Consumer Analytics

“Ongoing investigation.” “Forensics and law enforcement continue to investigate.” For now, it is a bit too early to write the “Lessons Learned” piece about the Target/Neiman Marcus/Michaels data breach incident. But there are a few things that were known before these latest payment card/database breaches occurred and should be put into context in light of what we are currently investigating.

Facebook has reached an agreement to acquire WhatsApp, a cross-platform mobile messaging company, for a total of approximately $16 billion, including $4 billion in cash and approximately $12 billion worth of Facebook shares. The agreement also provides for an additional $3 billion in restricted stock units to be granted to WhatsApp’s founders and employees that will vest during four years subsequent to closing.

Vancouver, Canada – Lululemon Athletica Inc. is reportedly ending its ban on customers who have resold its goods on sites such as EBay and Amazon.com from purchasing items on its e-commerce site. According to Bloomberg, Lululemon instituted the policy to stop consumers from purchasing and reselling merchandise in bulk, but is rescinding it after a large volume of customer complaints.

San Jose, Calif. – Sales for Valentine’s Day this year fell prior to the holiday compared to the same period in 2013, but rose on the actual holiday itself, Feb. 14. According to new figures from site analytics provider RetailNext, men’s stores (that have gifts for men) saw decreased (-13.8%) sales the day before Valentine’s, but an increase of +22.2% in sales on Valentine's Day itself in 2014.

Atlanta – More than 50% of brands don’t have a strategy in place to manage responses to social media complaints from customers. Results of a recent survey conducted by Social Media Marketing University (SMMU) shows that 58.2% of brands receive customer complaints via social media “occasionally,” 10.9% receive them “somewhat often” and 4.9% receive them “very often.”

In total, almost 75% of brands receive social media complaints. In addition, survey results show:

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Facebook has reached an agreement to acquire WhatsApp, a cross-platform mobile messaging company, for a total of approximately $16 billion, including $4 billion in cash and approximately $12 billion worth of Facebook shares. The agreement also provides for an additional $3 billion in restricted stock units to be granted to WhatsApp’s founders and employees that will vest during four years subsequent to closing.

eBay has acquired PhiSix, a computer graphics company that creates 3-D models of clothing from photos, pattern files and other sources and simulates the behavior of the garments.

PhiSix’s technology allows consumers to see how clothes fit, look and move in different environments without actually having to try them on, and can be used in online and offline environments.

As consumers head to retail stores this spring to purchase mowers, chain saws, generators, blowers, trimmers, power washers and a host of other small engine equipment, they will see an important ethanol fuel message from the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI), an international trade association representing 100 small engine, utility vehicle and outdoor power equipment manufacturers and suppliers.

The message to 'Look Before You Pump' will help consumers protect their outdoor power and small engine equipment investments.

New York -- Traditional retail categories are increasingly blurring, and more and more shoppers are turning to drug stores and other types of outlets to buy groceries, according to a survey of Millenial, Gen X and Baby Boomer consumers. The study was conducted by retail design firm King Retail Solutions in conjunction with the University of Arizona Center for Retailing.

New York -- Shopzilla Inc. has acquired Connexity, a demand-side platform. Shopzilla manages online shopping brands in the United States and Europe, such as Bizrate, Beso, Shopzilla, Retrevo, TaDa, PrixMoinsCher, and SparDeinGeld, as well as a series of B2B businesses.

Shopzilla said it would link Connexity’s programmatic media-buying platform to its Aisle A division, which specializes in audience-buying.