Business Intelligence (BI)

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.

Chicago -- Galleria Retail Technology Solutions, a provider of retail and category optimization solutions, announced that Morrisons, the United Kingdom’s fourth largest food retailer, will utilize its complete product suite to automate its merchandising strategy.

Jacksonville, Fla. -- Stein Mart Inc. on Thursday said it has had to revise its Q3 financial results, because it mishandled records related to a pending changeover in its electronic inventory system. The computer error led the retailer to miss recording permanent markdowns for the quarter ended Oct. 29.

The adjustment, which will reduce gross margin and inventory, will widen Stein Mart’s third-quarter loss by $1.3-$1.6 million. The retailer had reported a loss of $1.8 million for the period.

Atlanta -- The SpendTrend analysis released Friday by First Data Corp., which tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations, found that overall year-over-year dollar volume growth was up 7.3% in November 2011, down from October’s 9.4% growth.

November 2011 had tough comparables as November 2010 was a particularly strong month, with dollar volume growth up 8.1%, according to First Data. November 2011 transaction growth was 6.1%. 

ARMONK, N.Y. and SAN MATEO, Calif. — IBM announced that it intends to acquire DemandTec for $13.20 per share, or at a net price of approximately $440 million, after adjusting for cash. 

New York City -- By all reports, the ICSC New York deal-making conference, held Dec. 5 and 6 in New York City, delivered what the retail and shopping center industries were waiting for: A sense of forward progress.

Chain Store Age heard mostly positive comments from the show, such as “I haven’t seen this much deal action since 2006,” from one happy retail broker in the aisles of the New York Hilton meeting space. Mall developers unveiled redevelopment plans, and social media innovations and rollouts were the theme of the conference.

New York City -- Consumers and their smartphones are becoming inseparable when it comes to shopping, according to a survey by Verve Wireless, a mobile advertising company, which found that over 60% of respondents use their smartphone for shopping one or more times each month.

The top three product categories shopped for on smartphones are electronics (51%), entertainment (50%), books (45%), closely followed by clothing (38%) and automotive (21%), the survey revealed.

In other findings:

San Mateo, Calif. -- IBM and DemandTec announced Thursday that the two companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement for IBM to acquire DemandTec in a deal worth approximately $440 million.

IBM said the acquisition of DemandTec will extend its Smarter Commerce initiative by adding cloud-based price, promotion and other merchandising and marketing analytics to help companies better define the best price points and product mix based on customer buying trends.