Retail Intel Weekly: Walmart, Best Buy & More

TOPLINE TOPICSWalmart and Best Buy are among retailers that have suspended political contributions to U.S. Senate and House members who voted against certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election, as businesses come under pressure following the violence and unrest at the U.S. capitol provoked by unfounded claims of election fraud. Various news reports indicate other major companies are taking a similar stand while some, including Coca-Cola, Google, Facebook and Microsoft, have opted to pause all contributions to political action committees across the board.Amazon, meanwhile, is reportedly working to remove products promoting QAnon, a conspiracy group tied to the mob that attacked the Capitol, as well as merchandise for militia groups. The decision came shortly after Amazon Web Services took Parler — the right-wing social app where some insurrectionists were gathering — offline. In other news, Amazon and Walmart were the top two most downloaded shopping apps in the U.S. in 2020, according to a new report by Apptopia. Amazon saw 41 million downloads and Walmart 34 million. Target was also near the top of the list, coming in eighth place with 16 million downloads.NEWS FROM NRFLooking back on a tumultuous year, Ron Jarvis, The Home Depot chief sustainability officer, highlighted the tough decisions the home improvement chain and other retailers had to do in response to the COVID-19 pandemic during a Jan. 13 session at the National Retail Federation's "Retail's Big Show — Chapter One" virtual expo. "When ... COVID-19 started spreading one of the things that Home Depot decided to do was to pull back on sales, limit the number of people in the stores [and] stop promotions - we didn't have Memorial Day, Labor Day, Red White Blue 4th of July promotions," Jarvis said. "To step back and say we're going to let fewer customers into our stores knowing that we're going to cap sales is ... a hard thing to do, but it's admirable for all retailers that did that in 2020."Walmart shoppers don't expect a speedy economic recovery, Walmart chief customer officer Janey Whiteside said during a Jan. 12 session, indicating that nearly half of Walmart customers surveyed in November said they were worried about the current health of the economy. Whiteside said customers are stretching the budget with strategies like switching from national brands to private brands, buying smaller pack sizes and cherry-picking deals when they're available.MASSWalmart this spring will launch a new doorstep delivery service pilot in Bentonville, where groceries will be dropped off on participating customers' doorsteps in a smart cooler. The temperature-controlled containers are made by HomeValet and are equipped with three zones to store frozen, refrigerated and pantry items."It presents an opportunity to deliver items 24 hours a day, seven days a week. While we don’t have plans to do 24/7 delivery today, it certainly has a nice ring to it," Walmart said in a corporate blog post.Walmart disclosed in an 8-K filing that chief executive officer of U.S. e-commerce Marc Lore (pictured at right) will retire effective Jan. 31. Lore will continue to serve in a consulting role as a strategic advisor through September. All aspects of U.S. retail e-commerce will continue to report to John Furner, ceo of Walmart U.S.Walmart is preparing to launch a fintech startup designed to develop and offer “modern, innovative and affordable financial solutions.” The new company is being developed in a strategic partnership with fintech investment firm Ribbit Capital. Walmart said the initiative will combine its retail knowledge and scale with Ribbit’s fintech expertise to deliver tech-driven financial experiences tailored to Walmart shoppers and employees. SUPERMARKETShopRite is set to give COVID-19 vaccinations at 39 pharmacies in New Jersey. The retailer said recently stores have received an initial shipment of the Moderna vaccine and plans to first administer the shots to healthcare workers through ShopRite's partnership with New Jersey, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those currently eligible to receive the vaccine can make an appointment by going online to vaccines.shoprite.com or by downloading the ShopRite Pharmacy mobile app and using the online scheduler.Albertsons Cos. reported “another quarter of robust results” in its latest earnings call. Same-store sales were up 12.3% in the third quarter (ended Dec. 5, 2020), while digital sales exceeded 200% year-over-year growth for the third straight quarter, topping out at a 225% increase. Revenue was $15.4 billion for the quarter compared with $14.1 billion a year prior. Albertsons launched 1,000 new private-label products in Q3, exceeding its previous goal of 800 new items. Loyalty program usage also grew 17.5% in the quarter. The retailer is also expanding its Drive Up & Go program to nearly 1,400 stores by the end of the fiscal year and is testing self-serve pickup lockers in select markets.Ahold Delhaize’s Giant-Landover is rolling out a collection of Cook-in-Bag products that include 14 different meals ranging from meat to seafood and poultry to pork entrees that come pre-seasoned or marinated in an oven-ready bag. The product line launched at fellow Ahold banners Giant-Carlisle and Martin’s last fall. Available recipes include garlic and herb whole chicken roaster, garlic and herb chicken breasts and Asian teriyaki chicken breasts, to name a few.PETPetco raised $864 million by selling 48 million shares in its initial public offering at $18. The company had planned to sell the shares at a target range of $14 to $17 per share. The IPO values the pet supplies and services retailer at nearly $4 billion. Petco started trading on the Nasdaq on Thursday under the symbol “WOOF.”AMAZONA new analyst survey points to Amazon's ad business gaining the most share among the major digital ad businesses in 2021 and 2022, CNBC reported. According to 52 senior U.S. ad buyers surveyed by Cowen in December, as more spend comes from TV, search and other digital platforms, Amazon’s ad business will continue to grow faster than Google, Facebook, Snap, Twitter, Pinterest and TikTok. Respondents said they expect Amazon’s share of their digital ad spend to rise from 7% in 2020 to 11% in 2022. Though respondents ranked Amazon second in terms of return on investment out of all platforms, following Google search, they noted that Amazon has high customer purchase intent and people are on Amazon to purchase, not just to scroll. Airport specialist retailer Hudson has tied up an agreement to use Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology in some of its travel convenience stores, Forbes reported. The first one, set to open by March at Dallas Love Field Airport, will be the first location to offer Just Walk Out technology anywhere in the Southwest.

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