Data & Analytics

By Dr. Paul Helman, KSS Retail

Before 2013 was over, prognosticators were making bold predictions about retail margins in 2014. As technology disrupts the market and chains feel the squeeze, a number of key areas will demand attention in the coming months.

Rock Bottom Pricing

Domo, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) venture, has named Matt Belkin as chief strategic solutions officer and SVP of consulting.

In this role, Belkin will oversee the development of Domo's consulting organization and be responsible for developing “packaged solutions and best practices.”

Most recently, Belkin was VP of customer strategy at Adobe Systems' digital marketing division, which he joined from Omniture. He was part of the team there that helped grow the company's revenue from $20 million in 2004 to more than $1 billion in 2013.

New York - A new Verizon report has found that too many businesses, following their annual assessment for meeting the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, fail to maintain ongoing compliance – putting the businesses at an increased risk for data breaches, and financial and reputational damages.

Stater Bros. reported a substantial increase in net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 and credited its long-time low-price strategy for its sales growth.

Atlanta -- Consumer spending growth declined from December to January, but remained relatively healthy at 2.5%, according to First Data’s January 2014 SpendTrend report. SpendTrend tracks same-store point-of-sale data by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks from nearly four million U.S. merchant locations serviced by First Data. The report cited the severe winter weather that pummeled the Midwest and eastern half of the country as a factor in the decline.

Washington, D.C. – During a press conference on Tuesday, Feb. 11, the National Retail Federation called for widespread adoption of chip-and-PIN payment card technology by U.S. retailers and their partners.

“The chip validates that it’s the real card,” said Tom Litchford, VP retail technologies for NRF. The PIN provides two levels of validation.”

San Bernadino, Calif. – Stater Bros. Holdings Inc. reported a substantial increase in net income, for the first quarter of fiscal 2014. Net income more than doubled to $11.1 million from $5.4 million in the same period a year earlier. Net sales rose almost 2% to $984 million, to $968.7 million.  

Same-store sales grew 1.4%. Jack H. Brown, chairman, president and CEO of Stater Bros., credited the supermarket retailer’s maintaining of a low-price market strategy during difficult economic times with boosting financial performance.

Westlake Village, Calif. - Guitar Center has selected 360pi to increase their awareness of the competitive marketplace and to utilize the actionable insights gained from the 360pi intelligence to increase market competitiveness. Guitar Center had been using another provider, but selected 360pi’s 360price and 360assortment products to deliver near real-time insights into their competitive set.