Advertisers build their strategies based on current events. When online gaming grew in popularity during the pandemic, some advertisers allocated more of their budget to YouTube’s gaming channels. The rising cost of buying cars led advertisers for new and used dealerships to do the opposite. Advertisers for firearms and accessories companies are no different. Given the divisive nature of their products, however, these advertisers walk on a thinner sheet of ice. What does firearms advertising look like in 2022? Have the headlines and a push for gun reform impacted spending? We looked at our data to find out.
The Summer of 2022 has been punctuated by the escalating cost-of-living crisis which led to a variety of appeals for higher pay. Commuters suffered from the disruption of nine days of national train strikes between June and August. These strikes followed a pandemic that transformed how commuters use public transport, with many now preferring the flexibility of hybrid working. So, how much impact did these strikes actually have? We turned to our real time consumer spending data to run some analysis on the decline in passenger transactions over the period and to look at the wider impact of the strikes on the high street.
iPhone 14 series pre-order and preliminary sales showed: 1) similar performance as iPhone 13 series with slight year-over-year decline; 2) standard models have seen significant decline while Pro series achieved sizable year-over-year growth. iPhone 14 Pre-Order Performance (7-day pre-order sales during September 9-15) Sandalwood e-commerce data showed 7% y/y sales volume growth for iPhone 14 series on Tmall compared to iPhone 13 series during the 7-day pre-order period. Sales value also grew 17% y/y.
Few things are as iconic as the American diner, serving up plates of pancakes and eggs. Over the past few decades, this dining concept has evolved from local stand-alone establishments to regional and national chains. Inflation and other macro headwinds have put pressure on restaurant visitation trends the past several months, but full-service breakfast chains have outperformed the industry. We catch up with several breakfast and brunch restaurant leaders and take a look at how they are positioning themselves as an affordable luxury and leveraging their knowledge of their customer base to succeed.
Miami’s tourism sector has been on a serious upswing for the past few years. The city, and wider state of Florida, saw higher-than-nationwide average visits throughout the course of the pandemic. Driven in part by loose COVID restrictions, tourism was up nearly every quarter since the pandemic began, and these trends are only accelerating now that international travel is returning and airport staffing challenges slow down.
Citi Trends is a rising star in the off-price retail sector and has big plans for expansion and remodeling. We dove into the foot traffic data to analyze Citi Trends’ visit growth and see how the chain stacks up against other top retailers in the off-price space. Citi Trends owes much of its success to an aggressive expansion and remodeling strategy. According to CEO David Makuen, the remodels – dubbed CTx – highlight curated product assortments and enhance the customer experience. In 2021 the chain opened 27 new stores and remodeled 25 others.
Spicy and numbing broth, smooth yet chewy rice noodles, affordable menu prices, and waitresses known as “TamJai Jeh Jeh” with distinctive accents… With all these features, TamJai noodle chains are rapidly taking over every district in Hong Kong. Tam Jai International (HKEX: 2217), which runs TamJai Yunnan Mixian (譚仔雲南米線) (“TamJai”) and TamJai SamGor Mixian (譚仔三哥米線) (“SamGor”), is now wholly owned by Japan’s largest restaurant operator Toridoll Holdings Corporation(TSE: 3397).Apart from serving Yunnan-style rice noodles in Hong Kong, Tam Jai International also expanded its restaurants in Mainland China, Singapore, and Japan.
For this edition of STR’s U.S. “bubble” chart update, we returned the focus to revenue per available room (RevPAR), a core indicator of the general financial health of hotel markets. For the four weeks ending 10 September, there was an expected seasonal softening from the mid-summer travel peak. In fact, only six of the 165 STR-defined U.S. markets saw month-over-month RevPAR increases for the period, which included the Labor Day holiday. That holiday typically produces major decreases in industry demand—especially weekday business travel—as well as marks an informal end to summer travel.
Starbucks, the most prolific coffee chain in the country, recently unveiled a dramatic expansion plan. The chain hopes to not only add 2,000 stores to its nearly 16,000-strong fleet by 2025 but to also new implement new strategies in a bid to maximize sales and customer reach by embracing technology. We dove into the foot traffic data for the coffee giant to understand what lies behind this decision and whether the opportunity is really there.
Our latest white paper dives into retail media networks and explores several retailers on the cutting edge of this advertising revolution. Below is a taste of our findings. In spite of the gloomy predictions regarding the future of brick and mortar retail, major retailers are continuing to see their physical visits outnumber their online ones. Visits to Walmart and Target’s U.S. venues alone significantly outpace the brands’ global online reach, according to web data from Similarweb.
