On the surface, Australian retail price inflation for the September 2021 quarter eased back. However, significant volatility in pricing in 2020 can make it misleading. Over the past two years, pricing is elevated in electronics, hardware and furniture and slightly above average in grocery. Prices are lower in clothing and footwear. The increase in input costs is likely to lead to higher price inflation over the next six months in our view.

Price rises for raw materials have been significant over the past year. In Issue 1 of Price Watch, we analyse these input cost pressures. We look at shipping, sugar, vegetable oils, cotton and semiconductors. While observers see the cost pressures as transitory, the length and extent of the path back to normalisation will significantly impact retailer and manufacturer profits. We expect it will take another 9-18 months for prices to normalise. As a result, retail inflation will rise and there will be profit margin pressure on some, mainly manufacturers, that fail to fully pass through the cost increases.

Australian retail price inflation has been low for a long time. However, input and supply chain costs have increased substantially in the past year. What if we had 5% inflation in both food and non-food in 2022? This is a hypothetical question to raise the debate about the implications of higher retail prices. High price inflation is likely to boost retail earnings in the first 12 months. If we have 5% price inflation, the upside to earnings is 6%-12%.

Coles (28 October 2021) and Woolworths (27 October 2021) will release 1Q22e sales next week. We forecast Coles to deliver 0.9% comparable sales growth in Supermarkets, with Woolworths at 3.3%. The gap will have opened in Woolworths favour given lockdowns favoured online sales and Coles had availability challenges given disruptions from COVID-19 in its DCs. We expect these issues are likely to unwind and the growth gap will narrow considerably beyond 1Q22e.

Domino’s European investor day reiterated the desire to rollout stores and emphasised a focus on acquisitions where possible. The company has an impressive track record in lifting sales productivity, especially in Germany which is up 61% in four years. Despite competitive threats, Domino’s has become the dominant pizza offering in each EU market. While the long-term story is intact, we doubt there will be any changes following the investor day and the company still faces a headwind to sales over the next 18 months.

We initiate coverage of Harvey Norman. The company’s earnings have benefited from elevated demand and tight cost controls over 2020 and 2021. Earnings will fall over the next three years, but we expect margins to remain higher than pre-COVID-19 levels given market structure, store rollout and cost management. In Australia, we expect margins to remain firm given the more concentrated market structure, tight product supply and stringent control on costs the company has maintained over the past two years. The company’s sprawling retail network overseas now accounts for one-quarter of its group earnings and with further rollout in each major country, its share of earnings will rise over the next three years. Offshore stores will rise from 107 today to 121 by FY24e.

As key states of Australia emerge from lockdowns, we expect sales trends to improve for JB Hi-Fi. The demand for key categories like TVs, whitegoods and small appliances is likely to be strong. More importantly, with some tightness of supply, we expect gross margins across the electronics industry to remain firm in the medium term, particularly for The Good Guys. JB Hi-Fi has the added flexibility of a net cash position.

Domino’s faces a risk of slowing sales. We expect same store sales growth (SSSg) to slow meaningfully over the next 12 months. While Domino’s has had strong sales and store openings, some of its sales gains are a result of COVID-19 lockdowns in our view. In Japan we expect SSSg to turn negative in 2022, this is the region that had the largest growth over 2020 and 1H of calendar 2021. As economies reopen, consumers will have other food choices.

Australian vaccination rates are rising and greater Sydney may emerge from its lockdowns next month, which raises the question: how will retail perform for the rest of 2021? In this report, we present a number of charts looking at the US and UK as their vaccination rates increased and lockdowns ended. Interestingly, we find that retail sales in the US and UK accelerated and the earlier winning categories of hardware, furniture and electronics remained the fastest growing categories. Buoyant supermarket trends were largely unchanged and online sales only slowed in the UK.

Wesfarmers has increased its bid for API to $1.55 per share, a 12% lift in its offer price. The API Board has indicated support. While the enterprise value is less than $1 billion, it is an important development for Wesfarmers as it establishes a Health segment. More acquisitions may follow. API is also likely to be part of Wesfarmers digital ecosystem over time.