Data & Analytics

Washington, D.C. – At least two new strains of POS malware are reportedly threatening retailers. According to Bank Info Security, the FBI has released a warning about a new form of memory-scraping POS malware called Punkey.   Punkey can infect any Windows-based POS network and encrypts the data it steals, making detection difficult. Punkey may have been used in a recent breach at an unidentified U.S. restaurant chain.  

The Men's Wearhouse reported a dapper first quarter on the same day the company inked a 10-year deal with Macy's to sell tuxedoes.

The retailer posted net income for the first quarter ended May 2 of $10.4 million or $0.21 per share, compared to $16.5 million or $0.34 per share for the year-ago quarter. Net sales for the first quarter rose 40.4% to $885.09 million from $630.47 million in the same quarter last year. 

By Joe Dalton    As technologies advance, social channels proliferate, and consumers become more plugged into digital marketing, personalization and contextualization is becoming the key to connecting with customers. While consumers build their online identities simply by using their devices for everything from browsing to averting traffic, they leave trails of their preferences, behavior, and values that retailers can draw upon to appeal to the interests of each individual customer.   

New York — Online traffic rose 18% in the first quarter, according to Demandware's latest  Shopping Index. The study also reveals that the duration of mobile shopping visits decreased 43% in the first quarter, down to 8.4 minutes. Overall shopping episodes were also down 31% to 8.9 minutes.  

San Jose, Calif. — The New York attorney general’s office has reportedly notified eBay Inc. and PayPal Inc. that their revised user agreements may raise issues related to consumer protection regulations. According to the New York Times, the concern regards both companies requiring permission to contact users by phone for reasons including offers and promotions, surveys and debt collection.  

Restoration Hardware earnings surged in the first quarter on strong sales, giving a boost to the company as it embarks on expanding its business with new stores with larger showrooms.

For the first quarter ended May 2, Restoration Hardware reported a profit of $7.2 million, or 17 cents a share, up from $1.8 million, or four cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding tax impacts, a prior-year litigation claim and other items, per-share earnings rose to 23 cents from 18 cents. Revenue increased 15% to $422.4 million.

Boston – The in-store customer experience is going to get a lot more personalized and timely. According to a new special report by Boston Retail Partners (BRP), “Real-time Retail – The New Retail Imperative,” by 2020 nearly two-thirds of retailers will identify a customer when they walk in the store via their smartphone.  In addition, 76% of retailers plan to provide suggested selling based on a customer’s previous purchases within three years.

Other key findings gathered from recent BRP surveys include:

Troubled specialty retailer J.Crew Group Inc. says it has laid off 175 staff members and fired its chief women’s designer.

The company says the changes and business improvement initiatives will "better align with the current and future retail environment."