Data & Analytics

Hungry Howie's Pizza to unveil new digital ordering platform
Houston -- Pizza ordering continues to get easier and easier. Hungry Howie's Pizza has partnered with Revention to create a custom digital online ordering platform, a simple-to-use solution that allows customers to order from any internet capable device, whether desktop, tablet or mobile phone.
Ranks of C-stores continue to swell
New York -- Small formats are all the rage in retail these days, so no wonder the latest data from Nielsen shows 2014 was another year of record growth.

The U.S. convenience store count increased to 152,794 stores as of Dec. 31, a nearly 1% increase from the year prior, according to the 2015 NACS/Nielsen Convenience Industry Store Count.

Amazon triples number of ‘free shippping’ items

New York -- E-commerce giant Amazon.com is upping the ante on its free shipping policy.

The Seattle company announced that all Amazon seller-fulfilled items are now eligible to contribute to Amazon’s minimum order of $35 to qualify for free shipping. So now customers can get free shipping whether the items are fulfilled by Amazon or from the millions of small and local businesses selling on Amazon.
Dixons supports customer service, labor management with Reflexis

London - Dixons Carphone plc has selected Reflexis workforce management solutions to further enhance its customer service offering and increase employee involvement in labor management processes. The retailer will implement the solutions in its 500 Currys, PC World, and Dixons Travel Stores.

After an 18-month review including live trials with multiple vendors, Dixons selected Reflexis Workforce Manager, Reflexis Time and Attendance, and Reflexis Advanced Analytics and Reporting.
Independent retailers deploy FlexReceipts digital receipts

Orlando, Fla. – Digital receipts solution provide FlexReceipts will provide its technology to several independent retailers including denim retailer Paige USA, sportswear retailer TravisMathew, men’s clothier Milton’s, Rusty Del Mar Surf Shop and Robert’s China.
Study: Holiday e-commerce revenue rises

New York – E-commerce revenue continued its strong growth trend of recent year in 2014. According to the Custora E-Commerce Pulse 2014 Holiday Recap Report, U.S. e-commerce revenue was up 15.6% from the 2013 holiday season.

Black Friday (20.6% year-over-year jump in revenue) and Cyber Monday (15.4% year-over-year revenue growth) were the two biggest single e-commerce shopping days of the 2014 holiday season.
Nielsen: U.S. consumer confidence on the rise

New York - With gas prices down 31% since June 2014 and oil prices tumbling to their lowest levels in several years, American consumer confidence has improved dramatically. According to the Nielsen Consumer Confidence Report, in fourth quarter 2014 U.S. consumer confidence went up 12 percentage points year-over-year.
Retail Rap: You Win Some, You Lose Some

Overall holiday shopping season sales numbers have been rolling in, and the news confirms what many retail real estate analysts (including myself) suspected: 2014 holiday sales were strong. Nothing earth-shattering — but plenty good enough to chalk this one up as a win. There were some bright and not-so-bright spots (December sales were weaker than expected, for example, and numbers didn’t hit some of the more optimistic overall projections), but the takeaway is that we did see the anticipated increase that the industry was looking for.
RILA to testify at Congressional data breach hearing

Arlington, Va. - The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) will testify Tuesday, Jan. 27 at the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade hearing, “What are the Elements of Sound Data Breach Legislation.” In his testimony, Brian Dodge, executive VP at RILA, will focus on retailers’ priority of supporting a strong preemptive federal data breach law that allows for reasonable and clear notice triggered by potential customer harm.
Genesco streamlines supply chain with DiCentral

Nashville, Tenn. - Genesco Inc. has selected DiCentral to help streamline the company’s supply chain management processes and provide better exchanges of data with suppliers. Genesco selected DiConnect Enterprise as its EDI (EDI/INT) solution.

In addition to connecting with the DiCentral Network, Genesco also plans to use DiConnect to exchange data with its large suppliers. DiConnect is a scalable, Internet EDI solution for enterprises seeking to exchange purchase orders, invoices and other business documents with trading partners.
Savings.com updates Favado grocery app

Los Angeles - Savings.com has launched Favado 2.0, a redesigned version of the grocery community savings app. The sale and coupon data in Favado 2.0 is aggregated by grocery saving experts throughout the country and presented in a new visual format.
EPiServer and Ektron merge to create new digital experience vendor

Stockholm, Sweden – Stockholm, Sweden-based EPiServer and Nashua, New Hampshire-based Ektron have merged to create a new global digital experience provider of scale. The combined company is backed by technology-focused private equity investment firm Accel-KKR.

The combined company, which will operate under the EPiServer name and continue to use the Ektron and EPiServer brands, has more than 8,800 customers in 30 countries backed by a network of more than 880 partners.