MIAMI — Within five to seven years, 70% of U.S. consumers will be doing at least some of their grocery shopping online, according to research findings released by the Food Marketing Institute and Nielsen at the FMI’s Midwinter Conference here. The second-year findings of the “Digitally Engaged Food Shopper” study estimates that American consumers will be
Consumers have more choice than ever before about where to shop and what to buy. And that is a growing challenge for retailers. So argues a report from FGRT (formerly Fung Global Retail & Technology) called “18 Retail Trends for ’18.” The report sees more rapid change ahead for retailers, as consumers who want to
NEW YORK — Despite the technology that is changing the way stores operate and consumers shop, retailing is still a people business, Walmart president and CEO Doug McMillon said on Sunday. “The way the customers feel when they leave the store, or your web site or app, determines how fast they’re going to come back,”
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart said Thursday that it will boost the starting wage rate for its hourly associates in the U.S. to $11 an hour. The raise — Walmart’s third increase in its minimum pay rate in three years — is part of a package of benefit improvements made possible by the recent tax reform
BOISE, Idaho — Albertsons Cos. has had a remarkable story over the past 11 years, growing from a group of 661 mostly unloved grocery stores into one of the nation’s leading food retailers, with more than 2,300 supermarkets operating under 20 banners and across 35 states and the District of Columbia. As executive vice president
Many observers of the changes affecting the business of selling consumer packaged goods out of brick-and-mortar stores have been arguing about whether the industry is facing a kind of “retail apocalypse.” The idea is that e-commerce represents an existential threat to the kind of shopping that takes place in physical spaces. Once the remaining wrinkles
Retailers started this year’s holiday shopping season with something to be thankful for — robust sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. A National Retail Federation poll found that more than 174 million people shopped in stores and online over the course of the holiday weekend, which is about 10 million more than NRF’s pre-holiday
MINNEAPOLIS — Target Corp. announced Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire the same-day delivery company Shipt Inc. for $550 million in cash. The retailer said Shipt’s technology platform and its community of professional shoppers, together with Target’s own network of stores, will allow it to quickly and efficiently phase in same-day delivery throughout the
CINCINNATI — Kroger reported third quarter sales and earnings that topped analysts expectations, and the company said it was upbeat about its prospects for the holiday season. The supermarket retailer reported a 1.1% increase in same-store sales, excluding fuel, in the quarter. That topped an average analyst forecast of a 0.9% gain, according to Consensus
The shuttering of brick-and-mortar stores and the continued explosive growth of e-commerce have led to an ongoing series of news articles suggesting that hard times are ahead for the retail industry. One of the latest appeared in Bloomberg earlier this month under the headline “America’s ‘Retail Apocalpse’ is Really Just Beginning.” The article argues that
CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Dollar Tree Inc.’s third quarter sales and earnings topped expectations, helped by higher transaction counts and bigger basket sizes. “Our team delivered terrific results in the third quarter,” Dollar Tree president and chief executive officer Gary Philbin said in a statement. “Same-store sales accelerated in both the Dollar Tree and Family Dollar
Retail jobs are changing, and the arrival of robot “workers” in stores will only accelerate that evolutionary shift. Walmart recently acknowledged that it is testing the use of robots that can move down the aisles of its stores, scanning shelves for out-of-stock items, missing shelf tags or other problems. The robots are said to be