Business Intelligence (BI)

ROANOKE, Va. — Advance Auto Parts has promoted Donna Justiss to the position of SVP and chief information officer. Justiss will report to EVP and CFO Mike Norona, and will continue to be based in Roanoke, Va.

She will be responsible for the strategic leadership of all aspects of Advance’s Information Technology area, including application development and support, infrastructure and information security. 

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Terapeak has launched an e-commerce market analytics solution designed to provide visibility into the Amazon marketplace giving online retailers access to Amazon market data as well as their own sales data.

The solutions tool features product, offer and sales rank searches in more than 35 Amazon categories; average, minimum and maximum pricing data; competitor research and analysis; and the ability to view historical Amazon transactions. 

A new brand identity now adorns the GSI Commerce business eBay acquired two years ago for $2.4 billion.

Cincinnati -- The Kroger Company reported better-than-expected net income of $481 million during the first quarter of this year, up nearly 10% from $439 million in the first quarter of 2012. The company also raised its forecast for annual earnings.

Total sales increased 3.4% from $29.1 billion to $30 billion and a 3.3% increase in same-store sales beat analyst projections of a 2.8% increase.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl’s is easing the continuous integration (CI) process for its omni-channel initiatives with the implementation of the Qubell Adaptive PaaS solution. Available as a hosted platform, Adaptive PaaS provides Kohl’s with continuous application deployment, continuous testing and environment management. Specific tasks Kohl’s has executed using Adaptive PaaS include automating the front end of its development process, integrating with various technology stacks and providing developers with near-real-time feedback on their work.

PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. — K2 Sourcing has added former Walgreens purchasing and e-sourcing executive Dan Carlson to its e-sourcing team. 

Carlson will be charged with helping to parse the company’s e-procurement applications and professional procurement services to its clients.

Atlanta -- Around the world, consumers want it all, and they want it in the palm of their hand. According to a global study released by First Data, consumers worldwide expect strikingly similar mobile and technology-powered experiences from large and small businesses as well as financial institutions – and their expectations are fueled by skyrocketing smartphone usage.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens and solar developer SoCore Energy, Chicago, announced on Wednesday that they will build more than 200 new solar installations at Walgreens stores throughout California, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York.

This latest initiative will bring the number of completed solar installations at Walgreens stores to more than 350, making the company the leading retailer in number of solar powered stores.

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Tocata, a technology innovator in mobile e-commerce, is launching a front-end mobile platform for retailers which allows them to build immersive, revenue-driving mobile shopping experiences that can be deployed on tablets or smartphones, whether as apps or as HTML5. 

Conshohocken, Pa. -- Ikea said Tuesday it plans to increase the solar array atop its two-year-old Centennial, Colo. store, with panel installation slated to begin in July.

Completion of what is already Colorado’s largest single-use rooftop array on a commercial building is slated for this fall, and will elevate the project to the state’s largest rooftop array of any use.