Sales & Marketing

ComScore elevated president Serge Matta to the role of CEO as the digital measurement firm reported recorded fourth-quarter and full-year results.

Matta fills the position occupied by Dr. Magid Abraham who along with Gian Fulgoni co-founded the company. Abraham will relinquish the CEO role and serve as executive chairman of the board of directors, assuming a position currently held by Fulgoni who will become chairman emeritus.

White Plains, N.Y. - IBM has unveiled the ‘Ready for Smarter Commerce’ program, a new ecosystem that gives clients access to certified pre-built partner solutions with integrated cloud, mobile and social capabilities. The ecosystem features partner-led solutions built on IBM Smarter Commerce capabilities such as IBM Commerce and IBM Digital Marketing Optimization.   

Against the backdrop of a growing national debate over the minimum wage and part-time versus full-time workers, Home Depot has begun a huge seasonal hiring surge in preparation for spring.

The nation's largest home improvement retailer said it planned to hire approximately 80,000 seasonal employees, many of whom are part-time, the same day that President Barack Obama was expected to sign an executive order unilaterally increasing to $10.10 the minimum wage the federal government pays contract workers.

Charlotte, N.C. – Family Dollar Stores Inc. has renewed its in-store merchandising services contract with SPAR Group Inc. for two years. SPAR Group has been servicing Family Dollar Stores since 2012 across more than 8,000 locations.

SPAR Group has completed various merchandising service programs including schematic resets, revisions, item cut-ins, returns, audits and recalls across nearly all categories including grocery, pet, party, household & chemical and paper goods.

Less than a year after joining Hhgregg to lead the retailer’s digital initiatives, Kevin Lyons has been elevated to the role of SVP of e-commerce.

The Indianapolis-based operator of 228 stores said Lyons’ promotion to SVP from VP of e-commerce resulted from the creation of an ambitious online development and promotional strategy. As a result, Hhgregg has improved website navigation, driven positive social media engagement among key customer groups and integrated online and in-store marketing, resulting in double-digit growth in sales and conversions.

Chicago — Jones Lang LaSalle has announced the appointment of Josh Burmeister as executive VP and Gulf Coast retail brokerage lead and Ms. Buff Teague as VP. They will cover Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle, partnering with John Bemis, Southeast retail market lead and John Lambert, Fla., retail market lead.

Burmeister and Teague join JLL from SRS Real Estate Partners.

While at SRS, Burmeister served as market leader for operations in Mobile, Ala., and co-market leader for Birmingham Ala., operations.

Ottawa, Canada - Price and product intelligence technology vendor 360pi has launched 360insights, a suite of integrated visualizations and dashboard reports that gives retailers real-time visibility into how they can immediately increase revenues and margins through adjustments to their pricing and product mixes. Retailers can have this same visibility into their own competitor and category set and the power to identify opportunities and take meaningful actions that will drive revenues and margins.

CVS Caremark’s fourth-quarter results came in at the high end of expectations and helped produce a record year; however, one of the key topics analysts discussed was the company’s recent decision to stop selling tobacco products in all its stores by Oct. 1.