Data & Analytics

Insights: Data Security and Customer Loyalty
By: David Kidd, Peak 10

Data privacy and security remain top concerns for retailers. There is good reason for that. The Target breach compromised approximately 70 million records. The Home Depot breach potentially impacted another 60 million consumers. As I write this article, reports are being made public about a breach involving the office supply retailer Staples. We can no longer deny that cybercrime is a real and growing threat to the retail sector.
TechBytes: Three Reasons Retailer Innovation Labs are a Good Idea
With the recent announcement that it will build a new digital innovation lab in Boston, CVS Health has joined the ranks of retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores and Target Corp, who have also launched similar facilities. Not every retailer is in the position to build its own proprietary innovation hot house, but there are many advantages for those with the resources to do so. Following are three key reasons that retail innovation labs are a good idea.

Savings.com launches real-time pricing app

Los Angeles – Online coupon/deals site Savings.com, is launching the PriceJump mobile application for iOS. The new app leverages real-time pricing data from more than 5,000 online retailers, local stores and Amazon.com to find shoppers the lowest price on any item they want to buy.
CVS Health Goes Platinum: Store uses 40% less energy, 50% less water

By Laura Klepacki
On the site of a former gas station in West Haven, Connecticut., CVS Health has unveiled its most environmentally progressive and energy efficient store so far.
For starters, the LEED Platinum-certified drug store boasts day lighting, a landscape design that doesn’t require irrigation, super-efficient HVAC units and LED-lit coolers that light up when approached. (Platinum is the highest distinction in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.)
Survey – Three in 4 Americans have made impulse purchase

Austin, Texas - Three in four Americans have made an impulse purchase. According to a new CreditCards.com report, nearly 90% of millennials said they had made an impulse purchase, compared to just 56% of seniors. And in an interesting finding, men were nearly three times more likely than women to impulse buy while “intoxicated,” while women were twice as likely as men to impulse buy while “sad.” The most common emotions at the time of purchase? “Excited” and “bored.”
Survey: Finance execs see strong Black Friday

New York - More than two-thirds (69%) of 276 finance industry executives expect 2014 Black Friday sales figures to grow at least 2% from their 2013 levels, with more than one-third (37%) expecting growth of 4% or more. Similarly, almost three-quarters of respondents to a survey from global brokerage firm Convergex (71%) say they expect total holiday season sales numbers to grow at least 2%, with 39% of respondents predicting a gain of 4% or more.
ICSC – Black Friday will be big day for stores

New York - Forty-one percent of consumers plan to head to the stores on Black Friday,18% plan to shop in a physical store on Thanksgiving, and 32% of consumers will hit the stores on the following Saturday and/or Sunday, according to new data from the International Council of Shopping Centers. More than one-third (36%) of consumers plan to go to a physical store on Cyber Monday.
What you need to know about Millennial holiday shoppers

Younger shoppers make up the demographic group most likely to visit physical stores Thanksgiving weekend, but retailers had better be ready to offer the digital natives an ominchannel experience, according to new research from a leading retail trade group.
The true cost of Black Friday buys

Black Friday is known for great deals, but a new study shows that consumers may want to add one more item to their holiday shopping carts.

Product protection plan leader Asurion recently surveyed consumers and nearly one-third of the items they purchased last Black Friday broke in less than a year. In addition, almost half (45%) of those surveyed plan to replace at least one damaged, lost or stolen item this Black Friday.
Top eBay strategist named BrandShop CEO

E-commerce firm BrandShop announced that Reuben Hendell has been named chief executive officer of the company. Hendell will also serve on BrandShop's board of directors.

BrandShop provides digital commerce services for such brands as ArmorAll, Casio, Cuisinart, Hershey's, Nicorette, Ping, Samuel Adams and Waterpik.
'60 Minutes' on the next big data breach

Americans’ well-founded apprehension about the security of their personal information received a booster shot of sorts when 60 Minutes aired a disturbing piece about the state of digital security.
Foot Locker profits Q3 up 15%

New York - Foot Locker Inc. reported net income of $120 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014, a 13% gain from $104 million in the year-ago period. Higher pretax income aided Foot Locker’s profit growth. Total sales increased 6.7% to $1.73 million, compared with $1.62 million in the year-ago period. Same-store sales rose 6.9%.