Data & Analytics

Issaquah, Wash. -- Costco Wholesale Corp. on Wednesday reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $697 million, exceeding Wall Street forecasts, amid strong back-to-school sales and higher membership fees. The retailer reported net income of $617 million in the year-ago period.

Total sales for the quarter, ended Aug. 31, rose 9.3% to $35.52 billion, also better than expected.

Same-store sales rose 7% (excluding fuel).

Los Angeles -- Sephora, Express, Art of Shaving and Things Remembered are among the retailers using a new, in-mall mobile retail solution from StepsAway.

Reston, Va. -- Consumers have high expectations for retail care when shopping via mobile device, and if those expectations aren't met, they'll abandon the experience entirely, according to a new study from Contact Solutions. Fifty-one percent abandon the cart and close the app (lost purchase) when they struggle in a retail app, and 20% stop using the app entirely.

Overstock has enlisted Delivery Agent for its first TV commerce campaign, called "Overstocktober," which will enable viewers from now through Oct. 15 to purchase products directly from Overstock television commercials.

The online retailer is leveraging Delivery Agent’s ShopTV t-commerce platform so shoppers with Smart TVs and connected device homes can purchase items on e-retailer’s site directly from their television.

UPS plans to expand UPS My Choice and the UPS Access Point network, two services that, according to the company, work seamlessly together to manage residential package deliveries.
 
UPS My Choice, the customizable online and mobile service where consumers choose delivery preferences, will now be available to consumers in 15 additional countries throughout North America and Europe. UPS My Choice was first introduced in the US in 2011.
 

Costco reported a rise in sales and same-store sales for the fourth quarter.

Net sales for the quarter were $34.75 billion, an increase of 9% from $31.77 billion in fiscal 2013. Same-store sales for the total company increased 6%, while U.S. same-store sales also rose 6%.

Net income for the quarter was $697 million, or $1.58 per diluted share, compared with $617 million, or $1.40 per diluted share, in the year-ago period.

iWallet Corporation, a secure luxury “techcessories” company, has appointed three new members to its board of directors including Carl Rosen, former COO of Bulova, then international consumer luxury goods company; Charles Ng, VP of sales at NEXT Biometrics and the former North American director of sales for Fingerprint Cards and sales director for Authentec, a biometric fingerprint technology; and Anthony Durkacz, EVP of the investment firm First Republic Capital Corporation.

As part of its digital strategy, Avon has revamped its website.

"The Avon representative and her social circles have been the core of our business for more than 125 years," says Matt Harker, VP, Avon North America marketing. "The new site and a recently launched social media center help to forge strong connections between the representative and her consumers. We are giving her the tools, training and incentives to be a successful multichannel social seller."

New York -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Tuesday said it will no longer provide health benefits to part-time associates who work less than 30 hours a week in a move to control its rising healthcare costs. The chain, the nation’s largest private employer, said the decision will impact about 2% of its total U.S. work force.

The announcement follows similar decisions by Target, Home Depot, Walgreens and Trader Joe’s to cut health insurance benefits for part-time associates.