E-Commerce and Discounting Trends in the Retail Industry
US retailers have recently reported their 2015 results and expectations for the future. A theme of coping with digital revolution in the industry, dealing with the effects of a California port dispute and reacting to unusually warm weather weighed on many of their minds.
Many companies are expecting difficulties with slow wage growth in the US. It is a sentiment beguiling retailers varied from high-end space like Ralph Lauren Corp. to mass department stores like Kohls Corp. Adapting and succeeding in the fast changing e-commerce space is gaining spotlight. In Europe, having a strong e-commerce presence have given companies with the best performance amongst peers.
Many companies are facing issues such as clearing end-of-season inventories and pressured foreign tourist traffic to their stores. However, Wells Fargo found “that only one-third of the retail group was more promotional than last year. The rest were either the same or less promotional.”