Consumer Analytics

NEW YORK — Global technology startup Synqera has launched Simplate, an in-store point-of-sale terminal that provides real-time business-to-consumer media communications, at the National Retail Federation’s 102nd Annual Convention & EXPO.

Synqera describes Simplate as one of the first interactive POS terminals that uses big data, such as customer preferences, behavior, demographics and purchasing information, to provide personalized media communications for on-the-spot marketing.

ATLANTA — National sporting goods retailer Hibbett Sports has selected a business intelligence platform developed by QuantiSense, which will allow it to leverage retail analytics so it can improve local assortments across all physical stores.

New York -- A study released Monday by Cisco revealed that, as retailers reinvent their in-store shopping experience in the face of the continued rise of e-commerce, digital content from the Internet has emerged as the most powerful influence in buying decisions for the majority of shoppers in all channels.

Atlanta -- Retail analytics firm QuantiSense announced Monday that Hibbett Sports has selected the QuantiSense Decision Orchestration Platform for its enterprise business intelligence solution.

Hibbett Sports needed a single foundation for enterprise business intelligence that could satisfy current merchandising and store operations requirements and expand to other departments over time.
 

By Jill Puler, [email protected]

For retailers, brands and marketers, the millennials have created quite the conundrum. This segment makes up a large part of the consuming world — around 95 million consumers in the U.S. alone. And with $1.7 billion in spending muscle to flex, their influence is only going to increase as the years roll by. By 2030, they will outnumber the vaunted baby boomers by more than 20 million.

New York -- A report released Monday at Retail’s BIG Show in New York City by Shop.org and Forrester Research found that as shoppers become increasingly connected, online retailers in 2013 will get back to basics, focusing on strategies and tactics to improve the customer experience and increase web conversion and loyalty across all devices.

New York -- Aldata, part of Symphony EYC, announced Monday its second U.S. holiday shopping survey revealed that U.S. shoppers want to use their mobile phones to make shopping easier, more personalized, and to have more control over inventory, but that purchasing groceries with a mobile is still in its infancy.

Conducted by Vision Critical on behalf of Symphony EYC, the survey found that 54% of shoppers said that no lines and no waiting were the greatest benefits to shopping online for groceries.

ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. — Lowe’s is teaming up with American Water Heaters to offer homeowners the ability to remotely control their water heaters from their smart phones or tablets.

Iris is Lowe's exclusive smart home solution allows homeowners to monitor and control virtually everything in the home, including Energy Smart electric water heaters, which will feature Iris-compatible control modules. Homeowners can use the controls to set water temperatures and select operating modes, including the "Vacation" mode.

New York -- The 2012 holiday shopping season didn’t provide the sales and traffic lift anticipated by retailers, according to Experian FootFall. The company said the season got off to a blazing start as consumers responded to some of the earliest Black Friday sales and promotions, effectively extending the Black Friday shopping experience to a four-day event. Following this annual start to the season that accounted for billions of dollars in retail sales, the 2012 calendar shift began to impact consumer behavior.

Washington, D.C. -- The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index fell to minus 34.4 in the seven days ended Jan. 6 from minus 31.8 the prior period, the biggest one-week drop since August. Jobless claims increased by 4,000 to 371,000 in the week ended Jan. 5, according to Labor Department figures.