Consumer Analytics

By Jim Crawford

In the 1990s, when the Internet and e-commerce created a tangible link between modes of shopping that had previously been isolated (stores and catalogs), retailers struggled with how to understand, measure, and connect with shoppers in multiple ways.

It was out of this confusion that the concept of “multichannel” was heralded as retail’s saving grace, and soon, retailers were all abuzz with cross-channel shoppers.

Carle Place, N.Y. – The September 2014 closing of its acquisition of the Harry & David brand helped produce extremely strong performance during the second quarter of fiscal 2015 at 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. The retailer reported net income of $45.54 million, more than double the $17.99 million reported in the same quarter a year earlier.

CSA Editor Marianne Wilson interviews Karen Garrette, Global Retail Industry Director at Microsoft Dynamics.

By Owen Shapiro

As every marketer knows, the era of Big Data is here, and with it comes a huge smorgasbord of opportunities to connect with customers in amazing new ways. For marketers and brand managers, the prospect of knowing more about customers’ lives, habits, and desires than ever before is understandably exciting.

While you are preparing to take maximum advantage of all the glorious opportunities Big Data offers, keep in mind that the devil in Big Data could be in these overlooked details:
 

While the monetary value of Bitcoin has had its ups and downs (and will likely continue to in the near future), the technological value and the transactional advantages of using the digital currency remain reliable and increasingly promising.

San Jose, Calif. – Homeowners stuck shoveling out more than two feet of snow were not the only ones in the Northeast negatively impacted by winter storm Juno the week of Jan. 26. Analysis from RetailNext shows that between Monday, Jan. 26 and Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015, store traffic at Northeast retailers dropped 35.6% from the same three-day period the prior year.

It may be hard to believe (considering its financial troubles), but Sears was the most popular U.S. department store on Facebook during the 2014 holiday shopping season, according to a new study. 

The data also show that Walmart.com was the most popular mass merchant store site.

Hangzhou, China – Although Alibaba Holding Group Inc. reported a healthy sales increase for the third quarter of fiscal 2015, it became a victim of its own expectations as it still missed on revenue projections and also reported declining profits. Net income totaled $964 million, a 28% drop from $1.36 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.