Data & Analytics

Black Friday may have lost some of its allure in recent years, but it still comes out on top in a ranking of the busiest shopping days.    Black Friday, which falls on November 25 this year, took the No. 1 spot in a ranking of the anticipated 10 busiest shopping days of 2016 by ShopperTrak, a Tyco Retail Solutions business unit. The second and third busiest shopping days are expected to be Monday, Dec. 26 and Friday, Dec. 23. (See end of article for the complete list.  

Supervalu Inc. posted disappointing sales results for its second quarter as the company continues to shift its business toward wholesale distribution.       The company released its second quarter results just days after it entered into an agreement to sell its Save-A-Lot discount grocery chain to Canadian private equity firm Onex for $1.37 billion in cash.   

Best Buy wants to help its customers stay connected — for a price.    The consumer electronics chain’s Geek Squad is taking on local Internet service providers by launching a new service, called Wi-Fi Setup & Support, that offers comprehensive, personalized home Wi-Fi setup either over the phone, Web or in the customer’s home.      

Target Corp. has knocked Walmart off its perennial top spot in an annual ranking of the U.S. companies with the most solar energy capacity.      Target now has 147.5 megawatts (MW) of installed solar capacity, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association’s 2016 Solar Means Business report, which ranks companies based on capacity current through the third quarter of this year.     

As brick-and-mortar stores race to transform themselves amid the increasing importance and influence of e-commerce, many retailers are looking to in-store digital media displays to attract and engage potential customers.      What’s more, new startups are bringing down the high cost of traffic-counting technology; making mobile marketing offers as painless as possible; and looking to virtual reality to create experiences that wow, immerse and educate consumers. Take a look at these:   

The past decade has witnessed a monumental shift in regulatory oversight of retailers’ environmental compliance programs. As a result, retailers have faced a crash course in the myriad hazardous waste control laws, once widely believed to not be relevant in the retail context.   Historically, most enforcement has been at the state and local level. But in just the past month, we’ve seen a flurry of retail-related activity from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, including the following:  

Legendary retailer Mickey Drexler, chairman and CEO of J. Crew, is working with McKinsey & Co. to develop a new business strategy for J.Crew, reported The New York Post.      J. Crew is looking to reverse a two-year slump. In its most recent second quarter, same-store sales fell 8%, the eight straight quarter of declines.   

The new retail is here and a sector that is definitely feeling the wave of this reality is the grocery industry. With the strong penetration of Aldi, Amazon’s move into online grocery, Wal-Mart’s purchase of Jet.com and the dreaded arrival in the U.S. of the highly competitive German grocery store Lidl, it’s no wonder grocers are fighting for survival in this ever-changing, highly saturated environment.