Data & Analytics

For the past two months, New England has been dealing with an historically snowy, cold winter. As a lifelong resident of the region, I have had time to reflect on a few technology-related lessons retailers can take from my experience as a snowbound consumer.

Factor the Weather into your Planning

Staples is expanding its omnichannel capabilities with a new service that hopes to take advantage of small business growth in 2015.

According to a new Staples survey conducted by Research Now, the majority of small business leaders (87%) are optimistic about the year ahead. To help small business customers drive growth in 2015, Staples has launched Print-to-Store.

Faced with dwindling expansion opportunities for traditional department stores, Macy is looking to significantly grow standalone beauty stores following its recently completed acquisition of the 60 unit specialty beauty retailer Bluemercury.

Neiman Marcus got a boost in the second quarter from its October purchase of mytheresa.com, a German luxury e-retailer.

For the 13 weeks ended Jan. 31, the company reported a profit of $27.8 million, compared with a year-earlier loss of $84 million. Revenue grew to $1.52 billion from $1.43 billion in the prior-year period. Sales at stores open more than a year and online rose 5.6%.

Deliv, the crowdsourced, same-day delivery service used by many omnichannel retailers, has hired an ex-executive at eBay to be its new product chief.

Kenneth Pate, former VP of product management at eBay, will bring a decade of experience in omnichannel execution to the startup. The company says Pate will be responsible for the Deliv experience across the same-day delivery service value chain, which includes retailers, shoppers, drivers and mall operators.

Just in time for bikini season, Lands’ End is introducing a new digital tool to solve the most vexing seasonal dilemma for many women: finding the perfect swimsuit.

The Lands' End Swim Finder is an online tool that helps women select the perfect swimsuit. The tool was created to provide a professional swimsuit fitting consultation virtually, in the comfort and privacy of one's home.

Old Navy is turning to Yahoo and Tumblr with a new digital campaign directed at Millennials.

The campaign will highlight Old Navy’s newest apparel this spring, and feature tips from the brand’s style ambassadors, Emily Current and Meritt Elliott.

New York -- U.S. consumers want a more personalized retail experience but are conflicted about disclosing the type of personal information that goes along with it, according to a survey from Accenture. Nearly 60% of consumers want real-time promotions and offers, yet only 20% want retailers to know their current location and only 14% want to share their browsing history.

San Francisco -- Apple on Monday announced that the Apple Watch will be available starting April 24, to customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, and Japan. For shoppers who can’t wait that long, the device will be available for preview, try-on and preorder starting April 10.

Atlanta – UPS wants to take on your problems. The company has unveiled a new positioning message, United Problem Solvers, which communicates the company’s capabilities to solve problems for all customers.