Consumer Analytics

Armonk, N.Y. – IBM has released new industry-specific solutions with pre-built predictive analytics capabilities for industries including retail, to uncover and act on critical business insights. IBM is working with retail signature design partners including Urban Outfitters.

Carpinteria, Calif. – America’s love affair with credit cards continues heating up. According to The Nilson Report, purchase volume at merchants for general purpose-type consumer and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid cards issued in the U.S. totaled $4.91 trillion in 2014, up 8.4% from 2013.

Credit cards increased their market share in purchase volume compared to debit and prepaid cards to 53.59% in 2014, up from 52.95% in 2013.

New York -- The Kate Spade New York brand has entered into a partnership with True Fit, a fit personalization service, to provide personalized fit and size recommendations for the brand’s apparel and footwear on Katespade.com.

The site will also feature True Fit’s new shoe user experience that delivers accurate fit ratings and size recommendations to consumers while also communicating the nuance of each shoe style.

Boston – The stereotype of the beleaguered customer service representative who can’t keep up may have some truth to it. A recent study from Glance Networks, a provider of visual engagement, found that 73% of customer service professionals have difficulty meeting their performance metric goals.

Grapevine, Texas – It’s no secret that Millennials are among the most avid consumers of video games. For video game retailer GameStop Corp., engaging Millennials in a way that satisfies their needs and promotes loyalty is absolutely essential.

San Jose, Calif. – EBay Inc. is planning to roll out a service called Promoted Listings that will let sellers pay a percentage of sales resulting from listings that receive special promotion on the site. Sellers can agree to pay a higher percentage of sales to receive better placement of ads, although popularity of promoted items and seller reputation will also be considered in placement.

South Bend, Ind. - TireRack.com, an online retailer for tires, wheels and performance accessories, has launched its new consumer website. The new site has been developed to make consumer visits faster, easier and more informative.

The new TireRack.com features an all-new look, fast and easy navigation, a fresh user interface and improved product presentation, as well as additional historical information. Site shoppers have access to intelligence culled from more than 150,000 Tire Rack consumer surveys.

Manchester, U.K. - Global online fashion retailer Boohoo has selected cross-channel marketing attribution software company Visual IQ, to provide marketing attribution management solutions across TV and digital channels in support of its 2015 growth initiatives. Boohoo leverages a number of traditional, digital and mobile channels to connect with consumers.