Data & Analytics

Mooresville, N.C. -- Lowe's has launched a dedicated fleet of natural gas-powered trucks at its regional distribution center in Mount Vernon, Texas. The fleet is among the first serving a major retail distribution center in North America to run solely on natural gas.

With the transition from a diesel-fueled fleet to trucks powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), Lowe's expects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions nearly 20%  and control fuel costs as it transports up to 68 truckloads each day to stores in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.

Walmart said its worldwide capital expenditure budget for the 2014 will range between $11.8 billion and $12.8 billion, roughly $200 million less than the company expects to spend during the current year, even as it adds more selling space.

Scanbuy, a leading mobile engagement solutions provider, has released its quarterly trend report showing that it processed nearly 24 million mobile barcode and NFC scans in the third quarter this year, demonstrating continuing strong growth in usage and interest by mobile consumers.

Scanbuy’s trend reports analyze the traffic on the ScanLife mobile app. Highlights include:

Wayne, N.J. -- Toys “R” Us announced that Antonio Urcelay has been named chief executive, effective immediately, after serving as the company’s interim CEO since May of this year. In other executive news, the retailer appointed a former Wal-Mart executive, Hank Mullany, as president of Toys “R” U.S., effective Nov. 5.

Urcelay, 61, who joined Toys “R” Us in 1996, had been president of the company's Europe business before being named interim CEO.

Global ecommerce and payments leader eBay said its third quarter revenues increased 14% to $3.9 billion and noted exceptional strength from mobile initiatives.

Profits declined to $689 million, or 53 cents a share, compared to $837 million, or 64 cents a share, but on an adjusted basis to exclude non-recurring expenses increased to $837 million, or 64 cents a share, compared to $718 million, or 55 cents a share.

Tampa, Fla. – Marketing enterprise management systems provider Aptaris has named Bill Morrell as VP technology. Morrell previously held IT executive positions at companies including BabyAge.com and Destination Maternity, as well as consulting roles with clients including Cadbury Adams, Nascar and DME.

Washington, D.C. - Consumers will take a conservative approach to spending this holiday season. According to NRF’s holiday consumer spending survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, the average holiday shopper will spend $737.95 on gifts, décor, greeting cards and more, 2% less than the $752.24 they actually spent last year.  Despite this reduction in individual holiday budgets, NRF is forecasting holiday sales will increase 3.9% to $602.1 billion.

New York -- J.Crew ranked No. 1 overall in customer service in September for the third consecutive month, in a monthly survey by StellaService, the independent ratings provider that ranks online retailers according to their customer service. StellaService measures companies monthly across four service areas: phone, email, shipping and returns.

Here is a look at the top finishers in the four individual categories: