Showing posts with label retail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label retail. Show all posts

Friday, July 8, 2011

Baby Formula with a twist

It started in 1867 when Nestle made it possible for overtired mothers to have their babies nursed on something other than the breast milk. Unlike some cultures where wet nurses were, and in some instances are still, retained to breastfeed infants, European mothers had no such reprieve. Nestle changed that in 1867 by inventing the baby formula.

Now Nestle is back with another invention, BabyNes, which is based on the success of its Nespresso machine. Just drop a pod in the machine and the baby formula is ready in seconds. No need to boil the water or cool the boiled water or to refrigerate the prepared milk. Just drop the pod in the machine, press a button, and the formula is ready to be served to your infant.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/a-baby-nespresso-for-the-diaper-set-07012011.html

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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Retail sales rose in November

According to Statistics Canada:

Retail sales increased 1.3% to $37.3 billion in November, reflecting growth at most store types. This marks the sixth consecutive monthly rise in sales and was the largest increase since March 2010.

Sales in volume terms also rose 1.3% after being flat the previous month.

Gains were reported in 8 of 11 subsectors representing roughly 90% of total sales.

In dollar terms, the largest increase among all subsectors was a 2.7% rise in sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers. This growth resulted mainly from a 3.6% increase at new car dealers, the seventh consecutive monthly increase for this industry. Recent strength in sales at new car dealers reflects higher sales of new trucks and used vehicles. Gains were also reported at automotive parts, accessories and tire stores (+8.3%), a fourth consecutive increase. Declines were reported at used car dealers (-1.3%) and other motor vehicle dealers (-9.8%).

Sales at food and beverage stores increased 0.8%, following declines in each of the two previous months. Gains were reported by all store types in this subsector. Higher sales at supermarkets and grocery stores (+0.7%) accounted for almost two-thirds of the increase.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Electronics sales may not be electrifying this time around

While the print and electronic media remains infatuated with the latest gadgetry, predicting higher electronic sales every December, this year is likely to be different. There has been a significant decline in the searches conducted on Google by shoppers in Canada. It is hard to tell the magnitude of reduction in the sales of electronics during this Christmas. However, chances are that the overall electronic sales in Canada may experience a decline in Christmas sales.

The electronics retailing in Canada is more of a pseudo competition between the two leading retailers, Best Buy and the Future Shop (also owned by Best Buy Canada). The latest Internet searches by the shoppers in Canada suggest that Best Buy has taken over Future Shop in popularity. In 2008 and 2009, Future Shop lead Best Buy in Canada amongst shoppers’ searches on the Internet. In 2010, Best Buy has left Future Shop behind.

December 2008 December 2009 Nov-Dec 2010
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Also worth noting is the return of The Bay in the top 10 shopping searches in Canada. In the past, Bay has been bleeding as low-cost retailers had taken significant market share away from Canada’s flagship retailer. Also listed is Amazon amongst the top rising searches for 2010 and not Indigo/Chapters. This suggests that online book retailing is still a forte of Amazon, even in Canada.

Further evidence to my above-mentioned assertion is found the actual sales data (as shown in the graph below as seasonally adjusted monthly retail sales) which shows that sales of electronics and appliance stores (red colour line) and furniture and home furnishing stores took a tumble during recession in 2008 and that electronics sales have not recovered to the peak observed in mid-2008.

Sales at general merchandise stores (depicted as green line), on the other hand, suggest almost no impact of the recession. The upward trend in sales for such stores has continued unabated since 1996. Furthermore, the gap between the sales volume of general merchandise trade and the sales of electronics and furniture stores has continued to widen, despite the hyped media coverage of bumper sales of uber gadgets.

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Sunday, December 12, 2010

Globalization of trade and rights: Bangladeshi workers demand decent wages

The secret behind the success of rapid increase in the Bangladeshi textile exports is fast unfolding. Subjected to undignified wages, the textile workers suffered as the North American and European consumers enjoyed their clothes delivered by the retailers who outsourced not just manufacturing, but the exploitation of workers.

