Business Analytics

The holiday season got off to a horrible start at Bed Bath & Beyond and things went downhill from there, judging from the industry leader's uncharacteristic and concerning profit warning.

The pursuit of sustainability goals at Home Depot has been such a boon to efficiency the company just set major new goals.

The retailer said by 2020 it plans to reduce total energy use by an additional 20% below 2010 consumption levels and procure 135 megawatts of electricity from a combination of onsite fuel cell and solar installs in addition to offsite solar and wind sources.

When your customer base is drivers who have had an accident or mishap with their vehicle, capturing consumers “in the moment” is crucial.

So with 6,500 mobile glass shops across the country, Columbus, Ohio-based Safelite Group Inc. runs a national business model that relies on capturing natural search traffic.

Occupancy costs are among the largest expenses for any retailer. Total lease obligations can exceed long term debt in many companies, reducing profitability and hindering growth. It doesn’t have to be that way though if operators follow four simple rules of retail real estate.

With the financial picture improving modestly at Toys “R” Us, CEO David Brandon said the company is ready to build on third quarter successes during the final days of the holiday season.

The CEO of 99 Cents Only pointed to the promise of a new executive team as evidence that the company can return to profitable growth even as it reported disappointing third quarter results.

The company said for the period ended Oct. 30, the company's net sales increased 2.8% to $491.5 million, compared to $478.3 million in the prior year. Same-store sales decreased 3.9% due to challenges in produce and consumables sales, the cannibalization impact of recent new store openings as well as ongoing initiatives to clear excess seasonal inventory, the company said.

Digital marketing is a discipline that is rapidly evolving; that’s because the Web itself is changing faster than ever. We’re nearing the realization of Web 3.0 – The Semantic/Intelligent Web – thanks to the mountains of data pouring out of new devices, products, and social platforms every second of every day.

As a result, marketers need to understand how this deluge of data impacts content & community marketing strategies.

So far this holiday season, consumers are turning to their desktop PCs for shopping more than ever before.

In-store analytics solutions continue to gain momentum as retailers analyze a variety of store performance measures such as shopper activity maps, display effectiveness, and customer dwell time. These analytics have provided incredible insight for corporate and store management.

Women’s lifestyle brand and retailer Vera Bradley is the latest company to feel the negative sales effects of weaning shoppers off promotions, but the strategic shift has done wonders for the company’s bottom line.