Predictive Analytics

New Albany, Ohio – Abercrombie & Fitch is using a consumer-driven predictive analytics solution from First Insight Inc. to help the retailer make faster and more accurate design, buying and pricing decisions, thereby reducing markdowns and mitigating risks associated with new product introductions.

San Francisco – U.S. consumers remained active in January 2014 despite the effects of bad winter weather across much of the country. In-store retail analytics provider Euclid measured data on nearly 25 million domestic shopping sessions during January, revealing that shopper traffic and window conversion showed improvement from the prior year for another month in a row as shoppers looked to capitalize on a very promotional January.

Inclement weather was not enough to keep Walgreens from posting January sales of $6.4 billion, an increase of 3.7% as compared to the year-ago period.

Total front-end sales increased 2.4% compared with the same month in fiscal 2013, while comparable store front-end sales increased 1.6%. Customer traffic in comparable stores decreased 2.2% while basket size increased 3.8%.

Birmingham, Ala. -- Hibbett Sports, an established user of JDA technology since 2006, has added JDA Markdown Optimization to its supply chain solutions. As a result, Hibbett has gained a better understanding of its regional selling seasons, as well as the differences in merchandise seasonality, in order to move products in and out of the stores more quickly.

Digital BrandWorks has introduced a new diagnostic tool that lets product suppliers grade the representation of their products online and then develop strategies to optimize their presence.

Reston, Va. -- comScore has entered into a partnership with the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) to expand its cross-platform measurement service that provides a continuous view and measurement of media usage across TV, radio, desktop, smartphone and mobile.

This next phase will allow media companies, marketers and advertising agencies the opportunity to measure things such as multi-platform advertising, mobile video, time-shifted viewing such as DVR playback and children’s viewing.

As we look back on the first-ever outdoor cold weather Super Bowl, there are several lessons digital retailers can take away from how the NFL, Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks all prepared for what many said was an impossible or foolish undertaking. Some of the same steps these entities took to ensure a successful experience playing the Super Bowl is subfreezing conditions apply to retailers ensuring a successful digital experience for their customers, regardless of naysayers.

Flexibility Keeps Things Running

A proliferation in the ways shoppers engage with retailers and consume content across platforms has transformed traditional marketing and spawned new approaches to measuring advertising effectiveness.

This week digital measurement leader comScore said it had joined with the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) to expand a cross-platform measurement service that provides a continuous view and measurement of media suage across TV, radio, desktop, smartphone and mobile.