EP272 - Q2 Ecom Data, Earnings, and Amazon News

US Dept of Commerce Data

In July retail sales were up 13.3% from previous July (down 1.1% from June). Year to Date sales were up 21.1% vs. 2020. Apparel is in the biggest recovery, up 63%.

At peak of pandemic, restaurants lost nearly $51B/mo of sales to grocery stores. In July the gap has closed to $4B in sales. Restaurants sales for the past two months are higher than two years ago.

Retail sales for all of Q2 2021 grew 28.2% from Q2 2020, e-commerce in Q2 grew 9% during the same period (due to the very high covid driven e-com last year). E-Com was 13.3% of retail sales for Q2.

Q2 Retail Earnings Reports

• Walmart – US Comp Store sales up 5.2%, E-Commerce up 6%
• Target – US Comp Store sales up 8.9%, E-Commerce up 10%
• Home Depot– US Comp Store sales up 3.4%, E-Commerce flat
• Lowes– US Comp Store sales down 2.2%, E-Commerce up 7%

Stores selling essential goods are comping against a very large 2020 basis in Q2. Most stores saw increased foot traffic driving store growth. Concerns about Covid resurgence and supply chain disruptions loom for Q3 and Q4.

Amazon News

• NYT wrote that people now spend more at Amazon than Walmart – Jason says the number are debatable and that’s besides the point.
• WSJ wrote Amazon Plans to Open Large Retail Locations Akin to Department Stores. We discuss

Episode 272 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Thursday August 20, 2021.

http://jasonandscot.com

Join your hosts Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis, and Scot Wingo, CEO of GetSpiffy and Co-Founder of ChannelAdvisor as they discuss the latest news and trends in the world of e-commerce and digital shopper marketing.