+ All Categories
Home > Documents > IBM SEES STRONG HOLIDAY SEASON FOR ONLINE RETAIL · the holiday shopping season — and may change...

IBM SEES STRONG HOLIDAY SEASON FOR ONLINE RETAIL · the holiday shopping season — and may change...

Date post: 28-Sep-2020
Category:
Upload: others
View: 1 times
Download: 0 times
Share this document with a friend
3
www.spotsndots.com Subscriptions: $350 per year. This publication cannot be distributed beyond the office of the actual subscriber. Need us? 888-884-2630 or [email protected] Copyright 2020. The Daily News of TV Sales Wednesday, August 26, 2020 GROCERIES, ALCOHOL POISED FOR BIG GROWTH The coronavirus won’t cancel Christmas. But it will reshape the holiday shopping season — and may change retail long after the new year — according to the latest IBM U.S. Retail Index Study, which was released earlier this week. The index analyzes retail spending and uses data to predict how the rest of the year will unfold. This year’s big winner will be online retail, which IBM expects to rise by 20%. “Groceries are projected to see 12% growth during the holidays,” reports Digital News Daily. “Alcohol sales also will rise by 16%, and building materials and home improvement by 14%. In fact, the price of lumber across the country in the past month rose between 20% and 40%, according to numerous building contractors, unrelated to IBM’s data.” Online commerce is expected to be strongest for outlets selling food (where Walmart has reportedly surpassed Amazon), spirits and home improvement materials such as lumber. IBM predicts more modest gains for sports and hobby equipment (+1.51%), clothing (+1.04%) and pharmacy (3.59%). “All other categories — including health and personal care, during the holiday season — will see a year- over-year decline,” Digital News Daily says. But while clothing as a category is slightly up, it’s taking a major hit in some areas. IBM finds steep declines in men’s apparel (down 80.15%), footwear (-50.40%), jewelry (-51.33%) and children’s apparel (-49.84%). “Clothing [has] declined in importance as more consumers began working and schooling from home, as well as social distancing under government lockdowns,” Women’s Wear Daily says. “The report suggests that department store retailers will need to more quickly pivot to omnichannel fulfillment capabilities in order to remain competitive in the new environment,” says TechCrunch says. “Specifically, they will need to drive traffic to their stores through services like buy online and pickup in store (BOPIS), and will need to offer an expanded set of ship-from-store services.” The picture is much darker for brick-and-mortar stores without a strong online presence. “The IBM data estimates department stores are projected to decline by over 60% during the holiday season, compared with 2019,” according to Digital News Daily. IBM believes that “retailers need to do all they can to entice shoppers back through engaging in efficient channels such as buy online, pick up in store,” WWD says. “This trend has [led to] an uptick in customer fulfillment methods, curbside pickup and Instacart.” “How much of this pandemic-fueled online spending is a temporary shift and to what extent is it impacting longer-term forecasts? The answer, at least in this estimate, is that this pandemic pushed the industry ahead by around five years,” TechCrunch writes. “The shift away from physical stores was already underway, but we’ve now jumped ahead in time as to where we would be if a health crisis had not occurred.” IBM SEES STRONG HOLIDAY SEASON FOR ONLINE RETAIL ADVERTISER NEWS Best Buy reported a 242% surge in second-quarter online sales as pandemic-driven work- and learn-from-home trends spurred demand for computers and other electronics. The retailer booked comparable online sales of $4.85 billion in the quarter, beating a record set last holiday season, and same-store sales grew 5% despite appointment-only rules that were in place at most stores for about half of the three- month period… Amazon will reportedly launch a platform this fall for luxury brands with a roster of global ready-to-wear and accessories labels. The e-commerce giant is reportedly allowing the brands to control major aspects of their online stores, including appearance and pricing… And speaking of Amazon: Several reports indicate that e-commerce giant could soon begin using its cashierless technology at Whole Foods Markets around the U.S., as part of a final project by Amazon’s worldwide consumer division CEO Jeff Wilke before he retires in early 2021. Dave Clark, the retailer’s senior vice president for worldwide operations, will take over for Wilke… Starbucks is rolling out its seasonal Pumpkin Spice Latte earlier than it has in the 17-year history of the beverage. The coffee giant made the decision on the early launch in response to a competing product from Dunkin’, according to the restaurant consultant Aaron AllenPapa John’s has extended its growth streak into August. From July 27 through Aug. 23, preliminary estimated North American systemwide same-store sales rose 24.2%, while preliminary estimates show international systemwide comparable sales gained 23.3%, the pizza chain said yesterday. Papa John’s previously reported North American systemwide sales growth of 28% in Q2, and 5.3% growth internationally. May was the best month in the company’s history, with same-store sales up 33.5%... KFC is suspending the use of its “Finger Lickin’ Good” advertising slogan as its use “doesn’t feel quite right” in the midst of a pandemic that has claimed more than 170,000 American lives. “While we are pausing the use of ‘It’s Finger Lickin’ Good,’ rest assured the food craved by so many people around the world isn’t changing one bit,” Catherine Tan-Gillespie, global chief marketing officer at KFC, said in a statement… Nike is reportedly closing nine of its wholesale accounts: City Blue, VIM, EbLens, Belk, Dillard’s, Fred Meyer, Bob’s Stores, Boscov’s and Zappos, according to an analyst note from Susquehanna Financial Group. The analysts, led by Sam Poser, called the decision “positive for Nike, as it takes control of more of its own destiny.” It was unclear when the athletics giant would step back from those wholesale accounts… Nordstrom said yesterday its net sales fell 53% during Q2 as its stores took a hit from being temporarily closed during the coronavirus pandemic, and its online business suffered due to a shift in timing of its annual Anniversary Sale. The company said its stores, including its off-price Nordstrom Rack locations, were closed for about half of the days in the latest quarter, dragging down results.
Transcript
Page 1: IBM SEES STRONG HOLIDAY SEASON FOR ONLINE RETAIL · the holiday shopping season — and may change retail long after the new year — according to the latest IBM U.S. Retail Index

