Data & Analytics

Miami -- Online menswear retailer Combatant Gentlemen has launched a video chat solution on their website that allows customers to shop alongside a personal stylist.  

Using a real-time communication tool from video-chat based startup LiveNinja, online Combatant Gentlemen shoppers can chat with a knowledgeable stylist for advice and style recommendations directly on Combatgent.com.

Walmart is furthering its $100 million commitment to industry workforce development with a big grant to the NRF Foundation.

An $800,000 grant from Walmart to the NRF Foundation will work with employers to determine the competencies needed in the industry and the potential for a new industry-validated credentialing program to help store and distribution center employees advance their careers.

Social media users would rather post positive feedback to retailers than post a complaint, according to a new survey.

Research from eDigitalResearch reveals that consumers are predominantly using social media as a tool to give positive feedback. Of the 2,000 consumers surveyed who have used social media to contact a brand in the past year, 6% have used social media to send positive feedback about a company compared to 2% who said they have used this touch point to send a complaint.

Chicago -- Retailers looking for opportunities in emerging markets should look East, particularly to China, which ranks as the top country in A.T. Kearney’s annual Global Retail Development Index (GRDI). China, which returns to number one in the GRDI rankings for the first time since 2010, is expected to surpass the United States as the world's largest retail market by 2018.

Mountain View, Calif. -- Consumers who use digital coupons both shop more and spend more than the average shopper. According to the  "Digital Coupon Redeemer: Shopper Trends" report, heavy digital coupon users shop 47%  more often than the average shopper, spending $6,081 annually on groceries and household goods alone – a 114% more than the national average.

Dodgeville, Wis. -- Lands' End has launched a new microsite on its website that will allow customers to shop stylized product from key assortments of men, women, and kids. Zanna Roberts Rassi, senior fashion editor for Marie Claire and longtime fashion stylist, has been named as the first guest editor to curate five summer collections of her Lands' End favorites.

Men's Wearhouse is turning to a veteran of Google and Bebe Stores to be its new chief digital officer in charge of all digital and omnichannel initiatives.

Ben Baum will become EVP and CDO and report to Doug Ewert, CEO. Baum will lead all digital and omni-channel commerce and initiatives across digital, mobile and emerging platforms within the Men's Wearhouse organization including all individual brands and businesses via integrated omnichannel solutions.

New York -- The chief economist for the National Retail Federation on Monday released his Monthly Economic Review and the good news is that the gloomy economic indicators seen during the first half of the year will give way to brighter opportunities for economic growth during second half of year.