Sales & Marketing

San Francisco -- Splunk Inc. announced that British retailer John Lewis is using Splunk Enterprise to deliver operational and customer insight across the retailer’s website.

Originally selected to search and alert on John Lewis’ IT infrastructure, Splunk Enterprise is now also used for digital intelligence through real-time analysis of data from e-commerce platforms to better understand purchasing trends, improve customer experience and drive higher conversion rates.

Rockford, Mich. -- Wolverine Worldwide said it plans to close about 140 stores, primarily under the Stride Rite banner,  over the next 18 months as part of a strategic realignment plan to accelerate growth and improve overall profitability.  About 60 stores will close by the end of the current fiscal year, with the rest to be shuttered by the end of 2015.

New York – Barnes & Noble Inc. is running month-long omnichannel “Get Pop-Cultured” pop culture promotion during July. The effort promotes books, characters, movies, artists, illustrators and pop culture icons with themed events, author signings, panel discussions, contests, exclusive content, giveaways and prizes, sneak peeks and activities.

If Amazon makes good on its guidance for the second quarter, sales during the period ended June 30 rose somewhere between 15% and 26% to range from $18.1 billion to $19.8 billion.

Indianapolis – Simon has named retail and real estate executive Stephen Yalof as CEO of premium outlets and senior executive VP of Simon. Yalof has served as senior VP of real estate for Ralph Lauren Corp. since 2002.
 
His 15 years of experience within the retail industry also includes his role as senior director of real estate for Gap. Yalof began his career in real estate at New Plan Realty Trust, and became VP of leasing for their factory outlet business. 

Dollar Tree has appointed former Tractor Supply executive Randy Guiler as VP of investor relations. Guiler succeeds Timothy Reid, who is retiring.

San Jose, Calif. - EBay and Sotheby’s are developing an online platform designed to make it easier for consumers to discover, browse and acquire exceptional works of art, antiques and collectibles. EBay and Sotheby’s will start by offering a number of live auctions that are taking place at Sotheby’s headquarters in New York.

iBeacon technology, the Apple iOS 7 feature that helps mobile devices track their position relative to stationary beacons by using low-frequency Bluetooth transmissions, is getting quite a bit of attention from retailers. Grabbing their interest is not only that devices can obtain individualized information from beacons, but that beacons can also obtain individualized information from mobile devices.