Consumer Nation
- Shopping for Answers
- Consumers Haven't Changed, They Are Just Pickier
- Boomers in Denial About Retirement Savings
- Teen Unemployment: Will Work for Jeans and T-Shirts
- Study Reveals What's Really Going on in Aisle Six
- McPrank: Teens Get A Bad Rap at McDonald's
- Holiday Surveys: Putting Tinsel on a Charlie Brown Tree
- A New Competitor Pops Up in the Toy War
- Toy Price Wars Rage On, but Now There's an App for That
- Five Reasons US Retailers May Have Jollier Holiday This Year
RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- Bear Stearn Fund Managers Not Guilty on All Counts
- JPMorgan Chase to Hire 1,200 Mortgage Officers
- Parsing Treasury's Loan Modification Report
- Fighting The Flu Vaccine Critics
- Hottest Zip Codes for Home Prices
- Oil Tomorrow
- Commodity ETFs: Returns May Not Always Match Expectations
- A Squeeze on Customers Ahead of New Rules
- 'Thriller' Art: Warhol's Jackson Work Could Net $700,000
- Bair: Reserve Fund For Dismantling Must Be Set Up
- Starbucks Brews Up Growth
- Farr: An Extended Period—No Fat Lady in Sight
- More Upside if S&P Passes This Number: Market Pro
- Murdoch Lashes Out At Google
- Fighting The Flu Vaccine Critics
- Nov. 10: Unusual Volume Leaders
- Shadow Inventory Dwarfs Loan Mods
- The Lloyd's Prayer
- Playing Activision and Other Video Game Stocks: Analyst
- Three Things the US Can Do To Stop the Dollar's Decline
- Toll Brothers: More Contracts Signed, but Sales Down
- Fed's Lacker: US in a 'Good Place' With Inflation
- Bear Stearn Fund Managers Not Guilty on All Counts
- Commodity ETFs: Returns May Not Match Expectations
- JPMorgan Chase to Hire 1,200 Mortgage Officers
- Home Prices Decline Further In Most Parts of US
- Ponzi Proceeds: Bidding on Madoff's Toys
- Quiz: Do You Know Your Coca-Cola Myths?
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