Consumer Analytics

San Francisco – Target opened a new Technology Innovation Center in San Francisco, on May 20. The center, located in shared space with the digital marketing agency SapientNitro, employs about 20 people, including some shared SapientNitro employees. Target will use the center to develop mobile and e-commerce services, allowing it to better compete with online-savvy rivals such as Amazon.com.

LOS ANGELES — Virtual Piggy, an online service that allows parents to monitor their children's online shopping behavior, is heading across the Atlantic for the first time.

The company has signed partnership agreements with Toy Galaxy and Toadstool in the U.K. to integrate the Virtual Piggy solution into both companies' e-commerce operations. 

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Men’s Wearhouse will tailor email campaigns to individual shoppers using personalized email marketing technology from CQuotient. The solution will allow Men’s Wearhouse to capture data across consumer touchpoints and use predictive algorithms to target customers with individualized email messaging.

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has announced on her personal Tumblr blog the company’s plans to acquire the social blogging site for $1.1 billion. It is Mayer’s largest deal to date since becoming head of the multinational Internet corporation. 

NEW YORK — Target is the latest retailer heading to the Silicon Valley to develop its omnichannel business.

The mass merchandise retailer announced the opening of a new office in San Francisco that will allow it to work with technology companies in the area to create new digital and mobile shopping programs.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Men’s Wearhouse is looking to CQuotient to help it develop email campaigns tailored to individual shoppers at its brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce sites.

The announcement comes just a week after the specialty retailer launched a revamped version of its flagship online site. 

CINCINNATI — Procter & Gamble has filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of Ohio against CAO Group, a manufacturer and distributor of dental products. The lawsuit alleges that CAO Group is violating P&G's intellectual property by manufacturing and selling its “Sheer White,” “Sheer FluorX” and “Sheer DesenZ” products.

P&G is suing CAO Group in order to protect its investment in its technology and its Crest Whitestrips business.

New York - Ethnic consumers represent strong potential for retailers, according to new data released by the Nielsen Company. For example, the 43 million African-Americans in the U.S. (about 14% of the population) buy more hand and body lotion products than the average consumer.

SEATTLE — Nordstrom reported its first quarter net income fell a greater-than-expected 3%, hurt by weak demand for spring merchandise and softer performance in the Northeast and Midwest. The company also lowered its full-year sales forecast.

The results were a rare miss for the upscale department store chain whose shoppers have proved resilient throughout the uncertain economy.

San Diego -- Despite being the most tech-savvy generation in history, Generation Y, the 80-million strong cohort of Americans between the ages of 18 and 35, has not forsaken shopping in stores for online purchasing – as long as retailers keep their offerings "fresh" and interesting, according to a new report from the Urban Land Institute (ULI).