Data & Analytics

Ten years after first entering the market, Toys "R" Us has opened its 100th store in China. The retailer has opened a total of 27 new locations across China within the past year.

As more millennials enter the real estate market and a rising number of homeowners invest in updating their homes, J.C. Penney is re-entering the appliance business.

The retailer announced that it will introduce a leading assortment of major appliances in 22 pilot stores beginning Feb. 1. Backed by customer research that reinforces the company’s decision to enter the appliance market, the pilot is one of several strategic initiatives aimed at improving its home department sales productivity, the company said.

Concord, California-based specialty beverage retailer BevMo is ensuring customers have easy access to products, whether they are in one of its 157 stores or online.

The National Retail Federation confirmed what many retailers already knew and made a downward revision to a holiday forecast that initially called for 3.7% growth.

Citing what it called “unforeseen events,” the National Retail Federation (NRF) said sales during November and December increased 3% to $626 billion, down from an earlier forecast which envisioned growth of 3.7%.

The National Retail Federation confirmed what many retailers already knew and made a downward revision to a holiday forecast that initially called for 3.7% growth.
 
Citing what it called “unforeseen events,” the National Retail Federation (NRF) said sales during November and December increased 3% to $626 billion, down from an earlier forecast which envisioned growth of 3.7%.   
 

The NRF annual “Big Show” conference is always marked by a few key technology trends. While the event has been known to throw a few unexpected surprises at attendees, usually it confirms and advances the direction industry momentum has been traveling.

Here are three major themes that will likely be prominently featured and discussed at this year’s NRF conference, which runs January 17 - 20, at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City.

‘Omnichannel’ Comes of Age

In the next few years, retailers around the world are set to substantially increase their investments in e-commerce software, with five vendors spearheading the growth.

According to a new study from Research and Markets, the global retail e-commerce software market will expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.95% during the period 2014-2019. Research and Markets has identified Magento, Oracle ATG Commerce, PrestaShop, Shopify and WooThemes as the five key retail e-commerce vendors.

Sally Beauty Supply is applying analytics to the literal consumer touchpoint where revenues are made -- the point of sale.

Sally Beauty is teaming up with prescriptive analytics provider Profitect Inc. to analyze sales and other data recorded at its in-store POS terminals. After a two-week implementation, Sally Beauty now has better insight into trends and patterns associated with areas of leaking profit, including shrink, damage, costing errors, waste, process mistakes, and lack of training.