Business Intelligence (BI)

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Henkel Consumer Goods Inc., a provider of leading consumer brands such as Dial, Purex, Soft Scrub and Right Guard, plans to leverage Datalliance VMI’s platform for its expanding consumer goods Vendor Managed Inventory program.

Lorton, Va. – In order to quickly detect customer service problems and quantify customer requests, Five Guys Burgers and Fries has implemented social intelligence technology from newBrandAnalytics (nBA). Using nBA solutions, Five Guys monitors social media chatter to help the company implement operational changes and improve engagement with customers. Five Guys also leverages the technology to gauge interest in potential new menu items.

PEORIA, Ill. — Kwikee, a leading provider of free product images as well as nutrition and ingredient information, has created an application programming interface for retailers and e-commerce developers that need information for consumer products. 

The Kwikee API will provide companies with a trusted source of accurate product information and images from the thousands of brands who pay for their product content to be represented in Kwikee's database.

SEATTLE — Starbucks has long offered free Wi-Fi to its customers, but the coffee company has partnered with Google to offer up to 10 times faster network and Wi-Fi speeds at its U.S.-based stores. 

Throughout the next 18 months, Starbucks will convert more than 7,000 U.S. stores to the upgraded store network and Wi-Fi experience.

TORONTO -- MI9 announced that Samsonite Company Stores, the North American retail and ecommerce division of Samsonite, has selected MI9 to provide its omnichannel retail platform.

OAK BROOK, Ill. — J.C. Penney is donating a 5,500-square-foot center in the North Riverside Park Mall in North Riverside, Illinois to assist efforts of the Cook County Regional Organized Crime Task Force in combating retail organized crime. The center will house law enforcement offices for various police departments, government agencies and retailers for the purpose of hands-on training and collaboration.

CHICAGO — Grainger, a leading broad-line supplier of maintenance, repair and operating products serving businesses and institutions, has appointed Dr. Michael Ali as the company’s SVP and CIO. He replaces Tim Ferrarell, who has assumed the new role of SVP, innovation and continuous improvement.

OAK BROOK, Ill. — J.C. Penney has announced plans to donate a 5,500-sq.-ft. center in the North Riverside Park Mall in North Riverside, Ill., to assist efforts of the Cook County Regional Organized Crime Task Force in combating retail organized crime. 

The center will house law enforcement offices for various police departments, government agencies and retailers for the purpose of hands-on training and collaboration.

Whatever a cloud-based Web site acceleration company is, Walmart acquired one this week called Torbit.

The retailer’s Silicon Valley innovation engine known as @Walmart Labs described Torbit as “a front-end optimization innovator that has been focused on making the web a faster and better place.”

Torbit is known for developing measurement, analytics and performance improvement tools to help companies identify and enhance their overall site performance.

CIT Group Inc., a leading provider of financing and advisory services to small businesses and middle market companies, has appointed Randall Chesler as president of CIT Bank, its U.S. commercial bank subsidiary.

He will be based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and report to CIT Bank’s board of directors. Chesler is currently vice chairman of CIT Bank and previously served as president of consumer finance and small business lending at CIT. He succeeds John Taylor who is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities and will assist in the transition.