Consumer Nation
- Six Pack: Beer Buzz of the Week
- Time for Flash Sales to Adapt or Die
- What Flash Sites Are Suggesting About Consumers
- Building a Beer Brand, One 'Like' at a Time
- The Six Pack: Beer Buzz of the Week
- Wal-Mart's Strong Earnings Overshadow Bribery Allegations
- Lesson for JCPenney: Consumers Are Addicted to Deals
- Fuel Prices Trump Unemployment as Risk to Retailers: Study
- The Hot Beauty Product You Never Heard Of
- The Six Pack: Beer Buzz of the Week
RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- How Boaz Weinstein and Hedge Funds Outsmarted JPMorgan
- JPMorgan Trading Loss: Did Regulators Miss the Risk?
- RIM May Cut at Least 2,000 Jobs in Restructuring: Report
- Marc Faber: 100% Chance of Global Recession
- As Bank Loans Dry Up in Spain, Small and Medium Businesses Fight for Life
- How Nasdaq Lost Control of Facebook IPO, by the Minute
- Citigroup Lost $20 Million on Facebook IPO Trades
- The Biggest Market Myth There Is?
- Judge Says Skilling Can Seek New Trial
- What College Tuition Will Look Like in 18 Years
- A New Look at the ‘New Poor’
- Six Pack: Beer Buzz of the Week
- Greek Exit Could Trigger 50% Fall in Euro Stocks: Analyst
- Under Pressure, FHA Skews to Wealthier Home Buyers
- Big Stock Upside for Hudson City Deal: Analyst
- 5 High-Yield Stocks Ready to Boost Dividends
- Yoshikami: Four Things You Need to Know About Gold Now
- Steinbock: The Euro Zone Endgame Begins
- Option Bulls Take Another Shot on Idenix
- How Nasdaq Lost Control of Facebook IPO, by the Minute
- Week Ahead: Europe Has Wall Street Bull on Short Leash
- Pro-Bailout Greeks Regain Lead in Polls Before Vote
- Citigroup Lost $20 Million on Facebook IPO Trades
- JPMorgan to Shake Up Risk Team After Big Loss: Report
- RIM May Cut at Least 2,000 Jobs in Restructuring: Report
- EU Finalizes Bank Reforms; Shifts Burden to Bondholders
- Spain's Bankia Eyes Stake Sales After Record Bailout
- EU Set to Launch Action Against China Over Telecom Aid
Without Wal-Mart, Is The Retail Picture Skewed?
Text Size 
News Editor
Feel like something's missing today? Oh yeah, Wal-Mart's monthly sales.
 |
AP |
The world's largest retailer [WMT
Loading...
()
], which accounts for some 15 percent of the retail industry sales, has stopped reporting its same-store sales on a monthly basis.
Although Wal-Mart is not the first retailer to make this move, it goes without saying it's the most influential. Sears, Chico's, CVS, Family Dollar, Ann Taylor, Home Depot — to name a few — have all gone down this path already. And so far, Macy's [M
Loading...
()
], which stopped reporting monthly sales last year, is a rare example of a retailer that reversed course and returned to the practice of monthly reporting.
Some analysts agree with Wal-Mart and other retailers that have ditched the reports. They argue that monthly reports focus too much attention on short-term trends, and don't fully account for fluctuations in weather, the timing of holidays, and shifts in promotions. These factors can cause volatile results that can sharply skew Wall Street's perception of a company.
"Monthly sales are very distorting," says Eric Beder, an analyst at Brean Murphy Barrett & Co. "They take away from the longer-term investors in retailing." (To hear Beder and Telsey Advisory Group Chief Research Officer Dana Telsey weigh in on this issue, click here.)
But some smaller investors may feel short-changed because they can't just pick up the phone and talk with the company about what it's seeing at its stores. They also don't have an army of researchers travelling from mall to mall, counting shoppers and watching promotional activity like boutique research firms do.
It also raises issues about whether the monthly sales reports offer a full picture of what is happening with the consumer. About five years ago, there were 87 companies reporting monthly sales results. Now, there are 34, according to Frank Badillo, senior economist at Retail Forward. It's clear from that statistic that we are now only seeing a smaller slice of the action.
This month's sales reports paint a picture of a still cautious consumer, shopping for bargains and basics.
The majority of the retailers who are still reporting results fell short of analyst estimates. But this picture misses color from Wal-Mart at a time when consumers are flocking to the discounter in greater numbers. Absent from our assessment of May is commentary from the retailer about what shoppers bought at their stores. We don't know if consumers are beginning to shut down again, or just continuing to tread carefully.
It's also likely, analysts say, that other retailers will follow Wal-Mart's lead and stop reporting monthly results. And our picture will grow dimmer still.
According to Customer Growth Partners President Craig Johnson, the monthly sales report represents only about 10 percent of the total U.S. retail sales.
"The monthly reports Wall Street so breathlessly awaits really primarily protray only two retail sectors, apparel chains and department stores, each of which represent well under 3 percent of U.S. personal consumption expeditures," Johnson says.
More from Consumer Nation:
- Cocaine Flap Could Give Red Bull Sales 'Wings'
- The 'New' GM Kicks Off Retooled Ad Campaign
- Bankruptcy Gives GM Clean Slate, But Not With Consumers
- Happy Campers: Recession Can't Dampen Summer Fun
Questions? Comments? Email us at
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