Back to school spending fell 8.6% YoY at key retailers* for the 8 weeks ended September 14, 2022. This is an improvement from the 10.0% YoY decline at the start of the season (four weeks ending August 17th) in states where class had begun. Most notably, spending was materially slower than the largely flat growth during the pre-pandemic 2019 season.
As at-home delivery services keep growing, Uber’s purchase of Drizly in October of last year seemed a natural synergy to complement Uber Eats and Postmates. But has Drizly been delivering? In today’s Insight Flash, we examine how Drizly’s direct business has fared over the last year since the purchase, looking at market share, average ticket, and cross-shop. Market share of spend directly through Drizly has declined since the Uber purchase. In the three months before the deal closed in 2021, Drizly had risen to \~3.5% share of spend for tagged brands in the Wine & Liquor subindustry.
Market concentration helps to indicate if only a few games (or publishers) dominate the majority of the market. This highlights competitiveness. Using Game IQ subgenres and breaking down by geography, we were able to highlight areas of opportunity and disruption to answer: Is the mobile gaming market dominated by only a few big players How can independent publishers break through the titans of the industry? Which regions are gamers most open to new entrants, new genres or new gaming mechanics?
The home improvement sector was one of the biggest retail winners of 2020 and 2021. But in the first half of 2022, inflation caused consumers to think twice about home improvement projects that could break the bank. We looked at six leading brands in the home improvement sector – Lowe’s Home Improvement, The Home Depot, Tractor Supply Co., Ace Hardware, Menards, and Sherwin-Williams Paint Store – to see if we could spot renewed foot traffic trends that could indicate broader consumer confidence and discretionary spending health.
The return of seasonal offerings like the pumpkin spice latte (or “PSL”)—which launched at Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) this year on August 30—coincided with a noticeable uptick in weekly U.S. sales for the coffee chain. Looking at Starbucks’ sales volume during fall menu launches over the past four years, U.S. weekly sales were also highest during the launch in 2022.
The Darden Restaurant Group is one of the world’s largest full-service restaurant groups. With eight restaurant chains in over 1,800 locations, the company owns and manages some of the biggest names in the dining industry. When we last looked at Darden, visits were starting to pick up following a tough year of pandemic restrictions. Now, as grocery costs are rising, we checked back in to see how these restaurants are being impacted by the current economic environment.
The top 10 quick-service restaurant apps in the U.S. were downloaded 10.3 million times in August, 14.8 percent less than those the month prior. Year-over-year in the month of August, downloads of the top 36 quick-service restaurant apps are up 18.9 percent. A download represents a new user and the first conversion on the mobile app customer’s journey. While the order has changed, every one of July’s 10 most downloaded quick-service restaurant apps have returned in August’s lineup. Dunkin’ moved up two spots from No. 9 to No. 7, very likely due to the release of its pumpkin spice flavored drinks and treats.
The return of pumpkin-themed menu items signals the arrival of fall in the coffee space. Over the years, everything from pumpkin spice lattes to pumpkin muffins have gained a massive following. We dove into the foot traffic data for two leading QSRs – Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts – to take a closer look at how the launch of fall menu items drove visits to the chains. To analyze the impact of Dunkin’s and Starbucks’ fall menu launches, we compared each chain’s average visits in the five weeks prior to its fall menu launch to visits in the seven days post-launch.
As worldwide inflation has increased the costs of food, are customers keeping their taste for Meal Kits? In today’s Insight Flash, we look at trends for the top Meal Kit companies in the US and UK, focusing on spend growth, pricing, and retention. In the US, Meal Kits subindustry growth has been stronger than in the UK over the last 35 days on a one-year, two-year, and three-year basis. Compared to three years ago, spend in the US was up 119% versus a still healthy 97% for the UK, 25% versus 18% compared to two years ago, and a positive 4% versus negative -10% compared to last year.
The vibes surrounding consumer financial companies are not what they used to be, but Apptopia data makes one think the negative sentiment has gone too far. While installs (new users) of top consumer fintech apps are down 14% year-over-year in Q3, they are up 19.4% over Q3 in 2020. This is more of a situation where water is finding its level. Still, that doesn't mean that things are not shifting and responding to economic activity. Certain sectors of the fintech industry are being hit harder than others, while some are growing as opportunity (via inflation) presents itself.
