Keys to Master the Retail Beat

By Lizzie Newland
July 14, 2005 02:51 PM

Business reporters can master the retail beat by understanding important factors, talking with experts and approaching retail from different angles.

 

Recent reports of increases in June retail sales have been attributed to weather, the job market and consumer confidence. While all of these may contribute, certain factors affect retail sales time and again.

 

Monthly sales figures are published by several organizations and include annual changes to same-store retail sales. These numbers are considered to be the best indicator of a retailer's success. Reporters can use this information to compile a list of companies to research. Examine local companies that offer these figures to help readers connect to the story.

 

Doris Hajewski, a business reporter for The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, says that talking to experts is the most important part of retail reporting. Among the sources she suggests are economists, analysts, consultants and the International Council of Shopping Centers.

 

Hajewski also reads reports by Retail Metrics LLC, an industry research firm based in Swampscott, Mass., to compare retail sales forecasts to actual realized figures. This can also give insight into the movement of retailers' stock.

 

After 10 years on the retail beat, Hajewski says that weather is a huge factor. "If it's too cold, people don't buy summer goods and if it's still warm in fall, people don't buy fall clothes."

 

Though, Heather Landy, a retail reporter for The Star-Telegram in Fort Worth, isn't so sure that weather makes much of a difference for retail sales. "Retailers are always complaining about weather," she says. "For the most part, that is a lame excuse."

 

Landy does acknowledge that, at least occasionally, the weather can have a meaningful impact on sales. The weather effect in June "was legitimate because the numbers were so striking."

 

Hurricanes in the Southeast may also have a significant impact on retailers in that area. Businesses that were forced to close because of the storms may suffer from lost sales. However, home improvement stores like Lowe's and Home Depot may see a boost from homeowners buying lumber to board up houses and supplies to repair damages.

 

Landy says she focuses on other economic forces when analyzing retail sales. Factors like oil prices and the stock market can have a big impact on sales, helping dictate consumer confidence. Reporters can look to indexes created by The University of Michigan and The Conference Board for consumer confidence figures. PollingReport.com also provides a number of useful economic outlook indexes.

 

Beyond the sources Hajewski mentions, Landy consults chief financial officers and consumers.

 

"I don't usually come away with any hard-core trends, but sometimes shoppers do bring up issues that I don't think about," she says. "They can provide a new angle."

 

An important part of retail success is having a product the consumer wants. Hot products provide a different kind of retail story than the growth and numbers articles that made headlines recently.

 

"It's a good beat because I like to look at different angles," Landy says. "I can do stories on money, sales, fashion, products, the economy and the bigger picture. And retail has a lot of real characters, so I can do profiles of interesting people."

 

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Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism