Data & Analytics

It looks like one year of free credit monitoring has become the new industry standard for retailers looking to placate customers potentially affected by a data breach.

Sally Beauty is the latest retailer to offer free credit monitoring and identity theft protection following reports in early March that the company detected an unauthorized intrusion into its data network.

The retail and shopper marketing firm Integer Group, an Omnicom company, made three key hires to bolster its efforts in the omnichannel world.

Integer said it filled three positions within its Retail Arts Lab which it described as a physical and virtual space where the retail environment is being transformed by intersecting shopper behavior and emerging technologies.

New York -- Pinterest, more than Facebook or YouTube, is supplying the greatest percentage of downstream traffic to retail sites, according to new research from Experian Marketing Services. The company’s 2014 “Digital Marketer: Benchmark and Trend Report” also reveals that after visiting Facebook, YouTube or Pinterest, consumers go to Amazon.com more frequently than any other retailer website.

Here’s how the downstream traffic from social media sites to retail sites shapes up in the Experian report:

Washington, D.C. -- Consumers opened up their pocketbooks a bit in February, according to figures released Friday by the U.S. Commerce Department. Consumer spending increased 0.3% last month after a downwardly revised gain of 0.2% in January. The February increase was the biggest since November.

Personal income was up 0.3%, matching January's gain. It was the second straight monthly increase.

Washington, D.C. – U.S. retailers reportedly have $300 million in refunds with ocean freight vendors, yet they are unaware of this because of invoice errors by their ocean freight transportation providers. According to a report from ocean freight auditing service Ocean Audit, problems with infrastructure of ocean freight carriers are also part of the issue.

Bangalore, India – Mobile cloud platform company MobStac has added a new set of mobile commerce features that are capable of providing consumers with a universal shopping experience across all devices. The MobStac platform now provides an extension for all major commerce backend systems such as Magento and OpenCart.

By Jeff Echols, senior director of product and solutions marketing, CommVault

St. Louis — The Cordish Cos. and the St. Louis Cardinals celebrated the grand opening of the $100 million first phase of Ballpark Village on March 27.

The construction of Ballpark Village represents the next step in the Cardinals’ vision for downtown St. Louis that began with the opening of the $411 million privately financed Busch Stadium in April 2006.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. filed suit with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas suing Visa for $5 billion, alleging that the financial services company overcharges on the credit and debit card swipe fees it charges retailer.

The suit claims that Visa colluded with banks to fix swipe fees between January 2004 and November 2012, forcing it to raise prices and reduce customer service, resulting in lost retail sales.

Cortre Madera, Calif. – Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. (RH) swung to a profit in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 amid ongoing sales growth. The retailer posted net earnings of $26.64 million, compared to a net loss of $28.36 in the year-ago period.

Net revenues grew 18.5% to $471.69 million, from $398.05 million. Same-store sales grew 17%.