Data & Analytics

Push vs Pull: How Mobile Changed Retail Promotion Strategies
The push vs. pull debate has now crossed into mobile marketing and, similar to discussions regarding email marketing and other online initiatives, each approach offers pros and cons. And, as with most debates, a healthy balance is usually the best bet.

Some liken push marketing to spam as consumers often experience unexpected or too many promotional offers via smartphone either through a browser or native app. But when you are in the market for whatever message or offer is pushed, the promotion becomes relevant and pulls you in.
What’s an Intern Innovate-a-Thon? Ask Kohl’s.
Milpitas, Calif. – Some interested students are getting a hands-on education courtesy of Kohl’s.

Kohl’s Digital Center, in Milpitas, Calif., is home to a summer internship program that gives students a first-hand look about the role technology plays in retail. On July 23, Kohl’s interns took part in Kohl’s first ever Intern Innovate-a-Thon.

Study: Back-to-school shopping starts earlier online

New York – Although overall back-to-school shopping is starting later in 2015 than the prior year, online back-to-school shoppers are getting an earlier start than their brick-and-mortar counterparts. According to a new trend report on back-to-school shopping from Internet marketing agency PM Digital, 30% of online shoppers will start buying back-to-school items at least two months before school starts, compared to 22% of overall shoppers.
New service offers real-time local mobile offers

Woodland Hills, Calif. – A good politician knows to focus locally, and increasingly retailers are following that lead. In that spirit BrightStreet Ventures, the technology affiliate of shopping center developer NewMark Merrill Companies, has launched BlueList, a real-time mobile offers service for local merchants and nearby consumers.
Retail disposition firm buys daily deal platform

Northbrook, Ill. - Hilco Merchant Resources LLC (HMR), a provider of retail disposition services such as liquidation and acquisitions, has purchased online retail and daily deal e-commerce platform Deal Genius LLC.

Deal Genius was launched as a flash retail sales web business in 2004. The site delivers daily deals on brand name home goods, apparel, consumer electronics, pet supplies and other merchandise. The company was founded by CEO Chris Matsakis, who will continue in that role going forward.
Amazon wants to help retailers do everything

Seattle – Amazon.com continues its evolution into a full-service technology platform with three services essentially designed to help retailers do everything. These services include support for start-ups, expansion of the Amazon Aurora database engine, and a hosted fulfillment/logistics platform.
Cash is still king with U.S. shoppers

Pleasanton, Calif. - Shoppers are using a larger variety of payment options with digital and mobile payments serving as supplements to the traditional cash and card-based payments tools. According to a new study of 1,000 consumers released by Blackhawk Network, while 93% of consumers still use cash; 68% use debit cards; 62% use PayPal and 14% have made mobile payments on smartphones or tablets.
JD.com enhances enterprise procurement

Beijing – Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com Inc. has unveiled an enhanced version of its online enterprise procurement platform, JD Enterprise. The JD Enterprise Intelligent Procurement Platform, initially launched in late 2014, uses data-driven insights to make the procurement process more efficient for both suppliers and customers.

The new services unveiled will enable corporate customers to manage more of their procurement functions directly via JD Enterprise.
Report: Is Amazon faster than a Jet?

Hoboken, N.J. – Early results indicate Amazon.com may be getting beaten by upstart e-commerce rival Jet.com on price, but Amazon is still outdoing the new kid on the online retail block in one key area. According to data from cloud services provider Instart Logic, the Jet.com homepage takes 25% longer to load than Amazon’s homepage.
White House taps Best Buy to connect America

Minneapolis – While the buzzing sounds and dings of dial-up Internet access may seem like quaint relics of the turn of the century, the fact remains that millions of Americans lack even that level of Web connectivity. To help bridge this digital divide, Best Buy will participate in a new ConnectHome initiative announced by President Obama and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro.
Lower costs boost Rent-A-Center profit

Plano, Texas – Reductions in labor hours and store expenses, as well as a sourcing and distribution initiative, helped boost profit at Rent-A-Center Inc. in the second quarter of fiscal 2015. Net income rose 31% to $23.15 million, from $17.68 million the same quarter a year earlier.

Consolidated revenue also performed well, growing 6% to $815.34 million from $768.43 million. Consolidated same-store sales increased 7.5%, aided by especially strong performance in Mexico stores.
In-store experience evolves with customer expectations

Customer expectations of the store have changed dramatically in the last few years as constant connectivity has changed the way consumers live their lives. Johann Wrede, senior director of solution marketing for SAP, recently discussed the evolution of the in-store experience with Chain Store Age.

1. How have customer expectations for the in-store experience changed in the last few years?