Consumer Analytics

Chicago -- During a morning keynote session on Wednesday at the Internet Retailer Conference in Chicago, former Vice President and self-described “recovering politician” Al Gore related a couple of interesting facts about how the Internet is shaping modern commerce. First, he stated that when an online network increases in size its value increases by a squared amount, so that for example a network that doubles its number of users quadruples in value.

New York -- Specialty retailer Vera Bradley has helped boost the revenue and margins generated by its recently launched line of baby accessories by obtaining advance insight from consumers about what they would pay for certain products and also what features most interested them.

Boulder, Col. -- QuikTrip is the nation’s most popular convenience store, according to a new study by Market Force Information. QuikTrip was voted the most popular c-store chain among the more than 7,600 study participants, followed by Wawa, RaceTrac, Speedway and Arco/ampm.

San Jose, Calif. -- The majority (61%) of global consumers are open to shopping at a ‘self service’ fully automated store with vending machines and kiosk stations offering virtual customer service, according to a new survey by Cisco.

LOS ANGELES — Virtual Piggy, an online service that allows parents to monitor their children's online shopping behavior, has deployed technology enabling youth younger than 18 to safely make donations to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 

New York -- Following a two-year search, Foot Locker has moved one of its Manhattan locations from 541 Broadway to 440 Broadway in SoHo one block north of Canal Street, according to ABS Partners Real Estate.

ABS Partners negotiated a 10-year net lease on behalf of Foot Locker for a 9,000-sq.-ft. two-story building plus a lower level.

NEW YORK — Former Macy’s executive Michelle Bogan is returning to management consulting firm Kurt Salmon, as a partner in its retail and consumer products group.

Bogan develops and implements transformational retail strategies, including omnichannel, consumer analytics and localization, and has provided numerous department stores and specialty retailers around the world with her insights and expertise. At Macy's, she led omnichannel strategy and process development for Macy's and Bloomingdale's.

Austin, Texas — Kimberly-Clark is looking to RW3 Technologies to help the company optimize its trade promotion investment. K-C will leverage RW3’s mobile technology solutions to keep its brands positioned front and center on shelves.

CINCINNATI — Procter & Gamble’s Always feminine care brand has announced the launch of its “Give a Girl a Break” initiative that aims to turn filmmaking passions into careers for a group of aspiring young women.

NEW YORK — Sociomantic Labs, digital advertising solutions provider for e-commerce marketers, has hired Charles Pitzer as the company’s VP of sales for North America.  

Pitzer has more than 25 years of sales experience, 14 of which have been concentrated in media with a focus on online advertising. He joins Sociomantic from Criteo. Previously Pitzer held positions at Specific Media, Advertising.com and IDG Communications.