Be Practical … but Not Always
Out-of-the-box, revolutionary ideas that seem impossible are often what ignite people most. That’s why it’s important to heed even your most outlandish ideas – they may yield the most excitement, passion, and investment, per Masters of Scale.
FINANCE
Abercrombie & Fitch (USA) reported Q3 sales rose 20% to $1.06 billion. Net income was $96.2 million, compared with a loss of $2.21 million a year ago. The move to profitability was driven by higher revenue.
Hugo Boss (Germany) reported Q3 sales increased 15% to EUR 1,027 million ($1,124 million). EBIT rose 12% to EUR 103 million ($110 million).
Burlington Stores (USA) reported Q3 sales rose 12% to $2,285 million, while comparable stores sales rose 6%. Net income more than doubled to $49 million.
Kohl’s (USA) reported Q3 net sales decreased 5.2% and comparable sales decreased 5.5%. Net income fell 39% to $59 million.
Dick’s Sporting Goods (USA) reported Q3 net sales rose 2.8% to 3,042 million, with comparable store sales up 1.7%. Net income fell 12% to $201 million.
Guess? (USA) reported Q3 revenue rose 3% to $651 million. Earnings before tax rose 11.5% to $41 million.
Nordstrom (USA) reported Q3 revenue fell 6.8% to 3.3 billion. Net earnings rebounded to $67 million, from a $20 million loss a year ago, driven by lower cost of sales and expenses.
Hugo Boss (Germany) reported Q3 sales increased 15% to EUR 1,027 million ($1,124 million). EBIT rose 12% to EUR 103 million ($110 million).
American Eagle (USA) reported Q3 sales rose 5% to $1,301.1 million. Net income rose 19% to $96.7 million. For Q4, AEO expects sales to be up high single digits, ahead of the 3.4% sales forecasted.
PODCAST
Turning Customer Service into a Sales Driver
When companies are looking to cut costs and customer service is typically the first department to get hit.
Yet customer service might be the key to growing your business – particularly in highly competitive markets.
In this episode Greg Rich, CEO of Vivantio, a company that uses automation to help companies leverage customer service to scale their business, talks about why service can be a powerful sales tool.
You’ll Learn
- The biggest (and costliest) mistake companies make around customer service.
- How to automate customer service without losing the personalization that customers want.
- Small modifications companies can make to level up the service they deliver.
HOLIDAY 2023
Early Black Friday Results
While all the results are not yet in, early analysis shows that Black Friday was lots of noise, but a lot less sales.
In the UK, the final tally for Black Friday is expected to show sales up just 0.4% over last year, per the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
- Barclaycard volume of transactions was up by just 1.4% in the week leading up to Black Friday.
- E-commerce sales volumes are showing single-digit declines from last year.
In the US, retail sales (excluding autos) rose 2.5% year-on-year on Friday, Nov. 24, with jewelry and apparel top choices for gifts.
- Online spending rose 7.5% to $9.8 billion, per Adobe Analytics.
- 72% more shoppers used “buy now, pay later” flexible payment options, per Adobe.
Worldwide, merchants sales were up 22% to $4.1 billion on Shopify, the e-commerce platform reported.
“People are spending, but they’re spending more conservatively,” Barbara Kahn, a professor at The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania, told the New York Post.
Reality: Consumers worldwide are increasingly skeptical about whether an advertised deal is really a deal. Black Friday prices were not much different that what consumers can find during any sale in any month.
In other words, ‘if you don’t buy it now, wait a few months – or weeks – and it will be on sale again, maybe at an even better discount’.
The ongoing big-discount-buy-it-now promotions that have been effective in driving short term sales are now turning against retailers. Consumers know they can wait – and might even be rewarded for doing so.
MARKETS
The German economy remains stagnant. In fact, since the war in Ukraine started, the German economy has grown in only two out of the last six quarters. What’s even worse is that the economy currently remains barely above its pre-pandemic level more than three years later, per ING Bank.
- While private consumption was a drag on growth in the third quarter (-0.3% QoQ), government spending helped support the economy.
The balance sheets of eurozone banks are showing ‘early signs of stress’ after a rise in loan defaults and late payments by customers, the European Central Bank has warned.
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