Inadequate labour laws in Bangladesh and other similar places has resulted in the continued suffering of workers who are now on the street campaigning for their rights or jumping to their death off the roofs of the same factories that make designer labels and technical gizmos for companies as reputed as Apple.

The following is from BBC:

At least three people were killed and dozens more injured when police in Bangladesh clashed with garment factory workers demanding better pay, police have said.Security forces beating garment workers in Chittagong, Bangladesh, 12 December 2010

Police used batons and tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters in Dhaka and Chittagong.

The unrest came a day after demonstrations shut down factories in southern Bangladesh.

The workers say wages have not gone up, even though rises were due last month.

Police tried to disperse protesters attacking factories and smashing vehicles in Chittagong Export Procession Zone (CEPZ) on Sunday, police official Reza al-Hasan said.

Local media said one of the men killed was a 35-year-old rickshaw puller in Chittagong, but it was unclear how he had died.

All three victims were reportedly shot dead. At least 50 people were injured during the unrest in Chittagong.  Almost all factories in the CEPZ are closed because of the protests, officials said.

The BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan, in Dhaka, says demonstrations on Saturday forced a South Korean company to shut down all its 11 factories there.

Scores more were injured in Dhaka, where thousands of workers gathered outside their factory in an industrial area of the city early in the morning in protest against its closure as a result of the disturbances.

Roads in Dhaka were blocked and at least two vehicles set on fire, police said.

Labour unions say many of the factories are not implementing the new salary scale announced by a government wage board earlier this year.

From November, the factories should have been paying a wage of at least $43 (£27) a month.

Around Dhaka, workers in some factories have been protesting for a number of days, demanding increased pay.

More than three million people, mostly women, work in Bangladesh's garment industry, which supplies many major Western stores and is a key sector of the country's economy.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Retail therapy: Furniture sales are up in the US

There are increasing sings that the economy is crawling out of the recession. The latest from the US: furniture sales are up.

Retail sales in general are also showing signs of recovery.

Let the retail therapy heal the ailing  consumer markets:

From Haver.com:

What every homeowner needs is something to sit on. But a poor job market can put off the day of purchasing that new item. During 2009 furniture sales, as reported by the U.S. Commerce Dept., fell 11% following declines during the prior two years. The decline was emphasized by a drop in the Furniture Buying Index published by America's Research Group. Their index fell 4% in 2009 following a much greater 2008 collapse.

But after a while frayed fabric, worn out springs and old styles warrant replacement. And recent data indicate that a moderate turnaround has begun. Versus last year, the Furniture Buying Index has improved by nearly one-quarter while retail sales showed a lesser increase. However, in both cases the rebounds recently have lost forward momentum due to a poor job market. Payroll employment is up all of 0.3% y/y and the total unemployment rate, including those involuntarily employed part-time, is 17%. Recent indications of uninspired consumer sentiment suggest that sequential improvement in furniture sales is not likely to begin soon. When it does pick up, it will likely accompany improvement in the job market.

The Furniture Buying Index is compiled each month by America's Research Group from interviews with 5,000-8,000 consumers across the country. In a typical month, 80 percent of the consumers interviewed can name a specific furniture item they intend to buy. The Index's mark signifies what percent of the benchmark 80% actually have a particular item in mind. The data can be found in Haver's SURVEYS database. The retail sales data are in USECON.

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Wednesday, August 4, 2010

US retail sales

The US Census Bureau reports monthly retail sales. The following graph presents the data from the US Census Bureau. The data suggest that the retail sales have been generally increasing since the start of 2009 after a steep decline in 2008.

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Tuesday, December 23, 2008

The first word

Greetings every one:

This blog will host my monthly, weekly, or at times daily rant on consumer markets, i.e., anything and everything to do with the price of diapers in Toronto, to the price of flour in Egypt or Pakistan, to declining sales of automobiles in North America, or to the housing price bubbles, which I believe have made real estate finally affordable for those shunned to the sidelines of the housing markets.

Don't expect any earth-shattering analysis at this blog. It intend to offer a slightly nuanced view of the markets.