August 15, 20226 minute read The last research I published on macroeconomic themes was five weeks ago, assessing the results from CPG brands General Mills, McCormick and Simply Good Foods. At the end of May, I reviewed commentary from category-focused retailers.In May, the research highlighted the sharp reversal in investor sentiment within tech and the retailer […]
July 7, 20228 minute readTL;DRRecent commentary from General Mills, McCormick, and Simply Good Foods provides insight into how companies are evolving their strategic thinking in this fast-moving macro environment:Consumer Behavior: Elasticities remain below normal, although consumers across income demographics are reacting to inflationary pressure.Pricing Actions: Brands are planning more pricing actions, but each successive increase […]
4 minute readKroger ($138 billion in annual sales) announced its April ’22 results this morning providing insight on consumers and takeaways for national CPG brands. TL;DR: While upper income consumers have maintained shopping behaviors, Kroger’s results illustrate growing pressure on the low-to-mid-income consumer as the grocer is seeing more trade-down behavior, shoppers buying smaller baskets, and […]
3 minute readShould we be optimistic or pessimistic about the energy around retail advertising? We certainly have a ton of innovation and activity around digital retail media. Ulta Beauty being the latest big retailer to launch its own ad platform. But there is also a great deal of excitement around innovative marketing inside of stores. A couple of […]
Topics Covered: May 31, 2022Consumer demand at category-focused retailersRetail media allocation frameworkAmazon subletting FC spaceAmazon opens Style B&M storeGorillas & Getir cut staffChange management thoughts
12 minute readConsumer Response to Inflation and Recession TalkMy research in May has focused on the sharp change in investor sentiment towards tech along with inflationary pressures negatively impacting the consumer.Big CPG seeing less elastic demand curves than typicalThoughts on surviving the eCommerce WinterDiverse commentary from mass, homecenters and DTC firms I’m continuing this line of […]
9 minute readEach quarter, the U.S. Census Bureau releases eCommerce sales data that is widely regarded as the most comprehensive, independent source for understanding market and category-level trends in digital commerce. I had five key takeaways from the most recent results that can inform your outlook as consumer mobility picks up, inflation runs at multi-decade highs, […]
Topics Covered: May 23, 2022Part II: eCommerce Winter Retail BloodbathCharging for returnsRGD consolidationMetaverse developmentsLatest retail sales market data