Business Intelligence (BI)

NEW YORK — U.S. consumer confidence rose more than forecast in December, to a six-month high, amid declining unemployment and lower gas prices.  The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index climbed to 69.9 from 64.1 at the end of November.   The metric averaged 89 points in the five years leading up to the recession.

Move over, “Like” button. There’s a new feature on the social media block that makes it easy for retailers to know what shoppers really want.

Montreal -- A survey released Friday by e-commerce visitor feedback analytics firm iPerceptions found that, despite online retail sales being up, online retailers are missing out on revenue opportunities.

Third quarter 2011 Retail Ecommerce industry report showed that, while U.S. retail sales estimates show online retail spending rose 13% year-over-year to $36.3 billion for the quarter, task completion fell significantly for visitors at nearly every stage of the retail purchase cycle.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation said Thursday that it has upwardly revised its holiday forecast, now expecting holiday sales to rise 3.8% this year to a record $469.1 billion. 

NRF’s initial forecast, announced on October 6, called for anticipated sales growth of 2.8%. While a 3.8% sales increase is considerably above the 10-year average sales increase of 2.6%, it is still lower than the 5.2% increase the retail industry saw last year, said NRF.

ARMONK, N.Y. -- IBM announced a definitive agreement to acquire Emptoris Inc., a leading provider of cloud and on-premise analytics software that brings more intelligence to procurement and supply chain operations with spend, supplier and contract management for “smarter commerce.” Financial terms were not disclosed.

CHICAGO — A new report by ShopperTrak found that sales continue to rise despite flat year-over-year figures.

Sales for the week ended Dec. 10 rose 10.6% above the prior week, while year-over-year sales saw a decline of 1.9%. The drop, which followed a 0.2% year-over-year increase during the week ended Dec. 3, is not an indication that holiday sales will be dismal this year; the firm suggested that it may have been caused by the shifting dates of Hanukkah — moving from Dec. 1 in 2010 to Dec. 20 this year.

Jacksonville, Fla. -- Stein Mart Inc. said Wednesday that it has been put on notice by the Nasdaq exchange because it did not file its third-quarter results by the deadline.

The retailer said it has been given 60 days to submit a plan to regain compliance, or it could be delisted from the Nasdaq exchange.

Spokane, Wash. -- Ecova, a total energy and sustainability management company, has been selected by Rite Aid to provide utility expense and energy management services. Ecova will assist Rite Aid in monitoring, understanding and reducing energy use at approximately 4,700 Rite Aid pharmacies nationwide.

Cary, N.C. -- The Pantry Inc.'s fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell 61%, pulled down by an impairment charge. Net income fell to $3.3 million for the period ended Sept. 29, down from $8.5 million in the year-ago period, which had one extra week.

Interim CEO Edwin Holman said in a statement that the convenience-store company will look to improve its merchandise sales next year and will do this by taking a look at the prices it charges.

Revenue rose 12% to $2.18 billion, boosted by fuel sales. Same-store sales were down 0.8%.

RESTON, Va. — The holiday season-to-date has garnered $24.6 billion in online sales, a 15% increase above corresponding days last year, ComScore reported.

In addition to the 15% increase in spending recorded for the first 39 days of the holiday season, ComScore also noted that the most recent week (week ended Dec. 9) reached $5.9 billion in spending, an increase of 15% versus the corresponding week last year.