Data & Analytics

Hasbro is getting ready to host the 2014 National School Scrabble Tournament, which will be held from April 26-27 at the company’s new Providence, R.I., facility, One Hasbro Place. Scrabble enthusiasts, in fourth through eighth grades, are invited to compete for the $10,000 top prize.

One of the bright spots in Walmart’s otherwise dismal fourth quarter was an online business that grew 30% to $10 billion and is forecast to exceed $13 billion this year.

Every executive participating in the company’s prerecorded earnings call Thursday morning spoke in some form or fashion about key digital initiatives and Walmart’s unique capabilities in the area of e-commerce. For example, Walmart president and CEO Doug McMillon sees an environment in which the company has the potential to create transformative growth in global e-commerce and mobile commerce.

The Coca-Cola Company EVP and CFO Gary P. Fayard plans to retire in May, after 20 years of service with the company. Filling the role will be Kathy N. Waller. She will be elected CFO at the company’s April board meeting.

As consumers head to retail stores this spring to purchase mowers, chain saws, generators, blowers, trimmers, power washers and a host of other small engine equipment, they will see an important ethanol fuel message from the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI), an international trade association representing 100 small engine, utility vehicle and outdoor power equipment manufacturers and suppliers.

The message to 'Look Before You Pump' will help consumers protect their outdoor power and small engine equipment investments.

Rapid expansion of Nordstrom Rack stores and strong sales at the off price division enabled the department store retailer to exceed its fourth quarter profit forecast.

The company said same store sales at Rack increased 3.6% on top of a price year increase of 7.1% while sales at full line stores declined 3.3% after increasing 2.2% last year.

New York -- Traditional retail categories are increasingly blurring, and more and more shoppers are turning to drug stores and other types of outlets to buy groceries, according to a survey of Millenial, Gen X and Baby Boomer consumers. The study was conducted by retail design firm King Retail Solutions in conjunction with the University of Arizona Center for Retailing.

New York -- Shopzilla Inc. has acquired Connexity, a demand-side platform. Shopzilla manages online shopping brands in the United States and Europe, such as Bizrate, Beso, Shopzilla, Retrevo, TaDa, PrixMoinsCher, and SparDeinGeld, as well as a series of B2B businesses.

Shopzilla said it would link Connexity’s programmatic media-buying platform to its Aisle A division, which specializes in audience-buying.  

Singapore – F.J. Benjamin Holdings Inc., a developer and manager of retail brands including Gap, Banana Republic and Guess, in Asia, has deployed the traffic intelligence application from Tyco Retail Solutions. The company sought a clear understanding of how the differently branded stores’ locations compared with each other, as well as the ability to track shopper conversion rates within each store.  

New York – J. Crew received top ranking among all major U.S. online retailers during the month of January 2014. According to the Stella Monthly Ranking from the StellaService customer service analysis firm, J. Crew, which held this ranking from July-September 2013, took the top spot from L.L.Bean.com, which held it in November and December 2013.

Laguna Beach, Calif. – The new Wonder e-gift card app from Wonder Technologies Inc. is available free in the iTunes App store. Wonder allows consumers to instantly deliver e-gifts from participating retailers to anyone with an email address or mobile phone number.