Sales & Marketing

New York -- Helped by hot weather and clearance sales, many retailers reported solid results in July, a month that can be a tepid lead-up to the back-to-school shopping season.

Some of the strongest showings in the month were in the department store category, as those reporting all showed July gains.

Macy’s led the pack with a 4.1% same-store sales rise. Total sales increased 5.1% to $1.7 billion over the four-week period.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NewBrandAnalytics , a global leader in social market intelligence, has appointed two celebrated names in the world of business service software – Kristin Muhlner and Barton Phillips.
 
Muhlner was named CEO and was appointed to the company's board of directors to serve alongside investment giants, New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Revolution LLC. Muhlner brings to NewBrandAnalytics 20 years of expertise in building mission critical technology solutions used by Fortune 500 companies.
 

By Dave Bruno, RedPrairie

Facebook. Twitter. ShopKick. iPhone. iPad. Android. Foursquare. SCVNGR. Cityville. Instagram.

The list of social, mobile, and now local apps, gadgets, games, and networks that have become part of most consumers’ lifestyles is virtually endless and all of them have demonstrated their ability to affect shopping behaviors. Consumers have issued a “SoMoLo” imperative. The critical question is how has retail responded?

The short answer? Not so great.

MINNEAPOLIS — July same-store sales at Target increased 3.1%, in line with the company’s guidance.

Target credited an increase in average transaction size as the primary driver of a 3.1% same-store sales increase during the July reporting period. An increase in the number of transactions also contributed to a 3.1% gain that was in-line with the company’s guidance for a low to mid single digit increase on top of a July 2011 increase of 4.1%.

Denver -- The majority of consumers are being budget-smart about back-to-school shopping. Not only are they seeking out the best prices, but they’re also shopping early – 48% of shoppers polled said they were beginning their shopping a month before the first bell rings, according to a back-to-school shopping report by ShopAtHome.com, the coupon search engine. The report, which tracks consumer search habits on the site, also shows that 42% of consumers will shop more generic brands than last year.

Bloomberg reports this week that Walmart is becoming more sophisticated in its dealings with the government, and the company is employing an interesting tactic to gain political insights.

Earlier this week, 10 Walmart moms from the Denver area were assembled for the company's latest focus group, according to the Bloomberg report, and they were asked about their top issues and impressions of presidential candidates.

PITTSBURGH — American Eagle Outfitters is raising its EPS outlook, thanks to stronger than expected sales for the second quarter.

The company's new second quarter outlook calls for earnings per share of 19 cents to 21 cents. Previous guidance called for EPS between 13 cents and 15 cents.

Net sales for the second quarter increased 11% to $740 million compared with $669 million last year. Comparable-store sales increased 9%, including sales from AEO direct.

New York -- Toshiba Tec Corp. and IBM announced the initial closing of the transaction in which Toshiba Tec will acquire IBM's Retail Store Solutions (RSS) business. The agreement was announced on April 17, 2012.

Toshiba Tec has established Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Holdings Corporation, a holding company, of which Toshiba Tec holds 80.1% ownership and IBM holds 19.9% ownership.