Consumer Analytics

Rakuten has confirmed that it is in the process of acquiring Ebates, a provider of the largest cash-back shopping website in North America, for a total consideration of $1 billion in cash and will hold 100% of Ebates’ outstanding voting stock.

RetailMeNot, a leading marketplace for digital offers, has added Eric Korman to its board of directors.

Korman recently served as president of Ralph Lauren's digital and global e-commerce division, where he was responsible for the company's digital businesses, marketing and operations, across all markets. In addition to leading the digital division, Korman is credited with establishing and managing Ralph Lauren's customer intelligence and experience management group, a global enterprise function supporting all global business channels.

Apple has unveiled its much anticipated Apple Watch featuring revolutionary new technologies and a pioneering user interface that could change the face of wearable health devices with a specially designed and engineered Digital Crown that provides an innovative way to scroll, zoom and navigate.
 

Ottawa, Canada - The retailers who “won” during the holiday season in 2013 were those that offered meaningful discounts on a sizable number of products on Black Friday instead of discounting a small number of door crashers. According to analysis from 360pi and Retail Systems Research, poor financial performance followed those retailers who discounted during the week leading into Black Friday, and those who kept discounts in place following Cyber Monday generally fared better than those who raised prices.

By Andrea Morgan-Vandome, Oracle Retail

Pittsburgh - For the first time ever, the majority of consumers are visiting retail websites on smartphones and tablets rather than on traditional desktop and laptop computers. According to Branding Brand's Mobile Commerce Index report, in August 2014, mobile devices generated 51% of all online retail visits, the majority of which occurred on Apple devices.

West Berlin, N.J. - E Z Pantry Inc. is expanding its grocery shopping and delivery service to senior citizens and the disabled community. With this grocery delivery service, customers in the South Jersey area including Camden, Burlington, and Gloucester counties can call in their orders and have their food delivered the next day.

As more retailers cope with data breaches, Virtual Piggy, provider of family and teen payment technology Oink, has added Jordan Harris to its team as risk officer.

Harris will be responsible for ensuring that all areas of the Oink offering are protected against payment fraud and ensure that the solution meets applicable laws and regulations. His focus will include working with management to identify and implement enhancements related to the management and monitoring of risk and fraud related functions.

By Sanford Stein, founder, Stein LLC

With the point-of-sale tucked away in one’s backpack, pocket or purse, how does the store-based retailer expect to survive in an e-everything world? And what is to become of the malls, the meccas of economic indulgence that were driven by the shop-till-you-drop dynamic we thought would last forever? We are currently in a period of just such a change wave, driven by a dramatic demographic shift, corporate downsizing, economic stagnation, and rising costs.

Atlanta - Several Home Depot customers filed a class-action lawsuit on Thursday, Sept.4 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division. The suit alleges that Home Depot failed to meet its legal obligation to protect their credit card and personal information and failed to timely warn them that their information had been stolen or compromised.