Predictive Analytics

Intense price competition during back-to-school season is nothing new, but the competition now occurs on the shifting sands of an increasingly dynamic online world.

Scottsdale, Ariz. – Although 50% of CEOs say that their supply chain can be a strategic differentiator in the new omni-channel customer paradigm, 83% of worldwide CEOs believe that their retail supply chains are currently “not optimal” for today’s changing retail environment.

Kahuna, a marketing automation company for mobile, is touting its new Conversion Campaigns as a “first-of-its-kind solution” that it says can translate consumer interest into “significant” mobile sales and revenue.

According to Kahuna, its customers, such as 1-800-Flowers and Karmaloop, have already experienced an 18 to 33% uplift in revenue from these mobile users thanks to Conversion Campaigns.

Scottsdale, Ariz. – Big Data pricing solution vendor Clear Demand is partnering with competitive price intelligence provider 360pi. Under this joint initiative, 360pi’s real-time price intelligence is fed into Clear Demand’s pricing platform, which in turn alerts retailers to competitive price changes, including compliance with product-line and pricing rules, and helps manage competitive price strategy.

The U.S. economy has undergone significant financial and social upheaval over the past five years, with companies seemingly invincible to the vagaries of the financial markets disappearing overnight. Many companies have been forced to contract by closing unprofitable stores, laying off employees, reducing spending, deferring research and development, or have been acquired by more profitable companies. With few exceptions, those companies that have survived have done so by cutting costs to the bone.

New York -- Google announced that it has acquired video advertising provider mDialog.

In a post on Google+, the web giant said it will work with the mDialog team to incorporate their technology and expertise into its DoubleClick online advertising platform product suite.
 

New York - CloudTags, an omnichannel marketing technology company, is partnering with Brickstream, an in-store analytics vendor. The partnership will enable the analysis of physical store intent and behavioral data through a comprehensive in-store data platform.

Omnichannel pricing solution provider Clear Demand and pricing intelligence leader 360pi have formed a partnership to put powerful new capabilities into the hands of retailers.

Plano, Texas - Rent-A-Center Inc. has named Mike Case to VP marketing strategy and insights. Case is responsible for global administration of customer insights/market research, marketing analytics, business innovation, CRM and loyalty.

Recently, Case served as VP marketing and senior loyalty officer for La Quinta Inn & Suites Earlier in his career, Case held leadership positions in organizations such as American Airlines, Brierley & Partners, Sage Telecom, First USA Bank and Virgin America.

Montreal - LightSpeed is launching Advanced Reporting for LightSpeed Cloud, which adds Big Data analytics to LightSpeed’s cloud-based POS system. The analytics capability is designed to give retailers real-time insight into sales, inventory trends and customer preferences.

LightSpeed’s new Advanced Reporting for Cloud includes more than 40 reports that give detailed information on product sales, profits and margins; customer preferences; employee performance; payment methods; and vendor-by-vendor analytics; across all stores and channels.