Retail Stocks

[kiwi2007]

Did a small study back in the day at Uni in my optional marketing paper on the cost of packaging.  You'd be really surprised at the percentage of cost that is often related to packaging compared to the product cost itself.  I hear many of Costco's products are only available in very large quantities, best suited to large families.  I'm not sure their products are cheaper per se, (and Diana Clement of the N.Z. herald thinks most stuff available at Pak n Save is cheaper), it's just that they are taking advantage of cost efficiencies with large quantity packaging.
More likely, a lot of people have found the Costco hype and so-called bargains, not worth the time, effort and expense of driving out of their way for.

We joined and only visited 3 times when in the area. Bought a roasted chuck for $7 each time and that was it.
Unfortunately didn't tick the 'don't renew' box and recently found I  been billed another $60 membership fee.
Never mind, family's moving to the area soon, maybe I'll find something worth the visit eventually.

[Waltzing]

Great stuff KW ... better visit BRIS and see if they have any traditional real kettles else have to visit a camping shop in northern Sweden ...

The coffee and chocolate shop in landskrona is one of the best in sweden and will stuff a bike bag next time ...

[KW]

Did a small study back in the day at Uni in my optional marketing paper on the cost of packaging.  You'd be really surprised at the percentage of cost that is often related to packaging compared to the product cost itself.  I hear many of Costco's products are only available in very large quantities, best suited to large families.  I'm not sure their products are cheaper per se, (and Diana Clement of the N.Z. herald thinks most stuff available at Pak n Save is cheaper), it's just that they are taking advantage of cost efficiencies with large quantity packaging.
More likely, a lot of people have found the Costco hype and so-called bargains, not worth the time, effort and expense of driving out of their way for.

If you remember, Costco is actually a warehouse operation for other businesses, with a side business of allowing consumers to buy business products.  So sizing is designed to make it operationally efficient for businesses to use, like a restaurant or bar buying a pack of 4 dozen toilet paper rolls.  If you have the storage available in your home, its great.  I'm still using the giant roll of Chux cloths I got when I lived in Australia, and the 5 litre bottle of laundry detergent actually lasted me years.

[KW]

Aussie retail up 2% in Nov, beats forecasts (which were for 1.2% increase).  CPI out tomorrow. 

[winner (n)]

Retail in Oz can't be doing too bad if JBH JB HiFi share price anything to go buy

Gone from $44 to about $60 in last few months .....bean on a real roll.

[KW]

Retail in Oz can't be doing too bad if JBH JB HiFi share price anything to go buy

Gone from $44 to about $60 in last few months .....bean on a real roll.

Also Super Retail - putting in new all time highs, up 6% today.  Up about 60% since its July low.  Retail is definitely not dead in Australia, just got to be selective about which ones you choose.  Quality will out. 

[KW]

Electronic card spending fell at the end of last year which might be bad news for retail. 
Retail spending in December was down on last year despite population growth and steep price rises, a sign many households have put away their credit cards.
Spending was down 0.6 per cent on the same month the previous year and Westpac senior economist Satish Ranchhod said during the past 12 months, spending levels have effectively been tracking sideways.
''That's despite a population growth of around 2 per cent and price rises of close to 5 per cent. Putting that together signals that many New Zealand households are keeping their credit cards in their pocket."
December 2023 was down 2 per cent on November with spending in all retail categories taking a hit last month, according to new data from Stats NZ.
Stats NZ data on electronic card transactions for December 2023 showed spending in the retail industries decreased by $132 million (2 per cent) while spending in core retail was down $119m (2 per cent).
Spending on durables (whiteware and appliances) and fuel had the biggest slump, down $33m (2 per cent) and $19m (3.4 per cent) respectively.

Spending on apparel was down 2.9 per cent ($10m) while motor vehicle spending was down 2.2 per cent ($4.6m).

[KW]

There are 25,000 more people on welfare benefits than this time last year.  Nobody seems to be talking about that in the media.  Immigration is really just the replacement of expensive Kiwi labour with cheap immigrant labour.  There is little benefit to the economy - unless you are an employer or own a rental property.  

[Fiordland Moose]

Ignoring month to month movements in seasonally adjusted sales - and just looking at this month vs same month last year - apparel sales in december was down 6.9%. This follows a 4.7% decline in November and a whopping 12.2% decline in october. So calendar year q4 sales were down 7.8% on Q4 CY22. as always there will be a wide dispersion of retailer performance and some bifurcation in the mkt, but directionally, hard to paint a positive picture of apparel sales in NZ.

[Shareguy]

Todays herald says Harvey Norman had a 22 percent fall in sales 2023 against 2022.


https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/harvey-normans-55m-profit-becomes-21m-loss-real-estate-devaluation-effect/HXWSCK7UWVGY3FKN5J2LDRRK2Y/

[BlackPeter]

There are 25,000 more people on welfare benefits than this time last year.  Nobody seems to be talking about that in the media.  Immigration is really just the replacement of expensive Kiwi labour with cheap immigrant labour.  There is little benefit to the economy - unless you are an employer or own a rental property. 

Look KW, if you need next time a doctor I suggest you leave the extremely limited number of available medical professionals to the rest of us and use instead one of the unemployed while too expensive Kiwi doctors you are talking about. Please do the same thing if you need a nurse, an old age carer, an engineer or a teacher.

From a personal perspective - while I realise that many people fall for fact-free populist slogans like yours above ... could we try to keep this forum a bit more fact based and populism free?

[Basil]

Ignoring month to month movements in seasonally adjusted sales - and just looking at this month vs same month last year - apparel sales in december was down 6.9%. This follows a 4.7% decline in November and a whopping 12.2% decline in october. So calendar year q4 sales were down 7.8% on Q4 CY22. as always there will be a wide dispersion of retailer performance and some bifurcation in the mkt, but directionally, hard to paint a positive picture of apparel sales in NZ.

To be fair, the PCP was exceptionally strong though so maybe not as dire as it seems.  Certainly, HLG SP holding up better than I expected so far this year.

[Waltzing]

HN ...

well winner() this one is down and JBHI aus will be interesting numbers for the 1st QTR some way away...

A womens fashion designer has said AUS feels slow at the moment ...


https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/harvey-norman-makes-a103b-revenue-in-new-zealand-down-30pc/3PYEFDXTVJHZRGIAELD23ZOA5U/

[KW]

A womens fashion designer has said AUS feels slow at the moment ...

Taylor Swift will save them!  If you're not selling your collection to Swifties you're doing it wrong.

https://www.universalstore.com/collections/eras-tour-outfits

[Waltzing]

OH YES well said!!!