Data & Analytics

Walmart is sponsoring the translation of an industry leading food fraud prevention course into Mandarin as part of a larger effort designed to position  the retailer as a leader in product quality, authenticity and safety.

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- The use of mobile applications for shopping purposes doubled in the past year, with 41% of consumers actively using mobile apps while shopping, according to CFI Group’s Retail Satisfaction Barometer survey.

The study found that 67% of 18-34 year-olds use mobile apps during their shopping experience. While Millennials are typically the focus of retailers' mobile efforts, most consumers of all ages indicated that they have two to four shopping apps installed, proving that mobile isn't a generational-only trend.

Boston -- Swirl Networks, provider of an enterprise-class beacon marketing platform, announced that it has entered into a strategic relationship with Motorola Solutions. The two companies will work together in the areas of product, sales and services to support iBeacon technology rollouts in large-scale retail environments.

This announcement follows the recent unveiling of Motorola's MPact Platform for Mobile Marketing, which leverages Swirl to power the beacon marketing capabilities for its indoor locationing platform.

London -- Displaydata announced Tuesday it was named a 2014 Partner in Transformation for Sears Holdings Corp. The company received the award for delivering Sears' innovative digital display technology that supports its Shop Your Way program in stores.

Displaydata's responsiveness, hands-on delivery and commitment to supporting Sears' deployment in hundreds of stores to date has built a strong collaboration and partnership between both organizations. The award was recently presented at Sears Holdings' 2014 Vendor Summit.

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples is expanding its home and office automation platform, Staples Connect, including a rollout to 500 stores, new pricing for the Staples Connect Hub, and collaborations with Microsoft, Jawbone, and D-Link. Staples is also the first retailer to announce the integration of wearable technology to its platform.

Chain Store Age recently spoke with Alison Paul, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP and retail and distribution leader, about the expanding role of the CFO in retail organizations:

How has the role of the CFO in retail organizations changed?

Los Angeles – Newegg is partnering with BitPay to accept Bitcoin payments on Newegg.com. The company’s registered customers can now pay using Bitcoin through BitPay.

With BitPay’s platform, Newegg can accept Bitcoin payments and also handle refunds and payment exceptions using the Bitpay Bitcoin API. When completing an order on Newegg.com, customers can now select “Bitcoin” from the list of available payment methods during stage two of the order process.

Conshohocken, Pa. – Ikea has plugged-in an expansion of the solar array completed in April 2013 on the roof of its 1.7 million-sq.-ft. Perryville, Maryland, distribution center. Installation of the new panels began in fall 2013, and since then have nearly doubled the size of the original project.

Burlington, Vt. - Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Truck is launching a month-long tour in New York City July 1-28 and in Portland, Oregon, July 1-29, giving away free ice cream scoops in an omnichannel promotion. Customers can follow the trucks on Twitter to see where they are located and also send tweets to win direct delivery of free ice cream.

Austin, Texas – Dining out appears to be a big part of consumers’ summer plans. According to two recent surveys of more than 1,000 adults conducted by digital offers provider RetailMeNot, respondents estimate on average they will eat out nearly every day of the week (six days) and likely nine times a week during vacation.