Data & Analytics

Walmart’s U.K. subsidiary Asda is expanding what customers can do with in-store pickup and return through its new service called toyou.

Warm weather, as well as layoffs in the oil and gas industry hindered sales Boot Barn during the holiday quarter.

Boot Barn announced preliminary results for the third quarter ended Dec. 26 as follows:

• Preliminary net sales increased 49% to approximately $194 million;

• Opened 5 new stores and completed the rebranding of 19 Sheplers stores;

New York & Co. was able to rise above headwinds from unseasonable weather during the holidays to an increase in same-store sales.

The company says same store sales increased 1.6% during the holiday period and that it expects same-store sales for the full quarter to increase in the low single-digit percentage, in line with the company’s previously disclosed guidance.

Vertical specialty apparel retailer Brooks Brothers is known for neat and tidy fashions, and that ethos extends to how it manages the flow of goods from source to shelf.

Brooks Brothers has selected the SAP Fashion Management platform to gain better control of movement of merchandise through the supply chain, which in turn supports an omnichannel customer experience. The retailer began the process of revamping its demand chain by implementing the SAP Apparel and Footwear application, which provides better insight into inventory and financials.

Catering to a tech-savvy millennial shopper base, specialty retailer Zumiez Inc. cannot afford to offer a Gen X-style customer experience.

To meet customer expectations of being able to purchase goods anytime, anywhere, via any mix of channels they choose, Zumiez needed a flexible, customer-focused platform. In 2015, Zumiez ran a multi-store pilot of the Starmount Customer Engagement suite platform.

Burlington Stores says a big decline in cold weather apparel led same-store sales to be mostly flat over the holiday season.

Tom Kingsbury, president and CEO at Burlington Stores, said: “While we are pleased with the strong response to our gift assortments especially in fragrances, bath and body and home, these increases have been offset by headwinds affecting our cold weather assortments, especially in coats and outerwear. Accordingly, we now expect comparable store sales to be approximately flat for the fourth quarter.”

Energy Design Service Systems (EDSS) has opened a new office in Mexico, representing the culmination of the company’s year-long efforts to expand its market reach internationally and increase exports to Mexico.

EDSS welcomes its new sales representative Yennise Garza, who brings more than a decade of experience in sales and market research to the EDSS team. With Garza’s help, EDSS expects to participate in Mexico’s increasing efforts to reduce the country’s energy consumption to meet their ambitious carbon reduction goals.

Oracle is introducing Oracle Retail 15, an enterprise retail suite that includes diverse features such as new cloud-based applications and POS hardware solutions.

In the cloud area, Oracle is adding four new retail-specific services.

• Using Oracle Retail Sales and Productivity Cloud Service, retailers can gain real-time insights into comparative sales, salesperson productivity, merchandise productivity, store sales, and store traffic.

Genesco is lowering its earnings forecast for the fiscal year despite a 3% increase in same-store sales over the holiday period.

The company said same-store sales increased 3% for the quarter-to-date period ended Jan.2. Sales for the company's e-commerce and catalog direct sales businesses increased 20% on a comparable basis for that period.

American Apparel on Monday said that it has received unanimous approval of all voting classes for its reorganization plan. But also on Monday, the company received a $300 million buyout offer from an investor group that has the support of American Apparel founder and ousted CEO, the controversial Dov Charney.

The investor group, which is comprised of Hagen Capital Group and Silver Creek Capital Partners, said that its offer is superior to the company's reorganization plan, and has a valuation range of $180 million to $270 million.