Data & Analytics

Foot Locker introduced its first smartphone mobile app and a new series of “Shoemoji” emoticons that enable a new type of communication among smartphone users.

Retailers with a presence in Denver, San Antonio, Nashville, Fort Lauderdale and Dallas should expect strong sales in the months ahead based on a new report which identifies those cities as the nation’s hottest housing market.

Fort Wayne, Ind. - Do it Best Corp., a hardware, lumber and building materials cooperative with 3,800 member-owned locations worldwide, has re-launched its ecommerce site on the WebLinc platform.

In addition, the company is unveiling a phased approach to re-launching individual member sites which will enable them to maintain their distinct, customer-facing identities while being integrated and powered by the same sophisticated commerce platform.

Brooklyn, N.Y. – Etsy Inc., the online marketplace for handmade arts, crafts and clothing, has gone public with a bang. Shares opened on Thursday at $31 a share, almost twice their initial public offering price. As of April 16, Etsy is trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol “ETSY.”

After the offering, the total number of shares outstanding will be 110.9 million. Based on the opening price, Etsy is valued at over $3.7 billion.

Vancouver, Wash. – Papa Murphy’s Holdings Inc. has appointed Jean M. Birch, Rob Weisberg and Jeffrey B. Welch as independent members of its board of directors, effective April 15, 2015. The appointments replace both Thomas H. Lee and Achi Yaffe, who have resigned from the board, as well as increase the board size by one seat.

New York – Digital purchasing has not displaced paper money, and digital discounts have apparently not yet displaced paper coupons. Seventy percent of consumer packaged goods coupon users still use print-based coupons such as those in free standing inserts (FSI), according to a study from GfK Custom Research and News America Marketing. 

Grand Rapids, Mich. - Meijer is the latest retailer to test out curbside pickup of online orders. The regional mass merchandise chain is piloting a new shopping service called Meijer Curbside that lets customers pick up grocery orders curbside without leaving the car.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. has entered into a settlement agreement with MasterCard International Inc.to resolve losses from the data breach that Target experienced during the fourth quarter of 2013. Under the agreement, alternative recovery offers will be made by MasterCard to eligible MasterCard issuers worldwide that claimed to have been affected by the data breach. 
 

Cleveland – Increased gross profit resulting from a slowing pace in the cost of goods sold helped boost net income at The Sherwin-Williams Co. during the first quarter of fiscal 2015. Net income totaled $131.4 million, up 14% from $115.46 million the same quarter a year earlier.

Net sales grew 3% to $2.45 billion from $2.37 billion, due primarily to higher paint sales volume in the retailer’s Paint Stores and Consumer groups.

Deerfield, Ill. - Walgreens Boots Alliance is ahead of schedule in its synergy efforts since Walgreens and Boots officially merged in December 2014. At its 2015 Analyst Day in New York City, the retailer’s leadership team outlined plans to support the customer experience in its Retail Pharmacy USA division with investments in key operational efficiencies such as IT systems, modernizing pharmacies and investing in customer care.