Data & Analytics

Dallas -- SRS Real Estate Partners and Cresa announced an agreement to form a new company to perform lease administration services for retail, office and industrial clients.

The new company will be known as SRS-Cresa Lease Administration, and will deliver a spectrum of lease administration services including critical date management, CAM audits, occupancy cost reconciliations, and full portfolio lease administration services out of currently established offices in Dallas and in Chicago.

Armond, N.Y. -- First quarter online shopping in 2013 grew more than 20% over the same period last year, and more than five times in-store sales growth, helping drive up department store and home goods purchases, according to the IBM Online Retail Index.  
 
The IBM Index comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau report which announced in-store sales for the January through March 2013 period were up 3.7%.

The IBM Online Retail Index also found:

Whiting, Ind. -- Survey results released Wednesday by CouponCabin.com found that one in five smartphone owners have visited a store after receiving notification that specials, coupons or deals were available nearby.

The survey – conducted by Harris Interactive – also found that 70% of smartphone owners would be at least somewhat influenced to make an unplanned purchase at a store after receiving this type of alert.

Matthews, N.C. -- Discount retailer Family Dollar is utilizing TAS Unity, a browser-based enterprise market knowledge  system designed to aid retail real estate management from Trade AreaSystems.
 

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Wednesday that it is implementing a pilot program that brings increased transparency to its workforce scheduling and allows associates to choose more hours for themselves.

Walmart said it is piloting the program in Denver and Fort Smith, Ark., to provide associates with transparent and consistent information on available shifts throughout the store and give them the opportunity to request to work any of those shifts.

It is with great pleasure that I introduce myself to you as the new senior editor of Chain Store Age, focused on covering all the news, trends and happenings in the constantly changing world of retail IT. Technology is evolving at a breakneck pace with major implications for retail. Emerging technology areas such as mobile, social and cloud are changing the very nature of customer experience, while the explosion of Big Data offers both a major challenge and opportunity for retailers that can successfully harness the immense of volume of information that is now available.

New York -- The Jones Group Inc. announced Monday that it will put into action a series of events designed to shore up profitability, the most significant of which includes shuttering 170 underperforming stores in the U.S. by mid-2014.

The stores identified for closure include 50 units previously announced in the fourth quarter.

By Brian Gillespie, Continuum