Welcome to the very first edition of what I’m tentatively calling my weekly “weather means business” tweet storm.
As a matter of course I closely follow press reports and the twitter-verse for weather and business related content. It’s my thing. It’s what I do.
My plan is to regularly collate my favorite stories and publish them here.
The goal is to post this every weekend but, since this is purely a labor of love and my weekend priorities are often not mine, it may be every weekend-ish.
At any rate, welcome to the first edition and feel free to reach out with questions or comments or, even better, links to great stories that I can include.
McDonalds Buys AI Tech (Note: Watch this Space!)
You want AIs with that?
McDonald's buys into machine learning.
The technology automatically changes menus depending on the weather, time of day and traffic. https://t.co/wCEEmhlVQM
— Paul Walsh (@PaulEWalsh) April 20, 2019
“It can know time of day, it can know weather. We can also have it understand what our service times are so it only suggests items that are easier to make in our peak hours,” said McDonald’s chief executive Steve Easterbrook.
The ultimate aim was to provide a “much more personalised experience” and to be able to suggest additional items based on the customer’s initial order, he added.
Also see — McDonalds Leverages IBM Watson Advertising to Drive In-Store Visits
Retailers come in from the cold
Relatively mild weather and a very easy comparison combined to help drive an “unexpected’ spike in March retail sales in the UK.
I discussed this in my blog post last month:
My guess at this point is that the “unexpected spike” in retail spending is in large part the result of the easy comparison to last year and the record warmth at the end of February which provided a tail wind into March.
The late Easter and very warm temperatures this week will help overcome the difficult comparison to last year and continue the strong sales trend in April.
But, the May / June weather comps may prove tougher sledding as retailers will have to overcome last year’s weather-driven sales surge.
Retailers come in from the cold. “A spell of warm weather prompted shoppers to hit the high street last month, causing an unexpected spike in spending.” https://t.co/AACbPZD0Ql
— Paul Walsh (@PaulEWalsh) April 20, 2019
Shoppers set for an £11BILLION Easter spending splurge with till takings driven up by hot weather https://t.co/LSbJh0itPh
— Paul Walsh (@PaulEWalsh) April 20, 2019
U.S retail sales soared in March
Weather wasn’t just driving sales in the UK, US retail sales “soared” in March also.
And again, I think this is at least partially due to the combination of a relatively easy comparison to March last year and a rebound from the terrible weather in February.
The March sales trend is another very strong tell that’s signaling a very positive April retail sales environment.
US retail sales soared 1.6% in March https://t.co/77KUNRnCgB
— Paul Walsh (@PaulEWalsh) April 20, 2019
“Kleinhenz said the numbers could have been better if not for cold weather early in March and changes in the timing of two key religious holidays.”
https://t.co/w6Yex89UjR— Paul Walsh (@PaulEWalsh) April 20, 2019
April Showers Bring May Flowers – and More Customers to Buy Clothes – The Robin Report: https://t.co/5qwItgLvQr
— Paul Walsh (@PaulEWalsh) April 20, 2019