The "Spring" Of Traditional Retailing May Not Come Before 2020.

Although it has just entered the 2019, the tradition

The sad news followed.

In the US, following the Centennial retail giant

(Sears) after 104 years of application for bankruptcy protection in a court in New York, the flagship store of Lord & Taylor, a luxury luxury department store in New York, was officially closed in January 2nd. The Department Store magnate Messi general store, after releasing the sluggish performance in November 2018 December and reducing its annual outlook, smoothed the company's share price since 2018.

In addition to the US retail industry, the retail sales of major stores in the UK and Australia are also worrying after opening the discount season after Christmas.

British retail data statistics company Springboard's report shows that the number of stores in the region has declined for the third consecutive year on the day of boxing day. Data released by the Australian Retail Association say that the consumption volume after Christmas is only 0.4% higher than that of last year, while the Global News of Canadian state media also reported that the consumption enthusiasm of people on Boxing Day this year is far less than that of previous years.

For a long time, the traditional retailing industry is hard to find an effective way to break through the dilemma of declining sales and competitiveness. It is hard to see signs of warming in the "cold winter" of retail industry.

According to articles published in the US media, the "spring" of traditional retailing may not come before 2020.

The winter is long.

According to the world clothing shoes and hats net,

The second day record of a single day drop in the company's history.

Messi's department store said that in the holiday shopping season in late 2018, although the sales performance of "black five" was good after the end of Thanksgiving in November, sales growth slowed down in the middle of December.

The company's expected sales in the same fiscal year for the fiscal year 2018 will be reduced from an increase of 2.3%-2.55% to an increase of 2%; the gross margin guidelines will be adjusted from "slight rise" to "slight decline"; the inventory situation will be changed from "reduction" to "no change".

The company also adjusted its earnings per share from $4.1 -4.3 to $3.95 -4, less than expected.

According to the world clothing and shoe net, after the report of Messi's department store, its leading US stock retail stock plummeted, evaporating the market value of US $34 billion in one day.

Among them, Karl's (Kolhs) department store fell 4.81%, Vitoria's Secret parent company LBrands fell 4.39%, Taghit fell 2.85%.

While entangling in Messi's department store, another large traditional retailer, Sears's department store, has been wandering between bankruptcy and "renewal of life", and has been in danger of "countdown" several times.

Sears's competitor, Penny's department store, also felt the pressure of this trend. In the first nine weeks of January 5, 2019, its comparable sales fell by 5.4% year-on-year, adjusted by 3.5%.

The group also announced that it will close three department stores in the spring and assess whether it will close down stores with poor financial performance or poor market prospects in the coming months.

The price of Penny's Department has fallen below $1 in the past 90 years.

According to regulations, when the listed shares on the New York stock exchange closed below 1 US dollars for 30 consecutive trading days, the exchange can activate the mandatory delisting procedures.

Now it seems that the time left for Penny's department seems to be few.

It's not just the days of traditional retail businesses in the United States. Over the past few years, retail stores in other countries are also getting worse.

The year-end report of Center for Retail Research shows that in recent years, with the closure of more than 20 thousand retail outlets, nearly 150 thousand jobs have disappeared.

At the end of 2018, chain store retailer Lowe (s) announced that it would close 51 branches with poor performance, of which 20 were in the US and 31 in Canada.

Due to huge losses, Taghit, a well-known retail chain store in Australia, will also shut down 1/5 of its offline stores in the next five years.

This is only a microcosm of the decline of the traditional retail industry worldwide.

Tradition is not dead

A common view is that the rise of e-commerce has severely depressed traditional retail businesses.

This view is not wrong.

Conrad Kaelin, executive director of consumer decision-making department at Barclay card, said: "most consumers choose online shopping instead of crowding in the cold and crowds on the streets."

According to the survey, 56% of the people said they would spend most of their energy on online shopping, compared with 42% in 2017.

"Online discounts are stronger than usual because consumers are accustomed to promotions, and those who only discounted 20%-30% have been unable to attract the public," said Diane Wehrle, director of market observation at Springboard.

But this does not mean that there is no way out for traditional retailing.

According to an article in fortune, despite the fact that the retail industry is in a state of panic under the impact of e-commerce, "physical retailing is far from being disappearing".

{page_break}

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, believes that in the next 20 years, 30 years or even 50 years, there will be no change in the retail industry. The first thing is that customers like things at low prices. Two, customers prefer to deliver goods more quickly. Three, customers want more and better choices.

Almost all investment in the retail industry revolves around these three points.

Fast delivery and lower prices are essentially the problem of supply chain efficiency, and consumers want more goods to choose because consumers are always changing.

People will not be satisfied with a certain way of life, and will not end up with the realization of a certain desire.

According to an article by New York Times, some new large shopping center projects in Asia are no longer simply shopping centers, but also provide art museums, libraries, gardens and other places of activity. They are not limited to luxury goods, but treat all customers as luxury buyers.

The article believes that this practice reflects the new thinking of the retail industry to the physical space.

Scott Malkin, founder of ValueRe-tail group, believes that the service and style of shopping centers are brand "software". "You are not serving people who need a commodity, but serving a person who needs some experience", which changes the way retailers operate.

In his view, today's retail industry is entering a new stage. The millennials hate any action with marketing or forced marketing. They spend more and more money on unique events rather than products.

Focus on changing

Some analysts pointed out that many department stores still rely on the mode of operation in the middle of 1980s, but nowadays consumers want value, entertainment and services.

Unless there is a big pformation, traditional department stores will lose their vitality completely.

The closure of Lord & Taylor flagship store in Fifth Avenue marked the pformation of the company to online sales.

Lord & Taylor's parent company, Canada's Department Store Group Hudson Bay, said it was "to focus on digital opportunities and improve profitability."

The retail sales of Karl's department store EPS increased from US $5.35 -5.55 to US $5.50 -5.55, and its digital channel sales also increased by two digits.

Oliver, a Cowen & Co. analyst at the investment bank, praised Karl's department store's plan in the report, saying that it boosted the flow of visitors, especially the brand of development sports, and gave Karl's department store a "win over the market" rating.

Considering that 50% of digital sales are done through mobile devices.

Karl's department stores first targeted the development of related services, and sought the right combination point between the electricity supplier and the store, upgrading and upgrading existing stores.

Through a series of ways, such as reducing commodity inventory and site renting, successfully avoided large scale shop closes.

Secondly, by introducing new businesses, reducing the number of choices and increasing the fashion sense of the product, we dedicate our products to our customers. The company is also actively expanding the product category.

Finally, through the cooperation agreement with Amazon, the company specially displays the Amazon Echo and other electronic products in the store, so that the company can make better use of Amazon's huge customer base.

In the UK, innovators have seen business opportunities in the plight of traditional retailers, and there has been a short booking platform for shops.

This provides a new way for retailers to search and Book thousands of short rental shops around the world.

Because rents are much cheaper than long rents, some brands that have never opened stores in first tier cities have the opportunity to own a short-term entity store.

British high street has been a gathering place for physical retailers, but according to PWC's latest data, only more than 1000 stores in the first half of 2018 disappeared in high street, but short rental shops were in the opposite direction.

Industry analysis, the future retail industry will face structural adjustment, more brands are waiting for this opportunity to adjust.

More interesting reports, please pay attention to the world clothing shoes and hats net.