Winter Holidays

New York – Consumers are increasingly performing omni-channel shopping, and prefer personalized offers across the different channels they shop. According to a new survey of more than 1,000 online consumers from retail personalization technology vendor Synqera, U.S. consumers still prefer promotional content and coupons from traditional print media (magazine, newsletter/flyer, newspaper) (75%), found online (72%), or received after a purchase (62%) for future shopping.

Coty faced a challenging second quarter as revenues declined, partially due to U.S. market softness in the mass fragrance and nail categories. Despite the challenges, company executives expressed optimism during Friday morning’s conference call, and look to return to top-line growth in the second half.

White Plains, N.Y. — Overall online shopping rose 8% during the week before Valentine's Day compared to the same period in 2013. Growth was particularly strong in the categories of gifts (up 20%), apparel (up 17%) and health and beauty (up 15%), and department stores (34%) compared to the previous year.

Washington, D.C. — Consumers leveled off post-holiday shopping and spending in the beginning of the year due in part to severe winter weather in much of the country. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), January 2014 retail sales, excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, were flat seasonally adjusted month-to-month, yet increased 3% unadjusted year-over-year.

Consumers leveled off post-holiday shopping and spending in the beginning of the year due in part to severe winter weather in much of the country. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), January 2014 retail sales, excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, were flat seasonally adjusted month-to-month, yet increased 3% unadjusted year-over-year.

Sidney, Neb. — Net income and revenue increased at Cabela’s during the fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2013. For the quarter, net income rose 18% year-over-year to $80.1 million from $68 million, and for the year grew 29% to $224.4 million from $173.5 million.

Canton, Mass. — Dunkin’ Donuts is launching a Valentine’s Day marketing campaign that includes the Zoosk dating site as well as Twitter. On Feb. 13 and 14, people who register at Zoosk will have the chance to win a $5 Dunkin’ Donuts mGift.

Atlanta -- Consumer spending growth declined from December to January, but remained relatively healthy at 2.5%, according to First Data’s January 2014 SpendTrend report. SpendTrend tracks same-store point-of-sale data by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks from nearly four million U.S. merchant locations serviced by First Data. The report cited the severe winter weather that pummeled the Midwest and eastern half of the country as a factor in the decline.