Data & Analytics

Although sales at Express during Thanksgiving week exceeded last year's, results did not meet the company’s expectations and it’s bracing itself for a tough holiday shopping season.

The specialty retail apparel chain operating approximately 630 stores reported net sales of $503 million, an increase of 7% from $468.5 million in the third quarter of 2012. Comparable sales increased 5% versus a decline of 5% in last year's third quarter. E-commerce sales increased 29% to $71.2 million this quarter, above last year's third quarter increase of 21%.

Target spent an estimated $28 million on advertising November 3-7, which netted it nearly 12% of retail traffic during Thanksgiving weekend, according to data released this week from Kantar Media Ad Intelligence and Placed.

Given the origins of Cyber Monday, it should have become irrelevant in the grand scheme of online holiday sales. That’s far from the case though as evidenced by the latest insights from digital measurement firm comScore.

The leading digital measurement firm released data late Tuesday showing Cyber Monday sales increased 18% to more than $1.7 billion to establish a new record for the heaviest online shopping day in history. It was also the second day this season in which online sales surpassed $1 billion which was the case on Black Friday.

New York -- Uniqlo, a division of Japan’s Fast Retailing, announced the promotion of Lawrence (Larry) H. Meyer to CEO of Uniqlo USA.
 
Meyer left his post as executive VP of Forever 21 to join Uniqlo in January 2013 as COO. Prior to Forever 21, he served as CFO of Gymboree.

In his new role, Meyers will oversee the day-to-day operations of Uniqlo and hold responsibility for the ongoing development of the company’s retail footprint in the USA.
 

Minneapolis -- Christopher & Banks Corp. reported that net income for the quarter ended Nov. 2 rose to $8.6 million, from $3.6 million in the same period last year.

Sales edged up to $118.1 million from $117.3 million, and same-store sales increased 4.9%.

During the quarter, the retailer operated an average of 7.3% fewer stores than during the comparable period last year, reflecting its store rationalization program.

Gloucester City, N.J. — Nest International, a leading facility maintenance management firm, has appointed Joni Mayo to the position of VP of sales. Mayo brings 30 years of proven sales, marketing and operations leadership experience. Mayo joins Nest from Sylvania Lighting Services where she led sales in excess of $49 million in 2012.

Online sales on Cyber Monday increased by 16% to $2.29 billion compared to last year, according to Adobe’s Digital Index 2013, and a record 18.3% of those sales came from mobile devices — a surge of 80% compared to last year.

Consumer shopping preferences continued to shift online with Cyber Monday being the fifth day in a row of record-breaking online sales. While “brick and click” retailers dominated Thanksgiving weekend sales, Internet retailers generated the most sales on Cyber Monday with a 42% share.

Mechanicsville, Va. – Supervalu is shipping goods to its grocery stores across the Eastern region with a much smaller carbon footprint, thanks to the recent addition of 35 Class 8 Volvo trucks that operate on compressed natural gas (CNG). The fleet is the largest of its kind on the East Coast, and the company plans to add another 20 trucks next year.