Business Intelligence (BI)

Markham, Ontario -- Maple Lake Ltd. said that Aerosoles has selected Maple Lake’s QuickAssortment software to refine and centralize the retailers’ merchandise, store and assortment planning activities. The retailer has already completed Phase I of the implementation process.

New York City -- A Thursday report by Crain’s New York Business said that Lord & Taylor has signed a two-year contract with Green Mountain Energy Co. to provide the department store retailer with 100% of its electricity needs at two stores, including the Fifth Ave. flagship location.

The move has garnered the attention of the Environmental Protection Agency, which places Lord & Taylor, effective August, as No. 17 on the its Green Power Partnership list of Top 20 retailers embracing clean energy.

Amazon.com generates about three times the number of unique visitors each month that Walmart.com does, according to online measurement firm comScore, and all that traffic is allowing Amazon.com to generate record sales.

Minneapolis -- Supervalu reported Tuesday that earnings for the first quarter rose 10% to $74 million, compared with $67 million in the year-ago period. The grocer cited effective cost-cutting for the strong performance, which topped Wall Street expectations.

The operator of Albertsons and Jewel-Osco supermarkets saw revenue fall 4% to $11.11 billion, just missing analysts’ expectations of $11.13 billion. Same-store sales dropped 3.9%.

CHICAGO — Just days after announcing a cooperation agreement with Nielsen, Walmart has entered a new relationship with SymphonyIRI Group, through which the two will develop a solution that supports the retailer's customer-centric initiatives.

London -- Britain’s largest retailer Tesco said Sunday it plans to pilot free WiFi Internet service in its stores, allowing customers to compare prices and read product reviews as they shop.

According to a Sunday report by the Financial Times, the supermarket retailer is currently testing the service in four stores, with plans to quickly roll it out after evaluating the pilot.

Tesco is thought to be the first big U.K. retailer to test free WiFi.
 

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Walmart has returned to the consumer packaged goods industry's information sharing model through a new cooperation agreement with Nielsen.

Less than six months into her role as Walmart’s EVP global customer insights, Cindy Davis rocked the retail analytics world this week with news that Walmart would resume sharing sales data with Nielsen.

The development comes as Walmart is looking to do a better job of leveraging shopper insights as a means to grow sales and follows the creation in February of a new global customer insights team led by Davis. She previously served as EVP membership and marketing at Sam’s Club and joined the company in the fall of 2007.

New York City -- A Bloomberg report on Thursday said that consumer confidence stagnated last week, as the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index was minus 43.3 in the period to July 17, the highest since April, compared with minus 43.9 the prior week.

The monthly gauge of the economic outlook improved from a two-year low, according to the report.

Mexico City, Mexico -- DemandTec said Thursday that Latin America’s largest drugstore retailer Farmacias Ahumada S.A. (FASA) has extended its agreement to use DemandTec’s advanced pricing analytics to drive profit and customer loyalty.