Data & Analytics

It’s not quite a “dislike” button, but Facebook is expanding how users can respond to posts.

According to TechCrunch, Facebook is testing “Reactions,” a set of six emoji that expand upon the “Like” button, in Ireland and Spain.

The National Retail Federation issued an above average holiday season sales forecast in which the desire of Americans to spend will be offset by their ability to do so.

The trade group projects that total holiday sales will increase 3.7% to $630.5 billion during the November time-frame and that online sales would increase between 6% and 8% to represent $108 billion of the total.

For the 2015 holiday shopping season, the dollar figure forecast on consumer spend is less relevant for retailers, according to PwC's 2015 Holiday Outlook. Rather, a deeper understanding of the complex retail landscape and the focus on building long-term shopper relationships is how retailers will define success this year.

PwC outlines 10 big trends that are expected to drive the 2015 holiday shopping season:

In the 1960s, when our company was founded, cutting edge was a typewritten, hand-illustrated catalog. Since then our technology has moved on considerably but our focus is the same: Using the latest systems and techniques to create an exceptional, engaging customer experience.

Almost every retailer worth their salt understands the importance of omnichannel in achieving this today - but actually finding and implementing the technology to do it properly is the hard part.

When it comes to a primary device, consumers of all ages make the same choice by a clear margin.

According to a new survey of 4,000 consumers from Adobe, 92% of millennials consider the smartphone as their primary device.

Tablets show opposite age trends. While 72% of all consumers say they own tablets, baby boomers and 70 and over report higher usage. 87% of respondents use tablets at home, with 66% using it every day. Top activities include reading emails (72%), playing games (60%), sending emails (60%) and shopping (55%)

Brick-and-mortar sales metrics were below expectations in September, but not all was lost.

According to the September 2015 Retail Performance Pulse report from brick-and-mortar analytics firm RetailNext Inc., traffic declined at the lowest rate since January of this year.

Jet is abandoning its fee model less than three months after it launched in order to broaden its appeal to shoppers.

The online marketplace startup announced Wednesday that it will get rid of its $50 annual membership fee.

BrandsMart USA is giving its store in West Palm Beach, Florida, a comprehensive energy-efficient retrofit without tapping into its own capital.

The chain is the recipient of low-cost financing for the retrofit through the Florida Green Energy Works Program. BrandsMart received $2.225 million from a private investor for the project, which will include new HVAC systems, energy-efficient lighting and a new roof.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized Stater Bros. Markets with its GreenChill Partnership's "Best Emissions Rate" award.

The honor recognizes the supermarket chain for maintaining the lowest corporate-wide refrigerant emissions rate among large retail GreenChill partners — some 10,800 stores in all — in 2014. It is the third time Stater Bros. Markets has been recognized with this distinction.

Brevity is the soul of online retail.

According to a new survey of more than 300 consumers from checkout optimization provider PCA Predict, 84% of U.S. consumers stated they would abandon their e-commerce order if presented with complicated or lengthy Web forms.

Asked about their experience with retailers failing to deliver, an overwhelming 95% of U.S. consumers said that they would be unlikely to shop with a retailer again if an order failed to arrive.