Sales & Marketing

Data migrations and system upgrades usually require at least some downtime. In fact, 81% of companies schedule migrations overnight or on weekends when fewer people are working, and fewer customers can potentially be disrupted by downtime. Particularly in this era of 24/7 online ecommerce, some degree of business risk always accompanies downtime.

 

Downtime costs the retail industry $18 billion annually, according to market research firm IDC. But it doesn’t have to.

 

Cambridge, Mass. — New customers whose first transaction involves a discount or special offer are 50% less likely to return to make a second purchase. According to a new study from loyalty technology provider Coherent Path Inc., customers who visit an e-commerce site for the first time and make a purchase at full-price are more than twice as likely to make a second visit.   

 

On the site of a former gas station in West Haven, Connecticut, CVS Health has unveiled its most environmentally progressive and energy-efficient store so far.

For starters, the LEED Platinum-certified drug store boasts daylighting, a landscape design that doesn’t require irrigation, super-efficient HVAC units and LED-lit coolers that light up when approached. (Platinum is the highest distinction in the LEED program.)

After nearly a decade of stalled growth in the shopping center industry, 2014 finally saw progress being made on the new development front. While it’s true that much of the ground-up construction was of the outlet center ilk, the value sector wasn’t the only new-build push. Mixed-use properties and open-air destinations continue to come out of the ground, albeit stingily, as do hybrid centers that defy current standard definitions.

Columbus, Ohio – DSW Inc. exceeded Wall Street expectations for net income and sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2014. Net income fell a less than expected 10% to $49.55 million from $54.96 million the same quarter a year earlier, with higher operating expenses and lower pretax income contributing to the decline. Sales totaled $670 million compared to $633 million and same-store sales rose 2.6%.

Basketball season is just now getting underway but next spring when top high school teams square off at a tournament in New York Dick’s Sporting Goods will be there as title sponsor of the event.

For the second consecutive year, Dicks will serve as title sponsor of the event to be held April 2-4, 2015 and televised on ESPN networks.

New York - Manhattan’s high-profile Fifth Avenue, at a whopping $3,550 per sq. ft., and Hong Kong’s Queen’s Road Central, at $2,073 per sq. ft., stand out as the most expensive retail rents in the world, according to Colliers International. Rounding out the top five are Hong Kong’s Canton Road, Manhattan’s Madison Avenue and Paris’ Champs Elysees. (See end of story for a more complete list.)  

Destination Maternity has appointed the managing partner of investment firm Voce Capital to the company's board of directors.

"As a long-term investor in Destination Maternity, we look forward to bringing additional shareholder perspective to the board and continuing to work constructively with the company to help enhance its value," J. Daniel Plants of Voce Capital said.