Business Intelligence (BI)

PITTSBURGH — Thomas Dowd has been named GNC EVP, chief merchandising officer and general manager, the company announced in an SEC filing Friday.

Dowd has served as EVP store operations and development since April 2007.

The move follows the announcement in June that Beth Kaplan would be stepping down from her role as GNC president and chief merchandising officer. Following that announcement, GNC CEO Joe Fortunato reassumed his role of president.

Atlanta -- CDC Software Corp. announced Tuesday that Hamburg, Germany-based Hermes Fulfilment, part of multichannel retailer Otto Group, is using the cloud-based CDC e-commerce platform to help deliver e-commerce and multichannel retail services to its global customers.

Already, Hermes Fulfilment is using CDC e-commerce to power the online storefront of Wolford, a global manufacturer and marketer of upscale hosiery, lingerie, and ready-to-wear items. CDC e-commerce’s platform is initially being used in Wolford’s online ordering system.

Dallas -- Dallas Gold & Silver Exchange said Tuesday it has deployed a radio-frequency identification inventory management solution from Electronic Inventory Solutions in its showroom stores in Texas, California, and South Carolina, for the dual purposes of automating the inventory count process and adding additional physical security.

With sales experiencing the peaks and valleys of a slowly recovering economy, retailers are watching their customers even closer than ever.

According to a study by accounting and consulting firm BDO USO, LLP, New York City, retailers have been less concerned in 2011 about consumer confidence and spending and, instead, are more watchful of consumer demand and interest.

Lewisville, Texas -- Consumer deal-seeking is here to stay, according to a new report by Parago. The study, Shopper Trend Report: Values, Deals & How Far They’re Willing To Go To Get Them, provides a comprehensive look at the entire deal landscape, from traditional clipped coupons to mobile applications. It finds that deal-finding has evolved from a necessity for cash-strapped consumers to an attractive, trendy activity that all shoppers now pursue. It also examines how these trends will likely continue to affect shopper behavior.

Dallas -- A survey released by Lucernex Technologies that polled the National Retail Tenants Association members about preparedness for the upcoming FASB changes found that, for the most part, retailers are generally not ready for the new rules to take effect.

In the NRTA membership survey “FASB Preparedness in the Retail Industry,” five key findings were revealed:

New York City -- Footwear manufacturer and retailer Skechers U.S.A. said Tuesday it has upgraded and expanded its Oracle Applications investment, implemented Oracle Database and moved to Oracle On Demand to support rapid growth across its retail and wholesale channels.

The new business information systems are part of a larger initiative for the billion-dollar-plus footwear company to fuel growth, reduce total cost of ownership and enable the business to respond faster to market opportunities.

Livermore, Calif. -- Epicor Software Corp. said Tuesday that Johnny Mac’s Sporting Goods is upgrading to the Epicor Eagle˙ point-of-sale and retail business management solution to help run its eight-store chain.