STORES Convention Daily Preview Issue - 6

2018 BIG SHOW PREVIEW

The 17 Biggest Stories of 2017

Continued from page 4

July
July

Amazon's 2017 Prime Day
The first Amazon Prime Day, July 15, 2015, commemorated Amazon's 20th
birthday and 10 years from the launch of Prime. The online retail giant has kept the
celebration going, giving shoppers a new reason to shop in the dog days of summer.
2017's version of Amazon Prime Day broke previous records, with sales increasing by
more than 60 percent compared with the same 30 hours in 2016; sales growth by small
businesses and entrepreneurs was even higher. More new members joined Prime on
this past Prime Day than on any single day in Amazon history. Prime members' most
popular purchase was the Echo Dot. More shocking than those figures: Amazon.com
reported that Cyber Monday, which took place in late November, eclipsed Prime Day
to become the single largest shopping day in the company's history around the globe.

QVC plans to merge with HSN in $2.1 Billion Deal
Shortly after the July 4 fireworks came this boom: Liberty Interactive,
owner of QVC, said it would combine with longtime rival Home Shopping
Network, in a $2.1 billion deal. The goal in combining the two: gain scale,
combine resources and cut costs. Each remains a stand-alone brand under the
new QVC Group structure, and continues to operate substantial ecommerce
operations. "The increased scale of this combination will allow us to more
effectively compete ... in a changing and evolving retail and digital environment," said Gregory B. Maffei, the chief executive of Liberty Interactive. At
a time when people are spending more time than they have in years watching
television, this merger seems tuned in.

August

Amazon cuts prices
at Whole Foods Market
Amazon announced its
plan to acquire Whole Foods
Market in June for $13.7 billion; August 28 marked the first
official day running the grocer.
On that day, the online giant
slashed some food prices, in
some instances upwards of 40
percent or more. While prices
seem to have been on a roller
coaster rise since, the benefits
for Amazon seem unassailable.
Whole Foods' private labels,
including 365 Everyday Value, Whole
Paws and Whole
Catch, can now be
bought through Amazon's Prime Pantry
and Prime Now food
delivery programs;
Prime members
will be able to order
food items online
at Amazon.com and
pick them up at an
Amazon Locker at
their nearest Whole
Foods. Whole Foods
currently has about
470 locations in the
U.S. and Europe but
is expected to open
more under Amazon's umbrella.

September

Best Buy thrives in the age of Amazon
Five years ago, Best Buy was facing some serious
headwinds. It was 2012 when new CEO Hubert Joly
stepped in, and while he didn't have pure retail experience, he did have a plan. The Renew Blue turnaround
plan consisted of five pillars including improving the
customer experience, energizing employees, deepening relationships with vendors and increasing return on
investment through cutting costs and growing sales. The
turnaround plan is now a bonafide success: Revenue figures have beaten Wall Street's expectations in six of the
last seven quarters and Best Buy's stock price has risen
more than 50 percent in the past year. In March 2017, the
next phase of the plan was put in place: Building the New
Blue outlines plans for jumping on emerging categories
such as connected home and appliances and beefing up
services and solutions such as the Geek Squad.
Photos on this page: Shutterstock.com

See "17 Biggest Stories" on page 14

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