Data & Analytics

PacSun names former Guess exec as chief marketing officer
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Pacific Sunwear of California announced the appointment of Amber Fredman-Tarshis as its senior VP and chief marketing officer. She most recently served as CMO of Guess?. Fredman-Tarshis’ background also includes executive roles at Puma, Warner Bros., Victoria's Secret.
Macy’s launches app with image search capability
LONDON — Macy's continues to innovate its omnichannel experience with the launch of a new iOS app that incorporates image recognition and visual search software. The tool allows consumers to search through thousands of inventory items by simply using a picture snapped from their iPhone to find similar products available at Macys.com.

The photo search app was designed in the Macy's Idea Labs facility in San Francisco, and the software for the image recognition was developed and supplied by Cortexica, a leader mobile image recognition.

Deals2Buy redesigns site

Austin, Texas - Deals2Buy, a U.S. product offers website, is launching a new site design that streamlines navigation. New features include responsive design, expiration countdown for deals, “hottest” and “newest” deal categories, improved navigation, and sharing of deals on social media.
Study details generation gap when it comes to mobile shopping

SAN FRANCISCO — Researching and browsing gifts on mobile far outranks purchasing items (whether at home or in a competitor’s store), and even coveted millennial shoppers are heading to the store or laptop to complete major purchases, according to a study by RichRelevance.
Survey – Anticipated holiday toy spend consistent with 2013

New York, N.Y. - Just more than half of all Americans (51%) plan to purchase toys as gifts in the upcoming holiday season, nearly consistent with the prior year's intent (50%). Not surprisingly, according to a new Harris Poll of 2,205 U.S, adults, parents of a child under the age of 18 are twice as likely to purchase toys as those without children younger than the age of 18 (82% compared 41%, respectively).
Study – Best online Black Friday deals on Wed. night

Milwaukee, W.I. - Most shoppers believe that the best time to shop online for Black Friday deals is on Black Friday itself. However after examining data from the past two years, the staff of Black Friday site GottaDeal.com has determined that the best time to shop online is actually late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning.
Word of mouth drives 13% of consumer sales

Hollywood, Calif. - Online and offline consumer conversations and recommendations account for 13% of consumer sales, on average, which represents $6 trillion in annual consumer spending. In higher price-point categories, word of mouth's impact is almost 20% of sales, according to a new study from the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA).
Nielsen – Private label perception among consumers mostly positive

New York, N.Y. - Perceptions about private label are overwhelmingly favorable. Almost three-quarters of global respondents (71%) say store-brand quality has improved over time, according to a new study by Nielsen.
Price is a primary driver of purchase intent among 70% of global respondents, but quality is important, too. Two-thirds (67%) believe private labels offer extremely good value for money.
Mass and e-retailers battle to be top holiday shopping destination

DENVER — An estimated 28% of shoppers plan to do most of their shopping at mass retailers versus 26% who will opt to shop online retailers this holiday season, according to an ongoing shopper behaviour study conducted by The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research.

Holiday shoppers plan to cash in on a range of offers and value-add services this holiday season. Free shipping continues to be the most popular offer for holiday shoppers, with 58% of shoppers reporting they expect to take advantage of it this holiday season.
Guitar Center names tech exec as executive VP, marketing, merchandising and online

LOS ANGELES — Guitar Center has announced the appointment of Michael Amkreutz to the position of executive VP, marketing, merchandising and E-Commerce, for the Guitar Center brand. He joins the retailer from Systemax North American Technologies, where he most recently held the role of chief marketing officer.
Tech Guest Viewpoint - Focus on breach response as much as prevention

By Todd Waskelis, AT&T
Mobiquity launches beacon partnership with Mobile Roadie

Garden City, N.Y. - Mobiquity Technologies Inc., which operates an indoor shopping-mall based beacon network with Simon Malls, is launching a partnership with mobile app/marketing platform provider Mobile Roadie. By integrating the Mobiquity Networks SDK with the Mobile Roadie platform, Mobile Roadie clients will have the ability to add beacon campaigns to their existing mobile marketing applications, and will be able to leverage Mobiquity Networks' public beacon network.