Research Topic

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl’s Corp. reported Thursday that first-quarter profit fell 23% on aggressive price cuts, falling to $154 million from $201 million in the year-ago period. Results met internal expectations and goals, but missed Wall Street estimates.

Sales for the quarter ended April 28 edged up 1.9% to $4.2 billion, meeting analysts’ estimates.  Same-store sales inched up 0.2%.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.  — Walmart has put a considerable amount of time an effort into its digital business, and that appears to have been well worth it as the company achieved an 82, from a prior-year score of 79, on ForeSee's 2012 rating of Internet retailers. Achieving an 82 is impressive, as a score of 80 is the minimim needed to be considered "superior." The survey scored all retailers on the list out of a 100.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.  — Though 79 is just one point shy of what ForeSee considers a superior score on its annual top 100 online retailers for customer satisfaction list, Target should still be concerned as it was three points behind rival Walmart, and three points does make a difference.

With the lowest score on the list being 69 and the highest being 89, achieved by Amazon.com, most retailers on the list had a score in the 70s, while 36 on the list earned the distinction of scoring 80 or higher. The scores are based on a 100-point scale.

Chicago -- Forty-two percent of Americans are using social media to shop – this equates to nearly 95 million consumers – and that number continues to rise, according to a study by Leo Burnett/Arc Worldwide. When asked how often social media is used to shop today versus a year ago, almost 73% of people confirmed they are using it more.

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Amazon continues to set the bar higher, achieving the highest rating on the annual Top 100 E-Retail Satisfaction Index by customer experience analytics firm ForeSee. Amazon outdid its 2011 score, climbing three points to 89, and four points higher than the second highest scoring websites, Apple.com (85) and QVC.com (85). (Scores of 80 or higher on ForeSee's 100-point scale are considered superior customer satisfaction performances.)

That’s not a bad headline leading into RECon 2012 next week in Las Vegas. Not that I can take credit for the verbiage; “Regional malls alive and kicking” is a report issued Tuesday by SNL Real Estate, Charlottesville, Va.

Reston, Va. -- Online U.S. retail spending reached $44.3 billion in first quarter 2012, up 17% versus a year ago, according to comScore’s Q1 2012 Retail survey. It was the tenth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.

In other findings, 38% of tablet owners have made a purchase on their devices within the past month. Apparel was the most popular category for purchase among tablet shoppers.

Naperville, Ill. -- OfficeMax Inc. reported Tuesday that net income for the quarter ended March 31 slid to $4.9 million, compared with $11.4 million in the year-ago period. Results were hampered by charges related to U.S. store closures.

Total sales edged up 0.5% to $1.9 billion. In the retail segment, sales dipped 2.7% to $912.3 million; same-stores sales fell 2.1%.