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When specialty retail apparel chain Express issued its fourth quarter guidance in early December 2013, it anticipated a promotional holiday season as well as a slowdown in traffic after the Thanksgiving week. What the company encountered, however, was a drop in traffic that was even deeper than expected because consumers waited until much closer to Christmas to shop.

New York -- Retailers across the board, from Victoria’s Secret parent L Brands Inc. and American Eagle Outfitters to Family Dollar Stores and Bed, Bath & Beyond, cut their fourth-quarter earnings forecasts on Thursday as heavy promotions and discounts cut into profits. Results were also impacted by multiple snowstorms, a shortened shopping season and cautious consumers.  

Pittsburgh – Total net revenue for American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. decreased 2% to $882 million during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, compared to $904 million for the same quarter a year earlier. Consolidated same-store sales decreased 7%, compared to a 5% increase for the comparable period in 2012.

Philadelphia -- Net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 at Destination Maternity Corporation decreased 0.3% to $134.8 million from $135.3 million reported for the first quarter of fiscal 2013. Same-store sales slightly increased 0.7%.

Chicago -- Despite the shortened holiday season and extreme weather in many areas of the country in the weeks leading up to Christmas, retailers finished the 2013 holiday shopping season with increased sales. According to ShopperTrak, during the holiday shopping season of November and December 2013, national retail sales increased 2.7% and foot traffic decreased 14.6% when compared to the same two months of 2012.

Safeway and Giant Eagle are rolling out the inMarket Mobile to Mortar iBeacon location sensing platform at more than 150 grocery stores in Seattle, San Francisco and Cleveland, with additional retailers and markets launching in the coming months.

iBeacons are micro-location technology that use a low-energy Bluetooth signal to enable unique mobile app experiences based on the customer’s location in the store.

With the new year come resolutions and Sears is looking to capitalize with the FitStudio.com “Points for Progress” program — a fitness rewards program that incentivizes members to incorporate movement into their daily lives to get and stay fit — with the help of pro football analyst and former Steeler Hines Ward.

Reston, Va. -- A total of $46.5 billion was spent online from desktop devices for the full November-December 2013 holiday season, an increase of 10% versus a year ago, according to comScore. While the total represents a record for online holiday spending and a double-digit gain from last year, it nevertheless fell short of comScore's forecasted 14% growth of $48.1 billion in desktop spending.

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in December 2012 versus December 2013 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains. Last year, Home Depot did not run any circular promotions for the month of December and instead chose to coast on Web and email promotions. These electronic offers featured 50%-off promotions, as well as one-day-only sales. Although this online-only behavior was not repeated, Web and email remained Home Depot’s main focus: a short circular with a four day duration was run on Dec. 1 with a Cyber Monday theme.