Data & Analytics

Woonsocket, R.I. - CVS Health showed vitality in the first quarter of fiscal 2015. The retailer beat expectations in areas such as earnings per share (EPS) and pharmacy benefit management (PBM) operating profit.
 

San Francisco - Visa Inc. is expanding its technology research capabilities globally and appointing Min Wang to senior VP of Visa Research Labs. Wang joins Visa from Google Research, where she was a senior staff research scientist focused on data mining.

She also held senior staff research roles at HP Labs China and at the Unified Data Analytics Department at the IBM Watson Research Center.

Hoboken, N.J. – Amazon.com may be hoping to fly high with drone-based deliveries, but a rival e-commerce platform is also planning to take off soon. Jet.com, a subscription-based e-commerce site that hopes to compete with the Amazon Prime membership service using “profit-free” pricing, promises to launch soon.

The newest products and services from suppliers in store planning and design, construction and facility management were on display in the SPECS 2015 Solutions Center.

The exhibit floor provided the retailers and other specifiers at the show with a wide range of solutions, from lighting, signage and flooring options to maintenance and HVAC providers to energy management and construction services.

Elmwood Park, N.J. – Traditionally, when something is printed on paper, it is considered more valuable and “real.” But for Adagio Teas, an omnichannel specialty retailer of gourmet tea, digital promotions are the most reliable.

“As an online vendor, we are sensitive to the effectiveness of promotions,” Michael Cramer, founder and CEO of Adagio Teas, said during an exclusive interview with Chain Store Age. Adagio Teas operates three stores in the Chicago area as well as a global e-commerce site.

The differences in available roof materials, insulation and installation took center stage at the SPECS session, “Under Roof: Advanced Roofing Design, Practices and Management A to Z.”

The speakers, Richard Justinn and Thomas J Taylor, from GAF Materials, also discussed roofing trends and strategies for selecting the right manufacturer and contractor.

In choosing a manufacturer, the speakers said the considerations should include:

San Diego – Consumers are using social media to connect not just with high school classmates and former flames, but with retailers. According to Interactions’ latest Retail Perceptions report, “Social Media: Invest to Impress?”, more than 75% of social media users expect retailers to have a social media presence, and 42% prefer to shop at retailers that connect with them through social media.

New York - The U.S. retail and consumer sector experienced a strong first quarter in 2015 for merger & acquisition (M&A) activity, which was driven by seven megadeals (deals with a value of more than $1 billion). According to PwC's U.S. retail and consumer deals insights report, 39 deals were announced for the quarter (with values more than $50 million), up 11% from fourth quarter 2014, but down 9% from first quarter 2014.