Data & Analytics

Charlotte, N.C. – Belk Inc. is getting the vote out when it comes to selecting that certain look. Working with digital marketing provider HelloWorld, Belk is allowing customers to both submit and vote on “looks” such as dorm room, game room and night out, created with Belk merchandise.

New York – Simon Venture Group, the corporate investment arm of Simon Property Group, is among the companies saying yes to light-based data collection. Simon participated in a private funding round of $36 million led by Cisco Investments and including Acuity Brands and GE Ventures, for Sunnyvale, California-based Sensity Systems Inc.

Plymouth Minn. – Tile Shop Holdings Inc. had a successful second quarter of fiscal 2015, meeting Wall Street expectations for profit and beating them for revenue. Net income rose 20% to $4.8 million from $4 million the same period a year earlier, with higher pretax income compensation for increased expenses related to the opening of 12 new stores.

Conshohocken, Pa. – Ikea is taking a sunny approach to energy at its soon-to-open St. Louis store. The retailer has completed installation of solar panels atop its 380,000-sq.-ft. St. Louis store opening Sept. 30.

Spokane, Wash. – Automated water management solutions vendor Apana is trying to make saving water a little easier. Apana is generally releasing its cloud-based solution for commercial and industrial companies to save water and money.

York, Pa. - The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. has named William Tracy to the position of COO, effective July 27. Tracy will have responsibility for stores, information systems, supply chain, distribution & logistics, omnichannel strategy, real estate, and HR.

Chicago – Specialty footwear retailer BucketFeet, which launched online in 2011 and entered the world of brick-and-mortar retailing with its first stores (called “studios” in 2013), is seeking to better understand studio shoppers. BucketFeet is partnering with store analytics provider RetailNext to help extend its brick-and-mortar service and shopper experience capabilities.

Neuhausen, Switzerland - Tyco Retail Solutions, the retail performance and security business of Tyco, has acquired U.K.-based retail intelligence technology provider FootFall for $560 million in cash. FootFall provides end-to-end technology, services and retail analytics solutions to collect, measure, and analyze customer traffic in their stores and property portfolios.  

Hoboken, N.J. – A new rival to Amazon.com has officially taken flight. Jet.com, a membership-based e-commerce platform that promises to beat Amazon Prime prices using “profit-free pricing,” launched as of July 21.

Jet says it sells millions of items, in sizes ranging from small to bulk. The site is specifically designed to compete with the Amazon Prime paid loyalty service, charging $49.99 for an annual membership fee (although it is currently offering an introductory free three-month trial).

San Jose, Calif. – PayPal Inc.’s first day of trading as an independent public company on the Nasdaq stock exchange was a good one. The digital payment platform closed at a price of $40.47 on Monday, July 20, up 5% from the opening price of $38.39.

In 2014, when it operated as a division of eBay Inc., PayPal processed $235 billion in total payment volume and generated more than $8 billion in revenues. The company serves more than 169 million active customer accounts in 203 markets around the world.