Retail Stores

Lowe's Cos. can thank Uncle Sam for its first quarter. The home-improvement retailer reported better-than-expected earnings and its first same-store sales gain in years. After some very rough quarters in home improvement, assistance came from the government in the form of homebuyer tax credits and rebates for energy-efficient appliances. Lower interest rates and cheaper housing stock didn't hurt either.

Retailers are priming for a consumer comeback. Shoppers have started to show they're willing and able to spend more, and stores are tweaking their merchandise to accommodate them. Cashmere is making a comeback and sellers of everything from wine to toys are seeing shoppers move away from the very lowest price ranges. The moves signal optimism that the recovery from the Great Recession is picking up steam, but there's a downside for shoppers: the return of higher prices.

Will 2010 finally be the year of mobile commerce? While mobile has been the "next big thing" for at least the last five years, 2010 may actually be a banner year for the platform. Smartphone and iPhone usage has soared, and even older adults use phones to check the stock market, find the best deals at the grocery store and price insurance policies.

Washington, April 20, 2010 – Having spent slightly more on Valentine’s Day, Easter and even St. Patrick’s Day this year, consumers are continuing the trend and will spend a little bit more on mommy dearest as well. Behind the winter holidays (Christmas, Hanukah and Kwanza), Mother’s Day is the second largest U.S. consumer spending holiday. NRF’s 2010 Mother’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, found the average person will shell out $126.90 on Mother’s Day gifts, compared to $123.89 last year. Total spending is expected to reach $14.6 billion.*

As one of the biggest holidays of the year, billions will be spent at restaurants or on clothing, jewelry and flowers. Nearly two-thirds (65.2%) of celebrants will buy flowers, totaling $1.9 billion. An additional 51.8 percent will treat mom to a brunch or dinner, spending $2.9 billion on mom’s favorite food. Jewelers will also see some traffic this year with 26.2 percent of people planning on buying a special bracelet or earring set, totaling $2.5 billion. Others will buy clothing or clothing accessories ($1.3 billion), gift certificates ($1.5 billion), personal service such as a day at the spa ($933 million), consumer electronics ($906 million) and greeting cards ($671 million). 

“Even with slight improvements in the economy, consumers are still looking for unique, sentimental and inexpensive ways to show mom that she is important,” said Tracy Mullin, President and CEO, NRF. “Retailers and restaurants will have an array of gift options for people to choose from, ranging from small flower bouquets to brunch and dinner promotions for the entire family to enjoy.”

Marking a noticeable shift in where people will buy Mother’s Day gifts this year, one-third (30.6%) will head to department stores, compared to 27.2 percent last year. Specialty stores such as florists or jewelers will see the most traffic, however (33.6%). Others will shop at a discount store (30.4%), online (19.7%), specialty clothing store (6.2%) or catalog (2.5%).

Of the 83.3 percent of Americans celebrating the holiday this year, most will focus on buying a gift for their mom or stepmom (62.6%) or wife (20.6%). Others will treat their daughter (9.4%), grandmother (7.9%), sister (7.6%), friend (6.8%) or godmother (1.7%) to something nice.

“For some, mom is the glue that holds the family together,” said Phil Rist, Executive Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, BIGresearch. “After a few years of cutting back on their discretionary spending, consumers will open up their wallets a little bit more to celebrate the woman with the most important job in the world.”

Men will spend much more than women on Mother’s Day, shelling out an average of $154.74, compared to women who will spend an average of $100.46. Adults 25-34 years old will spend the most with the average person expected to spend $156.84; young adults will spend only slightly less at $155.52 average per person.  

About the Survey 

The NRF 2010 Mother’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to the Mother’s Day holiday. The survey was conducted for NRF by BIGresearch. The poll of 8,197 consumers was conducted from April 6 – 13, 2010. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.0 percent. 

BIGresearch is a consumer market intelligence firm that provides unique consumer insights that are gathered online utilizing very large sample sizes. BIGresearch’s syndicated Consumer Intentions and Actions survey monitors the pulse of more than 8,000 consumers each month to empower its clients with unique insights for identifying opportunities in a fragmented and changing marketplace. 

As the world's largest retail trade association and the voice of retail worldwide, the National Retail Federation's global membership includes retailers of all sizes, formats and channels of distribution as well as chain restaurants and industry partners from the U.S. and more than 45 countries abroad.  In the U.S., NRF represents the breadth and diversity of an industry with more than 1.6 million American companies that employ nearly 25 million workers and generated 2009 sales of $2.3 trillion. www.nrf.com.

RICHFIELD, Minn. (TheStreet) -- Best Buy (BBY) plans to open hundreds more of its new small mobile stores as it looks to gain a significant market share of the increasing demand for smartphones and other handheld devices, the Financial Times reports.

The retailer expects to have a "number somewhere between here and 1,000" of Best Buy Mobile stores in shopping malls across the U.S., in addition to the 77 it has already opened, CEO Brian Dunn told the newspaper.

To lure value-conscious shoppers away from competitors' outlet stores, upscale department store Bloomingdale's plans to launch four outlet stores this summer and fall.

At a movie theater concession stand you'll hear, "Want to make that a jumbo for just a quarter more?" In an airport bar, you can get a bigger beer for just a dollar extra. Car rental companies will upgrade you to a nicer ride for just $7 more per day. You can add 32 gig of extra storage to your iPod for just $80. All these merchants know that getting you to spend just a little bit more will supersize their profits. The same is true on your website.

March couldn't come quick enough for retailers, especially those in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the country, who watched record-setting snowfalls in February do a number on their bottom lines. According to a recent report from Planalytics, a provider of business weather intelligence, February snowstorms resulted in a $36 billion loss for the U.S. economy.

A 2009 year-end survey of store traffic conducted by ShopperTrak, a provider of shopper traffic counting technology, showed a reasonably encouraging year-over-year increase of 3.5 percent. But store traffic has been so light over the past couple years that retailers, and their software vendors, are seeking ways to not only get consumers into stores, but also take them by the hand and guide them right to the cashiers. Case in point, take two recent retail technological innovations from Escalate Retail and NCR.