Business Intelligence (BI)

Purchase, N.Y. — MasterCard Advisors, a division of MasterCard, and analytics firm Mu Sigma announced a new partnership to develop analytic products toward solving business challenges such as acquiring customers and increasing customer loyalty.

As part of the partnership, MasterCard has acquired an equity stake in Mu Sigma. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Philadelphia -- A post-holiday e-commerce report released Friday by technology company Monetate said that, on Christmas Day 2012, 16% of all e-commerce traffic came from smartphones and 15.6% came from tablets, a marked upswing from a year earlier when just 6.4% came from smartphones and 8% from tablets.

RADNOR, Pa. — Search giant Google has agreed to buy Channel Intelligence for $125 million, allowing to expand its role in the retail space. 

A division of ICG Group, Channel Intelligence claims to count Target, Best Buy and other large retailers and brands that rely on its marketing services to drive sales. 

Scotts Miracle-Gro posted first-quarter net sales of $205.8 million, up 3% from $199.6 million during the same quarter a year ago. 

Sales in the Global Consumer segment in the quarter ended Dec. 29, 2012, were up 3% to $153.2 million, compared with $149.1 million a year ago, attributable to increased volume during the quarter. 

AutoZone has elected Linda A. Goodspeed to its board of directors. Goodspeed is SVPand chief information officer (CIO) of The ServiceMaster Company, a position she has held since 2011.

"Linda's extensive background in information technology and the automotive industry will complement and enhance the collective skills of our Board," said Bill Rhodes, chairman, president and CEO. "We are fortunate to have her as a new board member."

Prior to joining The ServiceMaster Company, Goodspeed was VP information systems for Nissan North America.

San Francisco -- Social marketing platform Kenshoo Social said Wednesday that it has completed an integrated Facebook marketing campaign for Zappos and cloud-based social marketing platform, Shoutlet.

During a two-month test on a single-brand page, Zappos’ Facebook posts generated approximately 85,000 visits to its website. The traffic produced an average order value on par with its paid search and social marketing programs and achieved an average conversion rate of 1.75%.

Zillow has launched an iPad app and a Web site focused on the home improvement marketplace to provide inspiration, price transparency and lead generation for contractors.

TAMPA, Fla. — Retail Sense, a marketing software company, has entered into a multi-year contract with Associated Wholesale Grocers, a retailer-owned cooperative serving over 2,500 retail stores, to implement its IntelliSence marketing resource management solution.

ROSEVILLE, Calif. — Revionics a provider of end-to-end merchandise optimization solutions has renewed its software contract with Family Dollar. This renewal agreement will extend Family Dollar’s services with Revionics Price Optimization. Family Dollar will be leveraging Revionics’ solutions in each of its more than 7,600 stores in 45 states.

ATLANTA — Predictix, a provider of merchandising and supply chain solutions for retailers, has named Bradley White as its new CFO. White is a proven financial executive and joins Predictix with more than 15 years’ experience in treasury, finance, accounting, public company reporting, employee management, strategic planning and tax compliance in diverse global businesses and industries.  This comes after the recent appointment of John Simon as Predictix’ new CEO.