www.spotsndots.comSubscriptions: $350 per year.

This publication cannot bedistributed beyond the office

of the actual subscriber. Need us? 888-884-2630 or

[email protected] Copyright 2020.The Daily News of TV Sales Wednesday, August 26, 2020

GROCERIES, ALCOHOL POISED FOR BIG GROWTH The coronavirus won’t cancel Christmas. But it will reshape the holiday shopping season — and may change retail long after the new year — according to the latest IBM U.S. Retail Index Study, which was released earlier this week. The index analyzes retail spending and uses data to predict how the rest of the year will unfold. This year’s big winner will be online retail, which IBM expects to rise by 20%. “Groceries are projected to see 12% growth during the holidays,” reports Digital News Daily. “Alcohol sales also will rise by 16%, and building materials and home improvement by 14%. In fact, the price of lumber across the country in the past month rose between 20% and 40%, according to numerous building contractors, unrelated to IBM’s data.” Online commerce is expected to be strongest for outlets selling food (where Walmart has reportedly surpassed Amazon), spirits and home improvement materials such as lumber. IBM predicts more modest gains for sports and hobby equipment (+1.51%), clothing (+1.04%) and pharmacy (3.59%). “All other categories — including health and personal care, during the holiday season — will see a year-over-year decline,” Digital News Daily says. But while clothing as a category is slightly up, it’s taking a major hit in some areas. IBM finds steep declines in men’s apparel (down 80.15%), footwear (-50.40%), jewelry (-51.33%) and children’s apparel (-49.84%). “Clothing [has] declined in importance as more consumers began working and schooling from home, as well as social distancing under government lockdowns,” Women’s Wear Daily says. “The report suggests that department store retailers will need to more quickly pivot to omnichannel fulfillment capabilities in order to remain competitive in the new environment,” says TechCrunch says. “Specifically, they will need to drive traffic to their stores through services like buy online and pickup in store (BOPIS), and will need to offer an expanded set of ship-from-store services.” The picture is much darker for brick-and-mortar stores without a strong online presence. “The IBM data estimates department stores are projected to decline by over 60% during the holiday season, compared with 2019,” according to Digital News Daily. IBM believes that “retailers need to do all they can to entice shoppers back through engaging in efficient channels such as buy online, pick up in store,” WWD says. “This trend has [led to] an uptick in customer fulfillment methods, curbside pickup and Instacart.” “How much of this pandemic-fueled online spending is a temporary shift and to what extent is it impacting longer-term forecasts? The answer, at least in this estimate, is that this pandemic pushed the industry ahead by around five years,” TechCrunch writes. “The shift away from physical stores was already underway, but we’ve now jumped ahead in time as to where we would be if a health crisis had not occurred.”

