Major container ports in the United States handled 1.64 million TEUs in November, down 6.6 percent from October but up 11.2 percent from November 2015, according to the Global Port Tracker report by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
Category Archives: RETAIL
An atypical late in the year holiday season bump was evident, based on data issued this week in the most recent edition of the Port Tracker report issued by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and maritime consultancy Hackett Associates.
The National Retail Federation anticipates that the Trump administration will seek action on three legislative priorities — tax reform, regulatory reform and Affordable Care Act repeal — very early next year. NRF’s agenda for 2017 and beyond is driven by retailers’ input, and many 2016 issues — swipe fees, online sales tax, trade, tax reform, patent abuse and workforce policies — remain on that agenda.
Cyber Monday set a new record for online sales, racking up $3.45 billion, according to Adobe Digital Insights. The National Retail Federation said more people shopped online throughout Black Friday weekend than in physical stores. But there are some stores bucking the trend. Take TJ Maxx and Marshalls, owned by parent company TJX Cos. Inc. They’re a rarity in the retail universe: stores that don’t care about online sales because their businesses are based on the real-life retail experience.
The holiday shopping season is often a peak for retailers’ sales. But the flipside to that boom is it leads to peak returns season – costing retailers billions to handle unwanted, used or damaged goods each year.
It’s time for traditional retailers to prove that one of their biggest advantages over Amazon can, in fact, deliver. After last year stumbling through the first real test for in-store pickup, the retail service will come under even more pressure this holiday, as more Americans do their shopping online and opt to pick up their orders in store.
U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in October as households bought motor vehicles and a range of other goods, pointing to sustained economic strength that could allow the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next month. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday retail sales increased 0.8 percent last month, also boosted by demand for building materials likely as households cleaned up and made repairs in the wake of Hurricane Matthew.
U.S. consumer spending rose more than expected in September as households boosted purchases of motor vehicles and inflation increased steadily, which could bolster expectations of an interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve in December.
Retail sales saw a slight increase of 0.2 percent in September compared with August, and grew a strong 3.5 percent year-over-year, according to numbers released today by the National Retail Federation. The calculations exclude automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants.
News that the 20,000-member International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) plan to meet again in early November should be welcomed by West Coast shippers who can recall cargo slowdowns that occurred over a nine-month period before being settled in the contract agreement of February 2015.