Loyalty Marketing

Chain Store Age recently spoke with Hiro Yoshikawa, CEO and co-founder of Treasure Data. He discussed how a new level of customer data analysis can improve the customer experience.

How has unified commerce and digitally influenced retail stepped up the game on data management?

Brands just can’t escape a challenging retail environment — a main reason Starbucks is pulling the plug on its Teavana operation.   Just hours after the coffee giant announced it would buy out the remaining 50% share of its East China business from its joint venture partners for about $1.3 billion — its biggest acquisition, ever — Starbucks is cutting loose its Teavana division.  

Amazon has introduced its same-day delivery service in its ninth country.   The online giant launched Prime Now in Singapore, giving Prime members free two-hour delivery on tens of thousands of items ordered through the Prime Now app. Merchandise ranges from grocery items like eggs, cold beer and ice cream to general merchandise, such as baby strollers, toys, and consumer electronics. This is Amazon’s debut in the Southeast Asian market.   

Despite online and in-store transaction growth, GNC’s income and revenue declined in the second quarter.   

Walmart has found a way to make the digital shopping experience even faster.   The discounter launched a new service on Tuesday that streamlines how shoppers reorder merchandise via their desktop or Walmart app. Called Easy Reorder, the service integrates shoppers’ purchase histories —a list that is comprised of merchandise purchased both in-store and online. The service curates the customer’s most purchased items — including brands and sizes.   

Eager to improve customer communication, a majority of retailers plan to increase in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) moving forward.   This was according to “How AI Technology Will Transform Customer Engagement,” a report from Linc and BrandGarage. The study polled 104 senior-level marketing and e-commerce executives from leading retail brands.  

Walmart is making big moves to ensure that it can serve Chinese shoppers efficiently during a crucial timeframe.    The discounter is further integrating its platform, supply chain and customer resources in China with partner JD.com — efforts that will prepare the companies to serve shoppers during the launch of the first JD-Walmart 8.8 omnichannel shopping festival on Aug. 8. The event will offer savings across all the different JD and Walmart channels, and reward customers for shopping multiple touchpoints. 

Despite what is shaping up to be a rough second quarter, Hibbett Sports is making a move to streamline its operations.    Days before its second quarter ends on July 29, Hibbett Sports is blaming very challenging sales trends for an approximate 10% decrease in comparable store sales. The decline in sales, along with significant pressure on gross margin is expected to result in a loss of $0.19 to $0.22 per diluted share for the second quarter. The company will release its earnings on Aug. 18.