IBM SEES STRONG HOLIDAY SEASON FOR ONLINE RETAILADVERTISER NEWS Best Buy reported a 242% surge in second-quarter online sales as pandemic-driven work- and learn-from-home trends spurred demand for computers and other electronics. The retailer booked comparable online sales of $4.85 billion in the quarter, beating a record set last holiday season, and same-store sales grew 5% despite appointment-only rules that were in place at most stores for about half of the three-month period… Amazon will reportedly launch a platform this fall for luxury brands with a roster of global ready-to-wear and accessories labels. The e-commerce giant is reportedly

allowing the brands to control major aspects of their online stores, including appearance and pricing… And speaking of Amazon: Several reports indicate that e-commerce giant could soon begin using its cashierless technology at Whole Foods Markets around the U.S., as part of a final project by Amazon’s

worldwide consumer division CEO Jeff Wilke before he retires in early 2021. Dave Clark, the retailer’s senior vice president for worldwide operations, will take over for Wilke… Starbucks is rolling out its seasonal Pumpkin Spice Latte earlier than it has in the 17-year history of the beverage. The coffee giant made the decision on the early launch in response to a competing product from Dunkin’, according to the restaurant consultant Aaron Allen… Papa John’s has extended its growth streak into August. From July 27 through Aug. 23, preliminary estimated North American systemwide same-store sales rose 24.2%, while preliminary estimates show international systemwide comparable sales gained 23.3%, the pizza chain said yesterday. Papa John’s previously reported North American systemwide sales growth of 28% in Q2, and 5.3% growth internationally. May was the best month in the company’s history, with same-store sales up 33.5%... KFC is suspending the use of its “Finger Lickin’ Good” advertising slogan as its use “doesn’t feel quite right” in the midst of a pandemic that has claimed more than 170,000 American lives. “While we are pausing the use of ‘It’s Finger Lickin’ Good,’ rest assured the food craved by so many people around the world isn’t changing one bit,” Catherine Tan-Gillespie, global chief marketing officer at KFC, said in a statement… Nike is reportedly closing nine of its wholesale accounts: City Blue, VIM, EbLens, Belk, Dillard’s, Fred Meyer, Bob’s Stores, Boscov’s and Zappos, according to an analyst note from Susquehanna Financial Group. The analysts, led by Sam Poser, called the decision “positive for Nike, as it takes control of more of its own destiny.” It was unclear when the athletics giant would step back from those wholesale accounts… Nordstrom said yesterday its net sales fell 53% during Q2 as its stores took a hit from being temporarily closed during the coronavirus pandemic, and its online business suffered due to a shift in timing of its annual Anniversary Sale. The company said its stores, including its off-price Nordstrom Rack locations, were closed for about half of the days in the latest quarter, dragging down results.

Page 2: IBM SEES STRONG HOLIDAY SEASON FOR ONLINE RETAIL · the holiday shopping season — and may change retail long after the new year — according to the latest IBM U.S. Retail Index

PAGE 2 The Daily News of TV Sales @ www.spotsndots.com

AMERICAN AIRLINES TO SLASH 19,000 JOBS American Airlines says it would shed 19,000 workers Oct. 1, the first big wave of the tens of thousands of pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and other airline employees in jeopardy of losing their jobs when protections tied to federal aid to U.S. carriers expire this fall, The Wall Street Journal reports. American’s cuts are short of the 25,000 potential job losses it warned were possible last month. But together with retirements and temporary leaves of absence, the reductions will make the carrier about 30% smaller than it

was in March and are the clearest sign yet of the devastation coming for the airline industry as the summer travel season winds down and government funds run out. U.S. airlines have warned employees that more than 75,000 jobs could be cut this fall. This week Delta Air Lines said it would furlough 1,941 pilots unless it reaches a deal with their union on other cost reductions. Earlier in the summer, United Airlines sent notices to 36,000

workers whose jobs it said could be at risk, though it hasn’t yet said how many will be cut. The airline sector was one of the few that had protections as broader unemployment surged in recent months. Airlines agreed not to let any workers go through the end of September as a condition of the $25 billion they received under a broad economic stimulus package passed in March.

