Predictive Analytics

The trend of improving delinquency rates within Target’s credit card portfolio just keeps getting better, and in May the percentage of customers past due on their accounts sank to another new low.

Target’s more selective granting of credit and shoppers more judicious use of their cards sent the number of accounts 60 and 90 day past due down to 2.6% and 1.8%, respectively. Those figures are represented continued improvement from comparable April numbers of 2.7% and 1.9% that also set a new low and were a marked improvement from earlier in the year.

Chelmsford, Mass. -- Kronos Inc. said Thursday that its Retail Labor Index for May, which characterizes the current state of the demand and supply sides of the labor market within the U.S. retail sector, rose to 4.1%. (This index is defined as the ratio of hires to applications within a given month, expressed as a percentage. A level of 3.0% means that for every 100 applications received, three hires occurred).

The May reading of the Retail Labor Index reflected a moderate decline in hiring outpaced by a sharp drop in applications.


Dallas -- Patagonia said Thursday it has renewed its partnership with Epsilon, a subsidiary of Alliance Data Systems Corp., so that Epsilon will continue to provide comprehensive database marketing services designed to give Patagonia a better understanding of customers and improve cross-channel marketing campaign results.

New York -- A survey released Wednesday by Harris Interactive found that spending can be impacted by concern for the environment. While that has remained constant among many age groups, more young adults ages 18-to-24 say they are taking the environment into consideration when making purchases.

Chesapeake, Va. -- Dollar Tree has approved a 2-for-1 stock split in the form of a 100% common stock dividend. The new shares will be distributed June 26 for shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 12.

With the stock split, the number of outstanding shares of the company's common stock will increase from approximately 116 million shares, pre-split, to approximately 232 million shares, post-split.

Armonk, N.Y. -- IBM announced it has completed the acquisition of Vivisimo, a leading provider of federated discovery and navigation software that helps organizations access and analyze big data. Financial terms will not be disclosed.

By David Kudas and Russell Parker, JDA Software

Armonk, N.Y. -- Survey results released Thursday by IBM said that Americans are increasingly upbeat about their plans for the Memorial Day weekend, with a huge increase this year in the amount of people talking about traveling and spending compared to last year.

According to the IBM Social Sentiment Index, the "Desire Ratio" – the proportion of positive versus negative comments about shopping – increased by a factor of five for this Memorial Day compared with last year.

Chicago -- A new study of global wealth and spending patterns by A.T. Kearney’s Global Consumer Institute projects $12 trillion in new consumer spending over the next decade, with the United States accounting for 25% of the spending growth. Spending on food will account for about 10% of the overall total.

Dallas -- Family Express has improved its inventory management operations significantly by deploying Retalix Ltd.’s demand-driven replenishment solution across its convenience stores in Northwestern Indiana, Retalix said.