Data & Analytics

Following a contentious exchange with a large shareholder in 2015, Children’s Place is changing a key provision of its bylaws that allows investors to nominate directors and allowing a vote on several other measures shareholders identified as concerns.

All was not quiet on New Year’s Day for online retailers and their customers.

According to Verizon Retail Index data, broadband traffic attributed to e-commerce shopping activity reached new heights over the New Year’s holiday weekend (Jan. 1-3). E-commerce traffic posted highs of 28%, 32% and 36% respectively above average daily levels on those three days – a similar pattern to the prior year. Notably, Sunday posted the highest activity of the season to date which is consistent with a trend identified by Verizon during the 2014 season.

Brookstone kicked off the new year by opening a store in one of the largest retail shopping centers in Nanjing, China. Additionally, the retailer opened three in-store shops in Funtalk Telecommunication's locations in Beijing and Shanghai.

After its initial entry into China, Brookstone will pursue a strategy to open up independent shops in airports and high-speed railway stations, according to Piau Phang Foo, global VP of the Sanpower Group and chairman of Brookstone. (The Sanpower Group, a multi-national conglomerate based in China, acquired Brookstone in 2014).

I left Walmart to pursue what I saw as the future of retail. In my exit interview with Mike Duke (at that time president and CEO of Walmart International) he asked me what I meant by the future of retail. Having worked in the international division, Sam’s Club and Costco prior to that, the future I saw at the time revolved around leveraging data and managing technology to understand customers in a granular fashion and speaking to them directly as individuals with highly lifestyle relevant products and services.

Walmart may be planning to release its proprietary Walmart Pay mobile wallet application this year, but at least online is preparing for a varied digital payment landscape.

Walmart will accept the MasterPass by MasterCard digital payments platform in 2016 for online purchases, including mobile commerce. The platform securely stores payment and shipping information, which is accessible when a consumer checks out using the “Buy with MasterPass” button and logs into their account from any connected device.

Restructuring will be key to retail survival in 2016, according to veteran retail analyst Walter Loeb, who is worried about the future profitability of many leading traditional retailers as the year gets underway. “They are losing sales productivity in their stores while expenses rise and management bureaucracy grows,” Loeb wrote in an article on Forbes.com. [Forbes.com]

Consumer confidence rose in December amid lower gas prices and a stronger job market.

The index of consumer confidence rose to 96.5 in December from a revised 92.6 in November, the Conference Board said Tuesday. (The November reading originally was put at 90.4, the lowest level in more than a year.) Economists expected a rise to 93.6, according to Bloomberg.

Staples is condensing its 30 years of business knowledge into a new performance tracking mobile app to help customers grow their business.

Staples launched a new mobile app branded as Quick Wins to offer business-specific ideas, metrics and community support in one easy-to-access place. The retailer said its research showed that nearly three-fourths of small businesses want assistance getting their business metrics on track, yet 41% are not sure what business metrics they should focus on in order to ensure their success.