Data & Analytics

Boston - Conrad Lauten has joined Gordon Brothers-AccuVal, the valuation division of Gordon Brothers Group, as director, business development. Lauten will oversee the group serving Alabama; Florida; Georgia; Kentucky; Mississippi; North Carolina; South Carolina; Tennessee and Virginia.

Round Rock, Texas – Dell has released the Dell SonicWall TZ Wireless Firewall Series. These comprehensive wireless network security solutions provide enterprise-class 802.11ac wireless performance and security for users of all sizes.

TZ Wireless Firewall Series solutions offer deep packet inspection comparable to wired networks, delivering greater security and providing performance at a lower total cost of ownership. Other features include inspection of files at line speed and a user-friendly interface.

Mountain View, Calif. – Drone-based delivery may still be far from an everyday reality, but likely players including Google and Amazon are already thinking about traffic control.

According to Bloomberg, Google, Amazon, Verizon and Harris Corp. are among 14 companies that have signed agreements with NASA to help create a drone air traffic control system.

Atlanta -- A sizeable number of businesses won’t meet the EMV transition deadline, according to a survey by Randstad Technologies.

New York -- A survey released Monday is in line with other reports that consumers do not plan to spend more this year on back-to-school supplies than they did last year. The survey also lists the 10 most popular retail brands for back-to-school purchases.

Target ranks as the most popular retail brand for back-to-school purchases, just ahead of Walmart, in the 21st annual Back-to-School survey by Brand Keys, the New York-based brand loyalty and emotional engagement research consultancy. Macy’s, CVS and Best Buy round out the top five.

New York - With plenty of last year's supplies stowed in the closet and the option to restock at-will, back-to-school shoppers may be in no hurry to fill their shopping baskets by August.   

According to Deloitte's annual back-to-school and back-to-college surveys, 38% of surveyed parents shopping for children in grades K-12 said the back-to-school shopping season is less important to their families because they replenish school supplies throughout the year and feel less need to stock up.

Los Angeles – Cart abandonment is a problem that continues to plague online retailers, but some answers may have been uncovered. A site abandonment survey of more than 60,000 e-commerce shoppers by Bizrate Insights, a division of retail marketing solutions firm Connexity http://connexity.com/ (formerly Shopzilla), found that retailers can reduce abandonment by targeting customers who visited with the intent to buy, but didn’t complete a purchase (“true abandoners”).

Beloit, Wis. – Athletic brand Nike, which first rose to dominance with the ascent of longtime spokesperson Michael Jordan as an NBA superstar in the early 1990s, is maintaining its leading position with consumers.

According to a new survey of 1,000 U.S. adults by online deal site FatWallet, a leading 41% of kids are asking for Nike products this back-to-school season.