Data & Analytics

The stakes will be high for every retailer during the upcoming holiday season, but none more so than RadioShack where a stellar fourth quarter could help the company avert a gloomy scenario outlined by Moody’s Investors Service.

The rating agency suggested in a report released July 29 that RadioShack has adequate liquidity to see it through this year, but noted that 2015 could be a different matter.

Twitter posted solid growth in user metrics for its second quarter, including strength in mobile, which allowed the social media platform to exceed sales and profit forecasts.

Twitter said it had 271 million monthly active users during the quarter ended June 30, an increase of 24% compared to the prior year. Roughly 78% of those users were on mobile devices, a 29% increase from the prior year.

Cleveland -- Shopping ranks as a favorite activity among nearly half of all teens and young adults aged 13 to 24. According to a new survey of more than 1,000 teens and young adults ranging from ages 13 to 24 conducted by Alexander Babbage in partnership with Forest City Enterprises Inc., shopping at malls ranked above a virtual shopping experience among the entire group, with the 13-to-17-year-old age group showing the strongest preference for a bricks-and-mortar shopping experience.  

New York - June 2014 showed levels of imports to the U.S. 6% higher than imports in June 2013. According to new data from Panjiva, the numbers of shipments coming into the U.S. also changed .03% from May 2014 to June 2014.

Although Panjiva analysis indicates imports are strong and the U.S. economy generally looks optimistic, a possible port workers strike brewing in California could disrupt 40% of the waterborne goods coming into the country. Situations in the Middle East and Ukraine may cause supply chain disruptions as well.

San Jose, Calif. – EBay has had success with the password reset it launched in May 2014, following the public revelation of a February 2014 security breach that may have exposed user information. According to Bloomberg, more than half of EBay’s existing 149 million customers have returned since the rest, and the company has also experienced 10-15% growth in new customers since that time.

New York – Business-to-consumer e-commerce sales are expected to reach $14.7 trillion globally in 2014, up about 20% from $1.23 trillion in 2013. According to a new study from EMarketer, this figure will gradually increase to almost $2.36 trillion in 2018.

Charlottesville, Va. - Smartphones generated 19% of paid search clicks and 9% of search spend in second quarter 2014, while tablets produced 18% of clicks and 19% of spend. According to the Q2 Digital Marketing Report from RKG, which surveyed retailers in its client base, cross-device tracking surfaces 7% more orders overall, but 14% more smartphone orders.

While smartphones produce 12% of traditionally tracked conversions, they contribute nearly 25% of cross-device orders.

Dallas - Society Bakery is using the mobile Cartwheel Register checkout app from Tantrum Street to conduct transactions via smartphones and tablets. The app includes a back-end system offering reports such as costs, sales information, and item management, available both immediately via phone and emailed daily.

Society Bakery has improved ordering, checkout and reporting functions since rolling out Checkout Register.

Seattle – Amazon.com is reportedly readying a mobile credit card reader for release in August. According to 9to5Mac, the reader would compete directly with similar devices offered by Square and PayPal, and likely connect directly to Amazon’s recently released digital wallet app.