U.S. e-commerce sales growth decelerates in January

For the Third Quarter of Fiscal 2022: *Net sales increased 17.2% to $2.3 billion compared to $2.0 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2021 primarily due to the favorable impact from the continued resilience of the beauty category, retail price increases, and the impact of new brands and product innovation compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2021. *Comparable sales (sales for stores open at least 14 months and e-commerce sales) increased 14.6% compared to an increase of 25.8% in the third quarter of fiscal 2021, driven by a 10.7% increase in transactions and a 3.5% increase in average ticket. *Gross profit increased 22.0% to $962.8 million compared to $789.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2021. *Operating income increased 27.3% to $361.9 million, or 15.5% of net sales, compared to $284.2 million, or 14.2% of net sales, in the third quarter of fiscal 2021. *Net income increased 27.5% to $274.6 million compared to $215.3 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2021.

Unit sales of print books increased 13.4% in the week ended Oct. 10, 2020, over the comparable week in 2019, with three new titles topping the bestseller list. The two biggest bestsellers were in adult nonfiction, helping to lift unit sales 10.9% over the week ended Oct. 12, 2019. Ina Gartner’s Modern Comfort Food sold more than 130,000 copies in its first week, while Humans by Brandon Stanton followed, selling almost 103,000 copies. Juvenile fiction sales rose 17.1%, led by The Tower of Nero by Rick Riordan, which sold about 49,000 copies in its first week. YA nonfiction sales jumped 71.4% in the week. Three new titles in the Complete Guide in Ten Easy Lessons line from Simon & Schuster’s Portable imprint drove the gains: Engineering Made Simple, Science Made Simple, and Math Made Simple each sold more than 6,000 copies in its first week. Five new titles took the second through sixth spots in adult fiction, where sales rose 9.2%.

U.S. advertising revenues in August took an expected hit -- down 7% for the month. That's due, in large part, to unfavorable comparisons to high TV media spending from the Summer Olympics in August 2016. Standard Media Index says overall TV advertising spending for the month was down 25%, with broadcast TV networks sinking 54% and local TV station national spot advertising down 35%. Click Read More below for more of the story.