Data & Analytics

New York -- Mother’s Day is turning into a goldmine for online retailers. Overall U.S. retail online sales for the week leading up to Mother's Day rose more than 15% compared to the same period last year, according to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark. Mobile traffic accounted for 46.3% all online traffic, up more than 21% compared to last year. Mobile sales saw strong growth, up more than 43%, reaching over 24.4% of all online sales.
 

By Gitte Amstrup Sandlykke, chief marketing Officer, Targit

The success or failure of any business in this crowded and complex marketplace comes down to whether business goals are met – maintaining customer loyalty is chief among them. However, many retailers are beginning to confuse loyalty with promotions, loyalty cards and awards, undermining brand equity rather than building stronger ties with their customers.

Seattle – Nordstrom Inc. missed Wall Street expectations with declining profit in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, although the department store retailer beat expectations for sales, aided by impressive e-commerce results.

Net earnings were $128 million, down 8% from $140 million the same quarter the prior year. The impact of the Trunk Club acquisition in August 2014 and ongoing entry into Canada reduced earnings.

San Jose, Calif. – In one more sign the long-discussed eBay-PayPal split is really on its way, PayPal has announced it will trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the symbol “PYPL” once it is spun off from parent company eBay. PayPal was initially founded as an independent company in 1998 and joined eBay in 2002.

PayPal intends to become a platform for a world in which all commerce is performed digitally.

Vancouver -- Fast-growing Canadian online footwear retailer Shoes.com has reported record first quarter. In its first quarterly financial report since consolidating three online businesses under one platform, the company reported an increase in gross revenue of 89% to $60 million and a 129% increase in revenue from repeat customers.

Gross profit margins remained robust at 44%.

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Ship2MyID is a patented shipping enablement platform that allows consumers to ship products to others without the need of the receiver’s mailing address. The world is going social and mobile. However, neither carry mailing addresses.

Indianapolis – Consumer electronics retailer Hhgregg Inc. had anything but an electric fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, missing Wall Street expectations for profit and revenue. Net loss widened to $25.23 million from $7.24 million the same quarter a year earlier.

Net sales shrunk 10% to $485.6 million from $538.3 million. Same-store sales also fell 10%. Rising selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses, as well as a non-cash asset impairment, helped increase net loss.

Arlington, Va. – The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) is speaking out on retail data security. Brian Dodge, executive VP, communications & strategic initiatives, RILA, testified at the House Financial Services Committee hearing, “Protecting Consumers: Financial Data Security in the Age of Computer Hackers,” Thursday, May 14.