Retail & Wholesale

The main reason for Amazon’s gross margin increase was the increasing proportion of third-party sellers who sell their products on Amazon.

Walmart (WMT) is the world’s largest retailer. The company reported 6,189 stores in its International segment—compared to 4,987 in the US in 3Q15.

This article discusses Nordstrom’s inventory management in comparison to that of its industry peers.

Walmart’s largest merchandising category is groceries. According to the USDA, Walmart was the largest seller of grocery items in the US in 2013.

Cross-docking is an inventory management system. Walmart made it popular. Cross-docking can lower the time required to transport merchandise.

In fiscal 2013, the company’s Retail segment contributed 97% of Nordstrom’s revenues of $12.5 billion, while the Credit segment accounted for only 3%.

Walmart’s Sam’s Club segment consists of membership-only club warehouse retail operations. Members include both business owners and individual consumers.

Nordstrom is an upscale department store that competes with other high-end stores. However, not all of Nordstrom’s target customers are high-end shoppers.

Walmart is among a select group of global retailers (XRT) (RTH) competing in a variety of store formats. However, Walmart dwarfs all of the other companies.

Nordstrom’s multichannel strategy and best-in-class customer service have made the company famous.

This article provides a brief overview of Nordstrom’s growth story.

Staples expects to spend $1 billion up front in order to achieve $1 billion in annual synergies—usually meaning reducing workforce—beginning in year three.

Macy’s is taking measures to improve inventory management, including its My Macy’s program that customizes merchandise according to local preferences.

Illumina’s outlook is outstanding, as it has posted excellent 3Q14 results and its earnings continue to be bullish.

Gauging a company’s debt levels is crucial to understanding its financial health. Maintaining high debt levels in uncertain times can be damaging.

To address inventory issues associated with online sales at its distribution centers, Best Buy rolled out a ship-from-store strategy.

Best Buy is building strong relationships with key suppliers to mitigate the impact of heightened competition from suppliers’ retail stores.

At Best Buy, returns, replacements, and damages account for nearly 10% of revenues and have cost the company over $400 million in losses each year.

Best Buy’s growth rate in same-store sales had been negative since fiscal 2011. Efforts to optimize the shopping experience have changed that.

The computing and mobile phone category is the largest of Best Buy’s revenue mix, accounting for 48% of the Domestic segment’s fiscal 2014 revenues.

As part of its turnaround strategy, Best Buy is also revamping its stores and trying to encourage more robust store traffic.

Everything is not hunky-dory with the e-commerce business. Brick-and-mortar stores complain that being online hurts them on two fronts.

SBUX recognizes its limitation in attracting customers. As a result, SBUX is exploring other growth strategies. It’s looking at other beverage businesses.

Lululemon Athletica announced an increase of 10.4% in its revenues to $419.4 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2015 compared to $379.9 million in 3Q14.

These changes should lower future inventory levels and probably result in higher inventory turnover and lower inventory-to-cash days.

Mobileye, the Israel-based vehicle safety technology company, earned gross proceeds from its initial public offering of $1.023 billion.

The Tyson Foods product portfolio includes a variety of products such as value-added chicken, beef, and pork, pepperoni, pizza crusts, and much more.

Major product lines include fitness pants, shorts, tops and jackets. It also has a range of fitness-related accessories like bags, socks, and yoga mats.

In this series, we’ll provide an overview of Lululemon Athletica, its financials (including its latest quarterly results), and its strategies.

Wholesales represented 68% of Under Armour revenues in 2013. As a category, however, DTC sales have increased steadily over the years.

Under Armour: Sourcing, manufacturing, and distribution decisions Under Armour, Inc. (UA) manufactures virtually nothing in-house. Production is outsourced to third-party manufacturers overseas. This is common practice in the apparel industry among companies including the The Gap, Inc. (GPS) and Fossil, Inc. (FOSL). These companies are held by the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY), as are United Armour, or […]

George Soros’ Soros Fund Management added a new position in Marathon Petroleum (MPC) that accounts for 0.45% of the fund’s 1Q 2014 portfolio.

Spinco will have one of the largest, most diversified portfolios of strip centers and malls in the United States. It will hold a total of 98 assets.