Predictive Analytics

Canadian dollar-store operator Dollarama reported an increase in sales and an improvement in net earnings for the third quarter ended Nov. 3. The quarter was characterized by continued growth in the store network and solid comparable store sales growth.

Sales for the quarter increased by 14.2% to $522.9 million from $458 million in the year-ago period. The increase was driven, in part, by the growth in the number of stores in the past 12 months, from 761 stores on Oct. 28, 2012 to 847 stores on Nov. 3, 2013.

New York -- eMarketer projects that retail e-commerce holiday sales in the U.S. will rise about 15% again this year, matching last year's gains. In total, U.S. retail e-commerce sales for the holiday season — defined as November and December — are expected to reach $61.8 billion, up from $53.7 billion last year, according to the report.
 
As well, eMarketer estimates US retail e-commerce sales will grow 16.4% to $262.3 billion this year, with 23.5% ($61.8 billion) of this taking place in November and December.

Atlanta -- Direct Wines, the world’s largest online wine retailer, has successfully deployed advanced, end-to-end planning, promotion, forecasting and fulfillment solutions from Predictix, a provider of cloud-based, predictive analytics solutions for retailers. The applications went live last month and will support the current operation and future growth strategy of Direct Wines' international, omni-channel business.
 

Although sales at Express during Thanksgiving week exceeded last year's, results did not meet the company’s expectations and it’s bracing itself for a tough holiday shopping season.

The specialty retail apparel chain operating approximately 630 stores reported net sales of $503 million, an increase of 7% from $468.5 million in the third quarter of 2012. Comparable sales increased 5% versus a decline of 5% in last year's third quarter. E-commerce sales increased 29% to $71.2 million this quarter, above last year's third quarter increase of 21%.

San Jose, Calif. -- Retail Next announced today the acquisition of Nearbuy Systems, a provider of location-based Wi-Fi Analytics solutions for retailers. Based in San Mateo, Calif., Nearbuy is the largest provider of in-store opt-in analytics, enabling retailers to enhance one-to-one engagement and personalization strategies.

Mechanicsville, Va. – Supervalu is shipping goods to its grocery stores across the Eastern region with a much smaller carbon footprint, thanks to the recent addition of 35 Class 8 Volvo trucks that operate on compressed natural gas (CNG). The fleet is the largest of its kind on the East Coast, and the company plans to add another 20 trucks next year.  

Armonk, N.Y. - Shoppers made Cyber Monday 2013 the biggest online shopping day in history with a 20.6% increase in online sales. The latest cloud-based analytics findings from IBM show that mobile sales led the way, exceeding 17% of total online sales, an increase of 55.4% year-over-year.

Cyber Monday also capped what IBM data indicates is the highest five-day online sales period on record from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, which grew 16.5% from the same period in 2012.

San Jose, Calif. – Cyber Monday sales set a new record at $2.29 billion online, representing 16% year-over-year (YoY) growth. New Adobe Digital Index 2013 data also indicates a record 18.3% of sales came from mobile devices, an increase of 80% YoY.

Additional data and findings of the Adobe Digital Index online shopping analysis include:

New York -- There are significant similarities between Millennial and Boomer shoppers. A study of Millennial and Boomer purchasing trends conducted by Radius Global Market Research shows that while there are certainly differences, there are also significant similarities between the groups.

Chicago -- A majority (88%) of retailers are using social media as part of their 2013 holiday marketing blitz. But they still remain divided about mobile marketing, with only 38% using it this year, down from 50% in 2012.