Predictive Analytics

Chicago -- Galleria Retail Technology Solutions, a provider of retail and category optimization solutions, announced that Morrisons, the United Kingdom’s fourth largest food retailer, will utilize its complete product suite to automate its merchandising strategy.

Atlanta -- The SpendTrend analysis released Friday by First Data Corp., which tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations, found that overall year-over-year dollar volume growth was up 7.3% in November 2011, down from October’s 9.4% growth.

November 2011 had tough comparables as November 2010 was a particularly strong month, with dollar volume growth up 8.1%, according to First Data. November 2011 transaction growth was 6.1%. 

New York City -- The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment showed Friday that confidence among U.S. consumers rose more than forecast in December as Americans’ outlooks improved. 

The index rose to 67.7, a six-month high, from 64.1 at the end of November. The median estimate of 73 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a reading of 65.8. The gauge averaged 89 in the five years leading up to the recession that began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009. 

ARMONK, N.Y. and SAN MATEO, Calif. — IBM announced that it intends to acquire DemandTec for $13.20 per share, or at a net price of approximately $440 million, after adjusting for cash. 

San Mateo, Calif. -- IBM and DemandTec announced Thursday that the two companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement for IBM to acquire DemandTec in a deal worth approximately $440 million.

IBM said the acquisition of DemandTec will extend its Smarter Commerce initiative by adding cloud-based price, promotion and other merchandising and marketing analytics to help companies better define the best price points and product mix based on customer buying trends.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Thursday said that consumer confidence in the U.S. was little changed for a second week, holding at a level typically reached during past recessions.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index was at minus 50.3 in the period ended Dec. 4, after a reading of minus 50.2 the prior week. The gauge has been at minus 50 or worse for 11 of the past 12 weeks.

LOS ANGELES — Among those that have shopping-related applications on their smartphone, most of them will use this method to help save money when purchasing gifts this holiday season, according to a new PriceGrabber survey.

"I know half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, but I can never find out which half."

 – John Wanamaker, Department Store Tycoon and Marketing Pioneer of the early 20th Century

“There is an online privacy war going on, and without help, consumers will lose.”

– Chris Calabrese, Legislative Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union

New York City -- The retail sector continues to edge tentatively toward recovery, buoyed by a strong start to the holiday shopping season, but several obstacles stand in the way of sustained progress in 2012, according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s North America Year-end Retail Outlook.

New York City -- The Conference Board Employment Trends Index increased in November to 103.7, up from the revised figure of 102.42 in October. The November figure is up 6.4% from the same month a year ago.