer’s online profile. Still in its first phase, MyLowe’s features ways to organize products, projects and ideas, grant access to warranties and product manuals, and set reminders for common maintenance tasks. Additionally, the retailer released its Lowe’s app for iPhone and iPod touch designed to support customers with home improvement projects and to aid in the shopping experience.

As Lowe’s expands its technological portfolio, the retailer realized it also needed to strengthen its technology infrastructure and platforms. However, Lowe’s is approaching the opportunity in a slightly different way than Macy’s is by hiring up to 300 IT professionals to support operations and create processes to better serve customers. Lowe’s immediate need is to improve upon present technology proficiencies to drive sales across the multiple channels they now operate as well as supporting strong revenues with their current and upcoming IT workforce.

Improving service levels

Weinswig and Citigroup made some accurate predictions for 2011, but as the year comes to an end, it’s clear to see that while retailers have begun to understand the importance of technology, not all retailers are so quick to jump onboard. And although every retailer wants to increase sales and enhance their margins, they also have to find new ways to excite the consumer and provide great service.

Macy’s, CVS, JC Penney and Lowe’s have all acknowledged how important service is to a consumer. It is this acknowledgement that has been leading them to discover and implement new technology campaigns and initiatives aimed at better building higher service levels or, in some regard, benefiting the customer. If Citigroup and Weinswig missed one thing in their predictions, it would be utilizing technology to increase service levels.

To read Weinswig’s full prediction visit»

Please note that the information provided above is sourced from public releases and reports and does not include any undisclosed information from or about the retailers named.

Stay posted for next week’s review with predictions by Marie Driscoll, Standard & Poor’s.

 

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