Data & Analytics

Tech Guest Viewpoint: Improving Customer Experiences with Bots
We often talk about how to avoid, deter and block bots. But much opportunity lies in figuring out how to distinguish between good and bad bots, and to understand how the distinctions change across applications and environments, especially within the retail industry.
Study: Holiday returns performance misses mark
Retailers may find themselves banished to the Island of the Misfit Toys if they do not improve their handling of returned holiday purchases.

According to new data from Kurt Salmon, it took an average of 13.3 days for retailers to credit returns to accounts during the 2015 holiday season. This marked an improvement from the prior year’s 16.8 days, but still far from customers’ expectation of about seven days.

Kirkland's posts comp increase in Q4

Kirkland's says weather kept shoppers away from stores in January, but the home furnishings retailer still reported a slight increase in same-store sales for the fourth quarter.

For the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30, net sales increased 11.4% to $199 million compared with $178.7 million for prior year quarter. Same-store sales, including e-commerce sales, rose 1.3% compared with an increase of 8.2% in the prior-year quarter. Kirkland's opened 12 stores and closed six during the fourth quarter, bringing the total number of stores to 376 at quarter end.
Expectations run high at Home Depot's pro desk

The Home Depot is planning (conservatively, it says) to be a $100 billion retailer in 2018 – growing by $13 billion, or the equivalent of 357 stores, without any major change of its footprint.

Where’s growth going to come from? A lot of it from the pro customer, who currently makes up only 4% of Home Depot’s customers, but account for about 35% of total sales. Clearly, this is a customer with clout.
Retailers need to move to customer-centric model

For all their talk about the customer, most retailers have yet to evolve to a business model that is truly customer-centric.

That’s the conclusion of a new industry study by strategic consulting firm The O Alliance that was created in partnership with Revmetri.
Survey: Retailers need to move to customer-centric model

For all their talk about the customer, most retailers have yet to evolve to a business model that is truly customer-centric.

That’s the conclusion of a new industry study by strategic consulting firm The O Alliance that was created in partnership with Revmetri.
Study: Coupons stay relevant in digital age

As retail enters a technology-centric, omnichannel era, the good old fashioned coupon remains as important as ever.

According to a new study of 11,000 consumers from digital offers platform RetailMeNot Inc. and ad intelligence provider Placed Inc., more than three in five shoppers actively seek out coupons in preference to other types of promotions.
Study: Emerging commerce channel comes of age

A digital consumer touch-point long thought to offer little in the way of “hard” ROI appears to be changing that trend.

According to a study of aggregated, anonymized U.S. traffic and revenue data from Kibo (the new company created from the merger of MarketLive, Shopatron and Fiverun), there was a 138% increase in total social revenue during 2015 compared to 2014.
Report: eBay fixes security issue, is it enough?

According to Forbes, during the week of Feb. 1, eBay Inc. remediated a flaw in its network security program that allowed hackers to place malware within the “active content” eBay merchants use to deliver pop-up ads and other dynamic messaging to customers. However, this action may not be enough to address wider security issues at eBay. [Forbes]
Publix expands specialty pharmacy in new deal

Publix and AmerisourceBergen on Thursday announced a long-term agreement encompassing the distribution of branded, generic and over-the-counter health and pharmaceutical products. The agreement also enables Publix’s network of more than 980 pharmacy locations across the southeast to expand patient access to specialty medications.
Challenging holiday takes toll on Kohl’s profit

Positive trends with its online business were not enough to help Kohl’s offset in-store weakness and intense competition, which pressured profits and caused a significant downward revision in guidance.

Kohl’s said its fourth quarter same-store sales increased 0.4% while the digital business grew 30%. Full year same store sales increase 0.7%.
Costco sales mostly soft in January

Same-store sales at Costco were mostly flat in January across the globe, mirroring reports from other retailers reporting soft sales.