Predictive Analytics

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. reported that its second quarter profit dropped 13% to $611 million in the quarter ended Aug. 3, down from $704 million a year earlier, amid start-up costs related to its entry into Canada. Total company profits, excluding start-up costs related to Canada, increased 6.1%. Similar to other retailers, the chain issued a muted annual profit forecast as it deals with a still uncertain economy and cautious consumers.

With the addition of an Android app, mobile workforce leader Gigwalk expects its on-demand workforce to soon exceed 600,000.

The two-year-old San Francisco-based technology company already has 325,000 workers, known as Gigwalkers, using its app on iPhones to perform a variety of mobile research and store audit functions. The addition of an app for Android phones is expected to more than double the number of Gigwalkers because Android phones are more prevalent in the market.

Home Depot has posted double digit comp-store sales in the second-quarter, exceeding its own expectations, thanks to a rebound in seasonal categories.

Net sales at the world's largest home improvement retailer increased 9.5% to $22.5 billion in the quarter ended Aug. 4, compared to $20.6 billion in the same quarter last year. Comp-store sales increased 10.7% across the company, and increased 11.4% among domestic stores.

Net earnings for the quarter were $1.80 billion, up 17.2% from $1.53 billion in last year's 14-week second quarter.

Worse than expected second quarter sales results at Dick’s Sporting Goods sparked new consumer spending concerns and prompted the company to lower its full year profit forecast.

Dicks said sales for the quarter ended August 3, increased 6.6% to $1.5 billion, however same store sales fell 0.4%, versus a planned 2% to 3% increase, when adjusted for a 53rd week in 2012. Profits for the period totaled $84.2 million, or 67 cents a share, compared to $53.7 million, or 43 cents a share.

Los Angeles -- A new survey by PriceGrabber confirms that consumers are determined to think frugally when shopping for back-to-school this year, with 57% of respondents saying they will attempt to buy more items that are "on sale," while 42% say they will comparison shop for the best price. 

RFID has occupied a curious position in the retail IT landscape for the past decade. Most observers acknowledge that RFID holds great potential to offer expanded supply chain visibility and collaboration from source to shelf, but aside from a few high-profile programs run by retail heavyweights like Wal-Mart and Target, RFID’s potential still remains untapped after all these years. That may finally be changing.

New York -- Consumer confidence unexpectedly dropped in August from a six-year high as Americans faced rising interest rates, according to the University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters preliminary index of consumer sentiment.

The index fell to 80.0 from 85.1 in July, which was the highest since July 2007. The median projection of 68 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for little change at 85.2.

The outlook component fell to 72.9 in August from 76.5 in July, while current conditions dropped to 91.0 in August from 98.6 in July.

Vancouver-based Versatile Systems announced that Robert Joyce has resigned as a director and officer of Versatile and all its subsidiary companies. Joyce will continue working with the company as a consultant, and will assist in the management transition process.

Versatile also appointed Kenneth Kahn as president of Versatile Systems Inc. and its subsidiaries. Kahn was most recently EVP and global brand officer for Mood Media.

Kellogg is looking to BrightRoll, an independent video advertising platform, to help the company simplify and maximize the efficiency of its digital video advertising.

Kellogg is expanding its video advertising capabilities and leveraging BrightRoll’s platform to boost brand awareness among a growing digital audience, as consumer viewing habits shift from television to computers, mobile devices and connected TVs. 

London -- UK PC and video game retailer Game UK will use IBM’s big data analytics and cloud-based software to optimize its online marketing efforts and provide personalized product recommendations based on each customer's shopping interests and online behavior.

Game’s drive to upsell and increase loyalty within its customer base is powered by technology from IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative. This latest purchase of marketing automation software extends Game’s existing Smarter Commerce investments.