Bain Retail Holiday Newsletter #5
Bain & Company 1/20/2010
by Darrell Rigby, Kris Miller and Josh Chernoff
Preliminary sales results for the 2009 holiday season are in, and the news is better than expected. Retail sales for November and December were up 1.2% over 2008, exceeding most forecasts. These results lend hope that momentum is gradually building as we exit an otherwise bleak year in which GAFO sales fell 2.6% overall. With the 2009 holiday season over, we turn our attention to the new year. We close our final newsletter of the season with a discussion of key retail strategies in 2010.
A return to growth in turbulent times
Results Brief newsletter 1/13/2010
by Chris Zook and James Allen
Companies seeking to rebuild their competitive advantage need a strong core to expand successfully as the economy recovers.
Bain Retail Holiday Newsletter #4
Bain & Company 12/18/2009
by Darrell Rigby, Kris Miller and Josh Chernoff
Retail sales generally are improving. Although November GAFS sales were down 0.6% from last year, growth rates for all segments have been trending upward over the last several months. Hope remains for a strong December: Consumers, retailers and analysts alike are showing signs of optimism. To create and sustain momentum, retailers are testing and implementing creative ways to drive traffic, conversion and repeat purchases. Those strategies will continue to be critical as we head into January, a month that is increasingly important to ending the holiday season and starting the New Year on a positive note.
Bain Retail Holiday Newsletter #3
Bain & Company 12/5/2009
by Darrell Rigby, Kris Miller and Josh Chernoff
Shoppers made a brief but welcome appearance over the Thanksgiving weekend, flocking to stores and Web sites to take advantage of Black Friday doorbusters and other deals. They spent enough to set new sales records in both offline and online spending for the weekend. This was, however, not enough to offset an otherwise lackluster November in which same-store sales growth ended up roughly flat. Still, recent earnings releases show that profits continue to exceed last year's levels, thanks largely to better inventory management and reduced discounting. The hope of a strong December remains. In what is sure to be a very competitive second half of the holiday season, the challenge for retailers will be to strike the right balance between promotions and profits.
Bain Retail Holiday Newsletter #2
Bain & Company 11/18/2009
by Darrell Rigby, Kris Miller and Josh Chernoff
GAFS growth turned positive in October after 13 consecutive months of downward movement. Furthermore, recently released reports of third-quarter earnings tell us that margins and balance sheets are healthier than they were last year. A number of retailers exceeded their own projections for the quarter and raised guidance for the rest of the year. Still, as we enter the heart of the holiday shopping season, many consumers remain cautious. Some are delaying their holiday shopping, hoping to see a repeat of last season's deep discounts. Retailers need to be creative to get these shoppers spending both in stores and online.
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