Consumer Analytics

New York -- J. Sainsbury Plc is in talks with retailers in the United States and South America to license the technology behind Sainsbury’s Brand Match, a price promise that has fueled sales outperformance, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The Brand Match program ensures shoppers don’t pay more for branded goods such as Coca- Cola at Sainsbury than at competitors by checking more than 14,000 items, including offers and promotions at the point-of-sale. Customers are given a coupon if an item is priced cheaper at a rival.

By Craig McLaughlin, [email protected]

There is a growing trend in the loyalty rewards space -- using reward points as currency, creating a more holistic, streamlined approach to loyalty programs.

New York -- Aeropostale said Thursday that net income for the first quarter narrowed to $10.6 million, from $16.4 million in the same period last year.

Sales for the quarter ended April 28 rose 6% to $497.2 million, from $469.2 million, and same-store sales edged up 2% on the strength of its online performance. Without e-commerce results, same-store sales for the quarter were flat.
 

Austin, Texas -- Acumera announced today that Meridian, Idaho-based Jacksons Food Stores, Inc. has selected Acumera to build, monitor and manage a secure network, interconnecting the convenience store chain’s more than 200 retail locations with more than 1,900 store systems.

Using the Acumera Merchant Gateway, AcuVigil Dashboard and Machine-to-Cloud Integration Engine, Jacksons will experience enhanced information security, connectivity and visibility across the company’s enterprise.

New Albany, Ohio -- Abercrombie & Fitch Co. reported a 88% decline in its first quarter profit, hurt in part by difficult market conditions in Europe.

For the quarter ended April 28, retailer earned $3.0 million compared with $25.1 million last year. Sales rose 10% to $921.2 million, but same-store sales were down 5%.

New York -- Research by ACI Worldwide and Aite Group has identified a new group of smartphone fanatics – coined Smartphonatics – are driving demand for mobile banking and other financial services.

Fort Worth, Texas -- Customer analytics firm Buxton announced it will officially launch the latest version of its real estate and analytics platform at the International Council of Shopping Centers RECon show in Las Vegas later this month.

SCOUT 3.0 is a cloud-based, data visualization and analytics tool used by executives in the retail industry to execute real estate and marketing strategies. The platform includes dashboard capabilities for C-level executives to see performance across their entire organization via mobile/tablet technology.

Walmart’s view of the shopper is a whole lot clearer now that the company has resumed sharing point-of-sale data with the likes of Nielsen, SymphonyIRI Group and NPD. No wonder chief merchant Duncan Mac Naughton and consumer insights head Cindy Davis expect good things to happen.

Austin, Texas — Whole Foods is rewarding customers that live a green lifestyle through a new app it created with Whole Planet Foundation and BlueAvocado.

Woonsocket, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy is taking a greater step toward targeting the Hispanic market with the launch of its new Spanish-language website.

Like the English-language site, the Spanish version, located at http://es.cvs.com, enables shoppers to manage their prescription account, get health information, purchase products, access coupons, etc. According to a MediaPost article, Google indicated that the new CVS Spanish website consists of 67,000 pages, most of which are product SKUs.