Data & Analytics

Boise, Idaho -- Haggen’s acquisition of 146 Albertsons and Safeway stores is shaping up as a disaster and the reasons why are detailed in a new lawsuit that puts the blame squarely on the parent company — Albertsons Holdings — of the divested stores.

Burbank, Calif. -- Ikea on Wednesday broke ground on a new store that is located less than one mile away from the company’s first-ever store in California and oldest location in the Western United States.

Ikea is building a new, larger store in Burbank, California. Until it opens on the new site in spring 2017, customers can continue to shop at the existing 242,000-sq.-ft. Ikea in Burbank, which was its sixth overall U.S. store and opened in November 1990.

Scottsdale, Ariz. – Shoppers keep getting smarter about using their mobile devices.

According to a new study from OneStop Marketing, 83% of mobile users now engage in shopping activities on their phone immediately before, during or after a trip to the store.

In addition, 45% of online traffic during the 2014 holiday season came from mobile but only 20% of sales came from mobile devices, indicating a substantial opportunity to increase mobile conversion rates.

Chesapeake, Va. -- Dollar Tree swung to a loss in its second quarter on higher integration costs related to its acquisition of a formal rival. But its revenue skyrocketed as a result of the merger.

On July 6, Dollar Tree completed its $9 billion acquisition of Family Dollar Inc.

Franklin, Tenn. – Unlike the softgoods retail POS market where there are two leading vendors, one vendor clearly dominates the POS market for hardgoods retailers.

According to the new “POS Software of Hardgoods” study from IHL Group, Oracle is the clear market leader in the hardgoods market, with 39 of the top 200 accounts.  

Los Angeles – Millennial consumers choose retailers based on different criteria than their elders. A survey of more than 13,000 e-commerce shoppers by Bizrate Insights found that millennials are by far the most price-sensitive with low pricing driving their choice of retailer.

Belk Inc. looks like it has found a winner in a just-completed omnichannel back-to-school promotion.

Working with digital marketing provider HelloWorld, Belk allowed customers to both submit and vote on “looks” such as dorm room, game day and night out, created with Belk merchandise.

Evansville, Ind. -- Shoe Carnival Inc. kicked up its heels about its profit in the second quarter, but missed on sales.

Aided by higher merchandise margins and lower advertising expenses, Shoe Carnival reported net earnings of $4.8 million, up 84% from $2.6 million a year earlier. Its results easily beat estimates.

Net sales rose 2% $227.8 million, less than expected, from $222.1 million. Same-store sales rose 0.5%.

Shoe Carnival plans to open 21 new stores and close 15 stores by the end of fiscal 2015.