Posts Tagged ‘Jonathan Gold’
Retail Cargo Traffic Now Estimated to be Lowest Since 2004
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
Experts now predict that 2008 retail cargo traffic will be the lowest since 2004 – a sign of cautious behavior from retailers this holiday season.
The National Retail Federation now expects cargo volume to total 15.3 million TEU (20-foot equivalent units) for the year, a 7.1 percent decline from last year. A month ago, the trade group foresaw a 6.5 percent drop in yearly retail cargo traffic, with total cargo volume being the lowest since 2005.
With retailers attempting to avoid unplanned post-holiday markdowns, “the balance between supply and demand is tougher than ever,” said Jonathan Gold, vice-president for supply chain and customs policy, in a statement.
The trade group foresees a mere 2.2 percent growth in holiday season sales – the lowest predicted increase since 2002 – and “one of the slowest years in quite some time for retail stores,” said J. Craig Shearman, vice-president of government affairs.
According to the National Retail Federation, after major growth in 2005 and 2006 – by about 9.8 and 6.7 percent, respectively – retail cargo volume peaked over the past six years at 16.5 billion TEU in 2007.
Though such a decline in traffic is significant, the year’s total volume still amounts to growth in volume since 2004, said Andrei Roudoi, IHS Global Insight manager of international trade forecasting.
Both Roudoi and the National Retail Federation predict that, once the holiday season ends, a still-strengthening U.S. dollar could help amount to a 2.3 percent growth next March. But “it is really too soon to say whether March will be an indication of any sort of trend” for the year, Shearman said.
Tags: Andrei Roudoi, christina lee, holiday sales, IHS Global Insight, J. Craig Shearman, Jonathan Gold, national retail federation, retail cargo traffic
Posted in News & Articles | No Comments »
Cargo Traffic Still Decreasing, NRF Reports
Monday, October 6th, 2008
Even with the holiday season drawing near, store owners are continuing to brace themselves for slow sales with smaller inventories, according to National Retail Federation reports.
In addition, the trade group expects a 6 percent drop in yearly retail cargo traffic – 2 percent more than its prediction made less than two months ago.
For U.S. ports, October is traditionally the busiest time of the year, as store owners stock up for the holiday months. It is also when the National Retail Federation usually expects to see year-to-year growth. The D.C.-based trade group even predicted in August that October traffic levels would not fall below that of last year, despite month-to-month decreases reported since May.
The National Retail Federation has since released a report estimating that 1.4 million TEU (20-foot equivalent units) of cargo will flow through ten U.S. ports this month – a 2.9 percent decrease from October 2007.
“Retailers are tightening up their inventories to reflect what they expect to be able to sell during the holiday season,” Jonathan Gold, the group vice president for supply chain and customs policy, said in a statement.
In January, the National Retail Federation forecasted for the year a mere 3.5 percent growth in retail sales. In September, the group also predicted that holiday season sales will rise by just 2.2 percent from last year. Both estimates are the lowest increases predicted since 2002.
Article Source: http://www.nrf.com
Tags: christina lee, holiday sales, Jonathan Gold, national retail federation, retail, retail business, retail cargo traffic
Posted in News & Articles | No Comments »