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE REACHES 6-YEAR LOW Consumer confidence in August tumbled to a new pandemic low. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index declined in August for the second consecutive month, falling from 91.7 in July to 84.8 this month. The Present Situation Index — based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions — decreased sharply from 95.9 in July to 84.2 in August, with consumers stating that both business and employment conditions had deteriorated over the past month. Consumers’ optimism about the short-term outlook, and their financial prospects, also declined and continues on a downward path. The Expectations Index – based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions – declined from 88.9 in July to 85.2 this month.

PLUTO TV HAS 26.5M ACTIVE USERS PER MONTH Pluto TV now has more than twice as many active users each month as it did in January 2019, 26.5 million, and CEO Tom Ryan predicts that ViacomCBS’ advertisement-supported linear service will continue to grow at that rate until 2022. ViacomCBS, which paid $340 million for Pluto slightly more than a year ago, has peppered its lineup with library shows from the company’s broadcast and cable networks, USA Today reports. The COVID-19 crisis has paid off, in an odd way, for Pluto TV, in that it’s given cash-strapped consumers “a free alternative to subscription fatigue,” says Peter Csathy, president of consultancy CREATV Media.

VIRTUAL RNC FIRST NIGHT SCORES 17M VIEWERS The first night of the virtual Republican National Convention posted 17 million Nielsen-measured viewers among 11 networks. That’s 14% lower than the first night of the Democratic National Convention of the week before, which pulled in 19.75 million for the same collective networks. The RNC’s first night was also down 26% from the live RNC event back in 2016, where it produced 23 million viewers. Between 10 PM and 11 PM, the approximate time period where the virtual TV RNC event aired, Fox News Channel averaged 7.1 million Nielsen-measured viewers, while CNN came in at 2.01 million, followed by ABC with 1.97 million, NBC at 1.74 million, MSNBC with 1.57 million and CBS at 1.48 million. Viewership data from five other networks — PBS, CNN en Español, Fox Business Network, Newsmax and Newsy — was not readily available. Looking at the broader 8 PM to 11 PM primetime period for three core cable TV news networks, Fox News Channel came in at 6.54 million viewers, with CNN at 2.04 million and MSNBC at 1.81 million. For all ten TV networks, for the first night of the DNC event last week (ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, CNN en Español, Fox Business, Fox News Channel, MSNBC and Newsy) 19.75 million viewers were earned — down 20% from the same night in 2016.

SALE OF MARSHALL STATIONS GETS FCC’S OK The FCC’s Media Bureau has approved the sale of KMSS-TV Shreveport, La., KLJB, Davenport, Iowa, and KPEJ-TV Odessa, Texas, from Marshall Broadcasting to Mission Broadcasting, saying the sale — out of bankruptcy — is in the public interest. In the process it denied oppositions filed by law firm Randall and Associates, the National Newspaper Publishers Association, and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), saying they had not established standing to challenge the sale, which in this case would be a showing that they are actually a party in interest — meaning competitors in the markets, or viewers, who could be harmed. The sale depletes the already thin ranks of minority TV station owners. The FCC also said that, beyond the procedural deficiency, the opponents also “provide no specific support for their allegations that the transfer to Mission would violate the Commission’s rules or otherwise not be in the public interest.” “The public interest is further served because prompt emergence from bankruptcy is critical to the continued operation of the Stations, and facilitating prompt emergence ‘advances the public interest by providing economic and social benefits, especially including the compensation of innocent creditors,” the FCC said. “For these reasons, we find that the assignment of the Stations from Marshall to Mission is in the public interest, and we therefore grant the Applications.” The stations were spun off to a minority owner — Marshall Broadcasting is owned by Pluria Marshall Jr., who is Black — by Nexstar as part of its deal to buy Tribune.

8/26/2020

Whitney Cummings

People who get their news from Twitter love to complain about their

aunts who get their news from Facebook.

