Data & Analytics

Shopping site Shopsavvy announced an update to its mobile app this week that adds functionality for users who are looking for the right price on the product they want.

The update increased the number of participating retail outlets from fewer than 40,000 to about 500,000. Additionally, products can be tracked by their barcodes using the app’s built-in scanner.

Shopping site Shopsavvy announced an update to its mobile app this week that adds functionality for users who are looking for the right price on the product they want.  

The update increased the number of participating retail outlets from fewer than 40,000 to about 500,000. Additionally, products can be tracked by their barcodes using the app’s built-in scanner.

Staples has enlisted Kenshoo, a global leader in predictive media optimization technology, and RevTrax, a promotions platform that drives and measures in-store sales through digital coupons, to help the company optimize omnichannel campaigns in Canada.

New York -- Aeropostale announced that Julian R. Geiger has rejoined the company as CEO, effective immediately. He succeeds Thomas P. Johnson, a former Brooks Brother executive who was appointed to the top spot at Aeropostale after Geiger left his CEO post in 2010.

In 2011, Geiger was named president and CEO of Crumbs Bake Shop. He resigned from Crumbs at the end of December 2013, and rejoined the Aeropostale board in May. (Crumbs closed all its stores in July 2014.)

New York -- Activist hedge fund Jana Partners revealed on Monday that it received an anonymous package detailing a PetSmart presentation around improving results over the next two quarters.

According to Jana in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a cover letter accompanied the presentation, saying that PetSmart had “missed internal projections.” Jana said it sent the documents back to the company, asking the board to “promptly release such materials after redacting any such competitively sensitive information.”

Toronto -- According to the Staples' Annual Back-to-School study evaluating the back-to-school shopping habits of Canadian customers, value is the top priority; 81% of Canadians say they look for a retailer that offers good value.

Highlights from the annual survey include:

• 81% of back-to-school shoppers look for a retailer that offers good value;

• Nearly three quarters (74%) of Canadian back-to-school shoppers prepare their own lists;

• Almost as many (71%) make their own budget;

Chain Store Age is excited to announce a partnership with Sunnyvale, California-based business accelerator Plug and Play. Plug and Play’s Retail Accelerator has joined forces with leading brands and retailers in order to foster the growth of retail-focused startups during a 12-week startup program in Silicon Valley. A round table of corporations, venture capitalists and industry experts guide the direction of the program.

Plug and Play helps bring together retailers and startups who offer specific technology and expertise that can relieve their pain points. In each issue of our Customer Disruption e-newsletter, we will provide you a brief Q&A with the CEO of a Plug and Play startup, explaining how their company assists retailers in succeeding in today’s disruptive customer environment.

This week’s inaugural CEO Corner features three questions with Rich Wagner, CEO of Prevedere.

What does your company do?

Social media is slowly but surely moving from a promotional channel to a channel for direct transactions, as evidenced by the recent news that Facebook is testing a “buy” button of its own. Twitter has become a favored means of running time- and location-sensitive retail promotions, such as Twitter-based food truck promotions run by Ben & Jerry’s and Taco Bell, but so far has not presented itself as an effective means of exchanging goods for currency.

Boston -- Walmart continues to maintain its basket price advantage over Target, according to Kantar Retail’s semi-annual pricing study. But while Walmart maintained its lower-priced basket – with a leap even further ahead in non-edible grocery – the retailer’s basket was still only 1% less expensive than Target’s, the smallest price gap since the June 2012 study.