Data & Analytics

New York -- Alibaba Group Holding Limited on Thursday announced that its CEO, Jonathan Lu, will step down and will be replaced by COO Daniel Zhang, effective May 10. Lu will remain on the company's board as vice chairman.

Dick's Sporting Goods is targeting fitness-minded women with an all-new video campaign.

The retailer has begun airing eight 15-second commercial spots and one 60-second spot on sites such as Hulu, ESPN and ESPNW, and on May 15, the commercials will debut on TV. The company says these ads are the first to target women specifically under Dick's Sporting Goods’ broader “Who Will You Be?” campaign, which launched in March.

Supply chain disruptions from the West Coast port labor dispute and tighter underwriting for its in-house consumer credit curbed same-store sales at Conn’s in the first quarter.

Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market on Wednesday announced plans to debut a new store format targeted at millenials. The company said the stores are expected to begin opening next year, and the expansion will be “fairly rapid.” It did not reveal the name of the new banner.

New York -- Kohl’s Corp. has rolled out a buy online, pick-up in store service to all Kohl’s stores nationwide, allowing customers to pick up their orders within hours at their local Kohl’s store.

An “intense focus” on brand-building and improved product assortments led True Value to post a loss in the first quarter.

The retailer-owned hardware cooperative posted a net loss of $1.7 million, down $2.6 million compared to net margin of $0.9 million from a year ago. The company said the net margin decrease was driven by planned investment expense incurred in connection with the implementation of the strategic plan and was partially offset by a sales increase.

New York -- An early Easter that drew shoppers into stores in March and slowing economic growth helped cut into retailers’ April sales results.

At Costco Wholesale Corp., April same-store sales were flat, slightly below analysts’ estimates, primarily due to the strong U.S. dollar and lower gas prices. Sales at U.S. stores increased 2% for the four weeks ended May 3. Internationally, sales fell 4%.  

Total revenue inched up 2% to $8.75 billion.

Pittsburgh - Revenue from shoppers on smartphones rose 73% over the last year, according to a new report from Branding Brand's Mobile Commerce Index released Wednesday. In April 2015, smartphone revenue accounted for 13% of total online revenue, which represented a 63% year-over-year increase.