Data & Analytics

New York – More than half of consumers plan to shop on Black Friday this year, although the number has decreased since last year. According to the Deloitte Pre-Thanksgiving Survey, 53% of 1,000 consumers polled will shop on Black Friday, compared to 63% in 2012.

Younger consumers are more likely to shop Black Friday, with 68% of weekend shoppers age 18-29 planning to shop that day and 44% of Black Friday shoppers in this age group planning to hit the stores between midnight and 5 a.m., compared to 30% of those 30 and older.

Green Bay, Wis. -- Shopko on Monday named Peter McMahon, most recently COO of Loblaws, as its new CEO. Loblaws is Canada’s largest food retailer with over $30 billion in sales.

At Loblaws, McMahon was responsible for supply chain, IT, HR, labor relations, merchandising, store operations and loss prevention functions. Prior to Loblaws, McMahon held various senior level positions with some of the world’s largest retailers, including Wal-Mart in Germany and Japan and Tesco in central Europe.
 

Gap, Pa. -- Urban Outfitters has awarded Vanderlande Industries a design and build contract for the automated material handling system at their new fulfillment center located in Gap, Pa. The new one million-sq-ft. facility will service their direct-to-consumer and wholesale channels. Urban Outfitters has also contracted Vanderlande’s Customer Services to provide monthly preventative operations and maintenance services.

Many retailers are no doubt entering Thanksgiving week with trepidation at the prospect of keeping all systems go during what has become a six-day frenzy of “Black Friday” activity that now runs from the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to the Monday after. But retailers actually have quite a bit to be thankful for in the world of IT. Let’s raise an imaginary glass of homemade cider and give thanks for a few helpful technology developments:

Cloud Technology

Shopko has named retail industry veteran Peter McMahon as its new CEO.

McMahon has more than 30 years of experience in international retail. Most recently McMahon served as the COO at Loblaws. As COO, McMahon was responsible for Loblaws’ supply chain, IT, HR, labor relations, merchandising, store operations and loss prevention functions. Prior to his time at Loblaws, McMahon held senior-level positions at Walmart in Germany and Japan and Tesco in central Europe.

Foster City, Calif. – Although many retailers will be open for business Thanksgiving, they may wind up angering more consumers than they please. According to a new survey conducted by Prosper Insights for Visa, 62% of more than 4,600 adult U.S. consumers said they would not shop on and are opposed to shopping on Thanksgiving.

RadioShack has appointed former Belk executive Mark A. Boerio to the newly created position of SVP, inventory planning and allocation, effective Dec. 3.

He is the latest addition to the leadership team being assembled by CEO Joseph C. Magnacca as the company repositions the brand, revamps the product assortment, reinvigorates the stores, increases its operational efficiency and enhances financial flexibility.

Los Angeles -- Black Friday shoppers are looking to extend the Black Friday experience as much as possible. According to new survey results from PriceGrabber, 24% of Black Friday shoppers plan to start shopping on the evening of Thanksgiving. When asked if they plan to take advantage of extended hours during the weekend, 57% said they plan to do so.