The Supply Side

The Supply Side: Back-to-school shopping comes earlier

As soon as the July 4 holiday ends, families often switch their spending intentions toward back-to-school. A recent survey by JLL found parents plan to spend 21.8% more on back-to-school…

The Supply Side: WalMex, India’s PhonePe grow ecosystems inside Walmart International

Walmart International’s revenue reached $114.6 billion last year, which represented 18% of Walmart’s consolidated sales in fiscal 2024. The business sector holds tremendous growth potential in some of the world’s…

The Supply Side: Walmart seeks to target Gen Z with apparel relaunch

Generation Z, the youngest age demographic of consumers (18 to 27 years), is the first digitally native generation. According to research from SheerID, it represents around 2 billion global consumers…

The Supply Side: Sam’s Club execs discuss goal of doubling revenue

Sam’s Club is on a roll, growing revenue and membership with rising sales of the Member’s Mark private brand and a profitable e-commerce business up 17% in the most recent…

The Supply Side: Tyson Foods pushes new restaurant-inspired foods

Springdale-based Tyson Foods continues to grow its higher-margin value-added business by introducing food innovation from concept to retail launch in its Discovery Innovation Center. The company’s goal is to bring…

The Supply Side: Walmart expands Luminate sales data platform

Last October, Walmart announced the phase-out of its Decision Support System (DSS) app in the Retail Link portal it shares with suppliers. The portal allows suppliers to track their online…

The Supply Side: Walmart rolls out new private brand Bettergoods

Walmart has a long history with private brands, offering over 29,000 products in 20 categories since 1983. Among these is the Ol’ Roy dog food brand, named after Sam Walton’s…

The Supply Side: Retailers use technology to embrace shopping shifts

Parallel shifts in retail commerce over recent years have been driven by global events and the rapid emergence of technology that is transforming the way retailers operate and customers shop….

The Supply Side: New York-based supply chain startup Bops helps with inventory flow

According to industry data, the retail industry has an estimated $380 billion annually from overstocks, out-of-stocks and other inventory challenges that result in lost sales or deep discounts for suppliers…

‘Buy now, pay later’ surges as consumers seek credit card alternatives

Recent surveys on buy now, pay later (BNPL) indicate that the deferred payment form is expected to surge in the next few years. BNPL drew widespread adoption during the COVID-19…

The Supply Side: More retailers rethink self-check options

Self-checkout is nothing new in retail. It first appeared more than three decades ago in Kroger and is now in more than 95% of retailers, according to the Food Industry…

The Supply Side: Online grocery sales expected to reach $204.61B in 2024

According to market research firm eMarketer, U.S. digital grocery sales will grow 11.5% to reach $204.61 billion this year. And there’s still room for growth, as digital grocery will represent…

The Supply Side: Survey notes impact of inflation, but consumers still spending

U.S.-based fintech Bread Financial found that half of middle-class consumers are spending more than last year because of inflation. The financial services firm conducted surveys between October and December 2023…

The Supply Side: Secondhand apparel market continues to grow

According to GlobalData, the U.S. secondhand apparel market grew 11%, or seven times faster than the broader retail apparel market, to $43 billion last year. The report estimates that resale…

The Supply Side: TJX banners, other off-price retailers doing well in early 2024

Consumers continue to spend on discretionary items at off-price retailers like Burlington, Ross Stores and TJX banners such as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods. The off-price retailers are outperforming department…

The Supply Side: Lessons learned from walking a Walmart store

In his memoir, Walmart founder Sam Walton noted that the customer was the most important person in the business. He spent hours each week walking around his stores, talking to…

The Supply Side: Hybrid shopping experience ‘is not going to go away’

Five years ago, omnichannel — multiple methods to reach consumers — was a retailer’s choice. Still, following a pandemic that changed the landscape for many economic sectors, the hybrid shopping…

The Supply Side: Product Connections helps brands bridge in-store, online

Located in Bentonville, Product Connections is a stone’s throw from Walmart’s new corporate campus, which is under construction. There, the full-service marketing firm uses technology to create in-store promotions, demo…

The Supply Side: The Barcode Group pulls six businesses into one brand

The Barcode Group in Bentonville has integrated six retail industry businesses under one brand. Portu Sunberg, Belmont Partners, Infinity Worlds, Retell, Avenue C, and Tana now make up The Barcode…

The Supply Side: Retail cargo theft escalated 57% in 2023

With retailers working to reduce theft in stores, the problem continues to grow in the supply chain as cargo thefts escalated 57% last year, according to CargoNet, a subsidiary of…