Wall Street Journal

By Elizabeth Holmes and Miguel Bustillo

January 6, 2010

Clothing stores discounted less and sold fewer items last month than a year ago, a combination that undercut sales but likely will translate into higher fourth-quarter profits, according to figures released Tuesday.

Apparel and department stores remain among the weaker retailers, with sales well below pre-recession levels. December clothing sales fell 1.8% and department store sales fell 2.3%, both from the same month a year ago, according to MasterCard Inc.’s SpendingPulse unit.

Despite the softer sales, many retailers are expected to signal higher earnings for the crucial fiscal fourth quarter when they release results Thursday. Most mall retailers scaled back inventories dramatically last year to avoid a repeat of the drastic markdowns of the 2008 holiday season. As a result, the sales that did occur were closer to—or at—full price.

“It was a healthier season,” said Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis for MasterCard Advisors, which tracks sales by all payment forms.

“It’s still a tough credit environment. It’s still an economy in which there has been no job creation,” said John Long, a partner at consultancy Kurt Salmon Associates. “Until those two things change, we won’t see consumers changing their behaviors.”

Overall, the holiday season was slightly better than the year before, when economic turmoil gripped the country and consumer spending on discretionary items plummeted. Total retail sales from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24 rose 3.6% over 2008, according to MasterCard. The company didn’t provide a December figure for total sales.

December results were boosted by a late-month surge in shopping following Christmas, as customers cashed in gift cards and took advantage of post-season clearance sales, it said. Sales for the seven-day period ending Jan. 2 were up 2.5% compared with last year, according to estimates released Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping Centers.

As a result of the relatively strong finish, analysts now expect many chains to boost their fourth quarter earnings outlooks. Thomson Reuters Corp., estimates December sales for the 30 reporting chain stores that it tracks rose 2%. Retail Metrics Inc., which uses a slightly different methodology, puts the increase at 1.8%.

While overall retail sales continued to be soft, one notable exception was in electronics. MasterCard reported December sales were up more than 7% from last year.

Many electronics experts had forecast declining prices would keep revenues flat despite an increase in unit sales. Although falling prices for televisions hurt overall sales, their impact was more than offset by sales of hot gadgets including smart phones and electronic-book readers, MasterCard’s Mr. McNamara said.

Puts Former Home Depot CMO In Charge of Emerging Media Lab

-By Joe Mandese

In a major push into the retail media space, Interpublic’s Mediabrands unit has hired former Home Depot CMO John Ross and named him president of its Emerging Media Lab, in what the media shop is touting as the first phase of “retail 3.0.”

The fact that Mediabrands has chosen to situate the head of its retail media practice within its emerging media think tank speaks volumes about the role new and emerging media technologies – everything from mobile to digital, place-based signage and media networks – are having on the way consumers shop at retail, and how marketers reach and communicate to them.

Interpublic executives said to “stay tuned” for phase two of the initiative this fall, but the initial move suggests that Interpublic is accelerating its efforts in the retail media sector – sometimes known as “shopper media.”

They emphasized that the first phase is part of a larger Interpublic strategy to better integrate the resources of the holding company’s “hyper local agencies,” shops like local newspaper specialty agency Newspaper Services of America, and directory agency Wahlstrom Group, into a bigger “retail 3.0″ play.

The move follows similar reorganizations at other big agency holding companies recognizing the increasing role of retail media, but the initial realignment of Interpublic’s operations with its new media think tank suggests that it is far more than a geographic strategy.

Interpublic said that part of Ross role will be ensuring that the lab creates and “merchandizes” proprietary retail media opportunities for Interpublic’s clients – both retail focused ones, as well as manufacturers.

“On the larger Mediabrands Retail 3.0 solution, John will work in lock step with our highly sophisticated hyper-local agencies led by Dave Walker, president-CEO, NSA and Geoff Kehoe, President, Wahlstrom,” Interpublic said in a statement announcing the reorganization.

Lori Schwartz, the senior vice president who has been directing Interpublic’s Emerging Media Lab, will continue to manage it, and will work with Ross to establish new technology partnerships.