Retail Intel Weekly: Costco, Amazon & More

TOPLINE NEWSAs Amazon confirmed that it would hold its Prime Day sales event from June 21-22 this year, Walmart and Target revealed plans for competing events. Walmart will hold a “Deals for Days” savings event June 20–23, offering what it calls “Black Friday-like” savings on top items across various categories. The omnichannel event will include online-only deals, special store-only savings, price rollbacks on items available in-store and online, and discounts on several exclusive items. Target will hold its “Target Deal Days” digital sale from June 20-22, offering discounts across its entire product assortment, including food and beverage for the first time. In addition, Target will offer an early 5% discount on digital gift cards from June 16-19.With the number of consumers fully vaccinated against COVID-19 rising in the U.S., Walmart will expand store hours to 6 a.m.-11 p.m. at most locations beginning June 5. Beginning July 3, the retailer will resume pre-COVID-19 hours for most of its pharmacies and vision centers. The mass merchant has also reopened its fitting rooms where allowed, added back seating to its Auto Care Center waiting area, and removed the 20% capacity restriction across all stores. Target likewise reopened all of its fitting rooms on June 1. Additionally, both mass merchants are no longer requiring fully vaccinated employees to wear a mask at work and are offering incentives for vaccination.CLUBEven as the grocery boom levels off at many food retailers, Costco’s sales gains have not slowed down. For the third quarter, ended May 9, Costco reported:Net sales increased 21.7% to $44.38 billion, up from $36.45 billion the year prior.Same-store sales, excluding the impacts of fuel and currency fluctuations, shot up 15.2% in the U.S., more than the retailer's comps of 12.6% in the previous quarter.E-commerce sales were up 38.2%, though growth was down from the 80.3% increase in the second quarter.Membership fees increased 11% year-over-year to $901 million.Sampling is also back at Costco. The retailer revealed during its latest earnings call that it is phasing back in its full demo activities this month with increased safety measures. The first wave of warehouses bringing back sampling will span 170-550 U.S. stores by the first week of June, while most remaining locations will roll out towards the end of June. Costco’s food courts are also coming back over the next few weeks in a bigger way that includes replacing frozen yogurt with premium soft ice cream.Sam’s Club has also begun relaunching its sampling and demo program, Tastes and Tips, which had been halted in March 2020 and was repurposed to comply with safety protocols. However, the retailer’s demos will initially only take place on weekends and include sealed samples in limited quantities. Sam’s Club is also planning "new, immersive sampling experiences," including summer food truck tours that will hand out samples from its Member's Mark private label and roaming events that bring sampling directly to members as they check out.MASSWalmart is powering up its proprietary, end-to-end Angus beef supply chain program with the launch of new product line, McClaren Farms beef, across nearly 500 stores in five Southeastern states. More than 1,000 small and medium-sized businesses received notice that they are a Walmart Open Call finalist and will pitch their product innovations to Walmart merchants on June 30. This year’s event includes the highest number of finalists, topping last year’s event that had 850 companies earn a chance at a virtual meeting. The call is part of Walmart’s commitment to spend an additional $350 billion on items made, grown or assembled in the U.S.By the end of this year, Walmart plans to offer nearly half its U.S. workforce a new Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro smartphone, case and protection plan to use — free of charge — so that they can use a new app the company is rolling out. Although the employees will only be able to access the app’s work features while they’re on the clock, they will be able use the smartphone as their own personal device if they want. The new app offers features designed to simplify daily tasks, enhance customer service and help employees plan for life outside of work. The new app includes geofencing technology, machine learning, augmented reality, camera vision and artificial intelligence technology, with specific features including the ability to view shifts up to two weeks in advance, check on upcoming paid time off, request schedule changes, clock in with a tap of a button and access the Ask Sam voice-activated personal assistant. AMAZONThe latest Amazon Fresh location opened in Franconia, VA, on May 27, according to reports. Bringing the total number of operational Amazon Fresh locations to 13, the 30,000-square-foot store is the first of two new openings in the Washington, D.C. region, with another Amazon Fresh planned for Chevy Chase, MD.In addition to offering an online Pride shop this month, Amazon is launching its first-ever Pride Festival on June 10-11 via its Amazon Live livestream shopping platform, with a selection of notable LGBTQ+ influencers and tastemakers set to host.Amazon has joined the effort to legalize cannabis on the federal level, and will no longer include marijuana in its employee drug screening program. The company said it will actively support the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021 (MORE Act), legislation that would legalize marijuana at the federal level, expunge criminal records and invest in impacted communities.As it takes a forward-looking view of employees’ personal cannabis use, Amazon has for the second year in a row been ranked as the number one U.S. company investing in America by the Progressive Policy Institute. PPI's "Investment Heroes" study estimates that Amazon invested $34 billion in American infrastructure in 2020, which led to the creation of more than 400,000 direct jobs during the year.Amazon is also publicly supporting the recently introduced bipartisan Postal Service Reform Act. According to Amazon, the legislation would implement policy reforms to help strengthen the USPS’s financial and operational arms, as well as codify USPS practice to maintain an integrated delivery network of mail and packages six days per week.GROCERYAlbertsons Companies completed its first commercial, 100% zero-emission grocery delivery with a Class 8 truck on May 28 from a LEED-certified Albertsons store in Irvine, CA. The VNR Electric models from Volvo Trucks North America are the first zero tailpipe emission, battery-electric trucks of this kind to be used in Albertsons’ company-wide fleet and will serve Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions stores in Southern California, according to a press release. In addition, the retailer has acquired electric-powered transport refrigeration units from Advanced Energy Machines to pair with the trucks.Albertsons is continuing its efforts for racial equity by partnering with new vendors to enhance its supplier diversity program. One vendor, C2FO, a secure online platform for working capital that partnered with Walmart in April, is helping Albertsons launch an expanded early-payment program to help determine the best time and terms for payments between Albertsons and suppliers. Albertsons also plans to work with ECRM’s RangeMe platform and Quantum to help identify small, innovative, diverse suppliers. Abertsons’ supplier diversity program applies to groups more than 50% owned and operated by a U.S. citizen who is African American, Asian American, Hispanic, LGBTQ+, Native American, female or a service-disabled veteran.Ahold Delhaize’s Food Lion is rolling out its Food Lion To Go grocery pick up service to 32 more stores in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia beginning June 7, as Ahold chains continue expanding click-and-collect offerings across the East Coast.

P2PI MEMBERS

JOIN P2PI

You May Also Like

Retail Radar: Amazon Offers New App; Walmart Beauty Accelerator Returns

Walmart Canada Invests $1 Billion to Modernize the Shopper Experience