Consumer Electronics

New York -- Costco, Amazon.com and Apple  score highest in customer loyalty, according to the Net Promoter Consumer Study.

The study ranks more than 220 brands, such as Costco, Amazon.com, Apple and more across 22 U.S. industry sectors, including financial services, insurance, technology, online entertainment, retail stores, electronics, travel and hospitality, and telecommunications.

Books-A-Million continued to benefit from a spike in book sales and the popularity of Minecraft and Disney’s “Frozen” in the fourth quarter, as same store sales and profit increased.

The chain posted a profit of $3.5 million in the year ended Jan. 31 compared to a net loss of $7.6 million in 2013. Same store sales increased 0.4% in the year and rose 1.7% in the fourth quarter when total sales rose 1.8% and net income increased 0.8% at Books-A-Million over the previous year with sales hitting $474 million.

The Woodlands, Texas -- Conn’s Inc. on Tuesday reported a bigger-than-expected 44% decrease in its fourth-quarter profit amid ongoing problems with its credit-financing business. The retailer said it is exploring a sale of all or a portion of its loan portfolio and will stop selling video game products, digital cameras and certain tablets. It also said it remains on track to open 15 to 18 stores this year.

For the fourth quarter ended Jan. 31, Conn’s reported a profit of $15.5 million, down from $27.7 million in the year-ago period.

Amazon is leveraging a hot trend in toys and education with a new online store focused on what is known as STEM.

The shop will feature a variety of toys and games that are focused on encouraging kids to develop science (S), technology (T), engineering (E) and/or math-related (M) skills.

Ongoing problems with its credit-financing business led Conn's to post a large decrease in profits for the fourth quarter.

Overall, for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 31, Conn’s reported a profit of $15.5 million, or 42 cents a share, compared with a profit of $27.7 million, or 75 cents a share, a year earlier.

By Anne Marie Stephen

Brands, retailers and technologists convened at Retail Loco at South by Southwest Interactive, Sunday, March 15, 2015 hosted by Location Based Marketing Association. The event focused on how companies are leveraging location solutions and data for better business. The LBMA is a global not-for-profit association with over 1,000 member companies including media, retail, brands, agencies and technology companies.

Seattle – Amazon.com is launching Amazon Home Services, a new marketplace for on-demand professional services that puts it in competition with online service platforms such as Craigslist. In less than 60 seconds, customers can browse, purchase and schedule hundreds of professional services directly on Amazon.com.

Best Buy has announced that it is shutting down its Future Shop stores in Canada, consolidating under the Best Buy name and spending $200 million on its e-commerce capabilities.

Best Buy says it will convert 65 of the Future Shop locations into Best Buy stores within a week, and 66 others are closing immediately. Best Buy acquired Canada's Future Shop chain in 2001 for C$581 million.