Data & Analytics

New York -- Amazon remains the world's most trusted retailer despite widespread criticism of its tax affairs and labor disputes.

The Internet giant topped a poll of 30,000 consumers in nine countries although the research by OC&C, unveiled on the closing day of the World Retail Congress, revealed that “its crown has very much slipped.”

Consumers were asked to rank nearly 600 retailers on a range of factors such as trust, value for money, service, product, and multichannel capability.

Dallas – Increased one-to-one personalization and a growing global economy are two key “megatrends” that will help steer the future direction of retail, according to Dr. Chakib Bhoudry, executive VP of retail industry solutions for SAP. Bhoudry discussed these and other trends in his Oct. 8 keynote address, “Megatrends and the Future of Retailing,” at the SAP Retail Forum 2013 in Dallas.

New York -- Online mobile sales were strong in the third quarter as mobile percentage of online sales increased more than 60% year-over-year. Led by strong gains in home goods and department store, mobile traffic for U. S. retail overall reached almost 32% in the quarter, up more than 50% while online retail sales overall grew close to 10%.

Changes in foreign exchange rates had a negative impact on Costco’s comparable store sales for the fourth quarter ended Sept. 1, but the wholesaler still reported increases in both its U.S. and international markets. 

The company’s comparable sales for the quarter increased 5%. U.S. comparable store sales increased 5% for the quarter, while international comparable store sales increased 4%. 

Dallas – The e-commerce model is still actively evolving in response to changes in the consumer marketplace and technology. David Llamas, former CIO of British department store Harrod’s and an independent executive advisor, described how e-commerce has changed and is still changing during a session at the SAP Retail Forum on Oct. 8.

“In 2007, new e-commerce models like private sales, deals, and mobile commerce emerged,” said Llamas. “They have five times faster growth than traditional e-commerce models.”

New York -- Family Dollar saw strong growth in refrigerated and frozen food, health aids and tobacco, which buoyed sales in consumables to 8.3% for the fourth quarter ended Aug. 31. Despite the increase, comparable store sales for the quarter were flat. 

The company’s total net sales for the quarter increased 5.8% to $2.5 billion compared with total net sales of $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. However, customer traffic and the average customer transaction value were flat during the quarter. 

International Dispensing Corporation, a packaging research and development company that specializes and manufactures game-changing innovations for the food and beverage industry, has promoted Tom Shaver to COO.

Atlanta -- FineLine Technologies  and Scanbuy announced  a broad and comprehensive agreement that will enable retailers to easily implement a QR Code, Microsoft Tag, and/or an NFC mobile-enhanced packaging solution across their global supply chains, and directly into the hands of shoppers.