Data & Analytics

Santa brings Toys “R” Us best holiday in years
Toys “R” Us produced surprisingly strong results, especially online, in what is proving to be a holiday season characterized by mixed results from retailers who have disclosed results.
Verizon: Retailers should adjust to ‘Cyber Season’
Overall retailers had a good 2015 holiday from a digital commerce standpoint, but some patterns changed.

According to the Verizon Retail Index, days that previously had unusual spikes in e-commerce activity, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, now show more normal levels of online traffic and purchase activity. Part of this shift is attributed to the widespread availability of high-speed online connections from consumer mobile devices.

Mall operator reaches out to shoppers

Mall operator General Growth Properties (GGP) is looking to get in touch with customers in a new and very personal way.

GGP has selected Mobiquity to be the provider of beacon-based advertising services for select malls in its U.S. portfolio, including Tysons Galleria (Washington D.C.), Glendale Galleria (Los Angeles), Water Tower Place (Chicago) and Ala Moana Center (Honolulu).
Target execs excited by wearables, IoT at CES

The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas has wound down, and senior Target executives are sharing their thoughts on the retailer's official blog, A Bullseye View. CEO Brian Cornell, chief marketing officer Jeff Jones and chief strategy and innovation officer Casey Carl shared insights on hot topics from the event, such as personalization, wearable devices and the Internet of Things (IoT). [A Bullseye View]
The Container Store reports loss on higher expenses

The Container Store is cutting its guidance for the year after the company says expenses led it to report a loss in the third quarter.
A good Christmas for Five Below

Five Below says its same-store sales rose 4.1% during the holiday season, prompting the company to boost its guidance for the fourth quarter.

The company announced that net sales for the nine-week period ended Jan. 2 increased by 24% to $286.1 million from $230.7 million in the comparable nine-week period of fiscal 2014, while same-store sales for this period increased by 4.1% over the comparable period in fiscal 2014.
Top 10 Women in Tech

If a “leader” is someone who knows how to take charge, achieve goals and inspire others along the way — even in the most trying of circumstances — then the women featured in this special section are leaders in every sense of the word. They have toiled and proved their mettle — and smarts — in a field that traditionally has not been all that female-friendly: technology.
J.C. Penney overcomes warm weather with omnichannel

Less than 12 hours after Macy’s shared bleak holiday results, J.C. Penney said enhanced digital capabilities helped it to produce strong holiday season same store sales growth which allowed the company to reaffirm its full year profit forecast.
Hudson’s Bay Company acquires Gilt Groupe

Leading department store operator Hudson’s Bay Company confirmed months of speculation and agreed to pay what appears to be a modest sum to acquire online luxury retailer Gilt Groupe.

Hudson’s Bay, which operates 470 department stores including Saks Fifth Avenue and the Off 5th discount format, said it agreed to pay $250 million for Gilt in a deal that will add $500 million to 2016, $40 million in adjusted operating profit by 2017 and countless synergies to leverage the combined companies’ infrastructure and customer databases.
Here's what drove online holiday sales growth

The numbers are in and one specific device clearly served as a major catalyst for increased e-commerce sales during the 2015 holiday season.

According to the MarketLive 2015 Holiday Flash Report, smartphone revenue during the just-completed holiday season (Nov. 23, 2015 – Jan. 3, 2016) increased 50%. Overall e-commerce revenue grew 8% during that period.
Mobile commerce paradigm shifts

Consumers are changing the way they browse and shop for goods using mobile devices.

According to the State of Retailing Online 2016 study from Forrester Research, Shop.org and Bizrate Insights, growing use of smartphones by consumers, a shift in investments by technology companies and continued optimization strategies from retailers has landed smartphones on top as a driver of mobile sales and traffic for retail companies.
Walgreens’ earnings growth, Rite Aid acquisition ‘on track’ after Q1

Walgreens Boots Alliance on Thursday reported net sales of $29 billion, representing an increase of 48.5%, for the first quarter 2016 that ended Nov. 30, 2015. The significant growth was attributed to the inclusion of Alliance Boots consolidated results, the company reported.

Wall Street had expected $29.2 billion in overall revenue, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.