Page 3: IBM SEES STRONG HOLIDAY SEASON FOR ONLINE RETAIL · the holiday shopping season — and may change retail long after the new year — according to the latest IBM U.S. Retail Index

The Daily News of TV Sales @ www.spotsndots.com PAGE 3

RESTAURANT BANKRUPTCIES SET TO BALLOON Restaurants have so far limped along through the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. But key pillars of support for their businesses will soon evaporate, spelling disaster for the eateries — and their landlords, CNBC reports. The pandemic has, essentially from its inception, upended the restaurant industry, sending sales plunging in the early days of lockdowns. The National Restaurant Association estimates it lost $165 billion in sales between March and July, and Yelp data showed 15,770 permanent restaurant closures, as of July 22.

Restaurant sales cautiously rebounded in the summer months, driven by outdoor dining and cooking fatigue. But the approaching cold weather could halt or even reverse progress. Industry experts don’t expect a full recovery until a coronavirus vaccine is available. Industry analysts and restructuring experts say another wave of restaurant bankruptcies is looming. Government funds are running out and the cooler months across much of the U.S. are

getting closer, making outdoor dining a less viable option for the many businesses that have been reliant on balmy summer temperatures to stoke sales.

REPORT: 35% TRY AVOD DURING PANDEMIC The ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to alter home entertainment consumer patterns, Media Play News reports. New data from video advertising platform Unruly found that 42% of survey respondents are watching more Internet-connected television, including 35% consuming ad-supported VOD content. Unruly, which is part of Tremor International, surveyed nearly 1,800 U.S. consumers online in July 2020 for this study. AVOD services include Pluto TV, Tubi, IMDb TV, The Roku Channel, Shout! Factory TV, Samsung TV and Redbox TV, among others. But as connected TV content consumption continues to accelerate, marketers are trailing behind with their media plans, according to the report. This year, eMarketer reports that 3.4% of U.S. marketers’ total ad spending will go on CTV — and that is only forecasted to grow to 4.7% in 2023.

8/26/2020

FunnyTweeter.com

Funny that they call it a bell pepper, and yet the onion rings.

MONDAY NIELSEN RATINGS - LIVE + SAME DAY

IF COLLEGE SPORTS VANISH, DO ADS FOLLOW? These are dark days for college sports, particularly the high-stakes world of major conference football. Two of the nation’s powerhouse conferences, the Big Ten and Pac-12, have already announced the postponement of this fall’s action, and other schools may soon be following suit — sending sports advertising budgets into freefall. College football last year captured an estimated $1.7 billion in national and spot TV ad revenues, according to Kantar Media. A new report from eMarketer, which utilizes findings from a June survey by Advertiser Perceptions, tries to make sense of how the advertising dollars will be allocated — with three courses of action emerging as the most likely scenarios. The first would be for advertisers to pull their spending completely — without reallocation. According to Advertiser Perceptions, 38% of advertisers indicated they would take this approach. “Though the duration of the pandemic remains uncertain,” eMarketer says, “one thing is abundantly clear: There is no quick fix. We expect that organizations will most likely cut commitments to prepare for a long period of economic uncertainty.” Meanwhile, 36% said they’d keep their commitments with the same media company and wait for the spring, when conferences that have suspended play hope to resume. The last scenario — keeping commitments with the same media company but shifting to other sports programming — is buoyed by the fact that fans, at least initially, were willing to tune in to NBA and Major League Baseball games, despite those leagues’ limited capacity. Lately, however, NBA ratings have sagged. MLB ratings appear to be holding steady.

CONNECTED TV GAINS STRONGER FOOTHOLD Nearly six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, connected TV usage of all types continues to gain a stronger foothold among consumers, with subscription services as well as free, ad-supported platforms showing gains. A recent survey of nearly 1,800 U.S. consumers in July 2020 from Unruly, a video advertising platform, said 65% of U.S. consumers are actively seeking ad-supported, free streaming services, while 35% are not. At the same time, the survey says, 27% prefer to pay for ad-free connected TV content. The survey also found that consumers respond better to advertising on connected TV platforms and are 71% more likely to tell a friend about a brand, 53% more likely to search for a brand, 52% more likely to buy a product and 45% more likely to visit a store or website. According to estimates by eMarketer, this year 3.4% of U.S. marketers’ total ad spending ($8.8 billion) will go to connected TV, and that this will grow to 4.7% in three years ($14.12 billion). At the same time, analysts point to the rapid growth of major low-cost subscription, advertising-free paid platforms. Disney+, which is less than a year old, has more than 60.5 million subscribers, while HBO Max, which launched just a few months ago, is at 36.3 million subscribers.


Recommended