Data & Analytics

Old Navy, the division that has been performing the best for Gap Inc. for years, suffered a serious sales slump in the fourth quarter.

For the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30, Gap Inc.’s net sales were $4.39 billion compared with $4.71 billion for the fourth quarter last year. Same-store sales at Gap Inc. were down 7% versus positive 2% last year. Same-store sales by global brand for the fourth quarter were as follows:

• Gap Global: negative 3% versus negative 6% last year

Consumers are generally willing to use mobile apps to assist with grocery shopping, and there is one retailer whose app is the clear favorite.

According to a new study from Blackhawk Engagement Solutions,’ “How Grocery Shoppers Shop: Changing Trends in Grocery Shopping,” the top used grocery app among U.S. consumers by a wide margin is Amazon (71%). This is followed by grocery store apps (28%), Walmart (26%) and Target (25%). Third-party savings apps are not used much, with use in the low single digits for the grocery channel.

Strength in the furniture and mattress category during the fourth quarter wasn’t enough to help Conn’s avert same-store sales decline with each of the company’s other merchandise classifications reporting weakness.

Conn’s said its total sales for January increased 7.9% to $101 million and for the three months ended Jan. 31, sales increased 7.4% to $376.5 million. The gains were the result on news stores as same stores sales at the specialty retailer of furniture, mattresses, home appliances and consumer electronics declined 2.3%.

Advanced omnichannel retailing is not just for big chains anymore.

Murdoch’s Ranch & Home Supply, a Bozeman, Montana-based specialty retailer with 30 stores in the upper Midwest, has implemented Kibo’s order management platform to provide real-time local inventory availability and omnichannel fulfillment capabilities within its new retail website.

With an existing e-commerce presence, Murdoch’s saw Kibo’s solution as an opportunity to better serve its customers and create a seamless online and offline experience.

Fourth quarter sales at CVS Health surged 11% to $41.1 billion, enabling the operator of nearly 10,000 stores to surpass a significant annual sales milestone.

Pitney Bowes isn’t the first name that comes to mind when thinking of e-commerce, but the global technology company is out to change that perception by doing something for the first time in two decades.

Stores that double as classrooms, sensory-rich environments and a rental versus a buy retail model. These are three of the five trends that shopping center developer Westfield believes will shape the future of retailing.

The trends are highlighted in a new report from Westfield, "How We Shop Now: What's Next?," for which the developer interviewed 13,000 shoppers across the United States and United Kingdom along with leading industry experts and trend-spotters.

The five key trends are:

In the face of an increasingly complex retail real estate investment environment, and a world where constantly evolving technology enables us to be connected 24/7 with both current and potential partners, as well as have access to real-time market and property data and analytics at our fingertips, retailers and commercial real estate professionals are being increasingly challenged to be more nimble, flexible and connected than ever before — and to find new ways to maximize efficiency and productivity in the non-stop deal-making environment.