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Data & Analytics

  • Is Amazon Prime’s Fee Hike a Savvy Move or a Potential Crack in its Armor?

    By Tom Caporaso, CEO of Clarus Marketing Amazon Prime’s recent decision to raise its annual membership fee probably didn’t come as a surprise to anyone within the online retail or subscription e-commerce industries. The company had been talking about increasing its subscription fees by $20 to $40 since at least January, so the biggest news might have been the price point Amazon chose.
  • Back-End Standards Support Front-End Omnichannel Success

    By Melanie Nuce, VP. Apparel/General Merchandise, GS1 US On a Saturday late in December, days away from Christmas, Saturday Night Live’s resident Weekend Update host offered an insightful quip about the state of retail. Toys “R” Us announced this week that its stores will remain open for 87 straight hours leading up to Christmas. Not to be outdone, the Internet announced that it will be open all the time, always and forever,” he read, followed by roars of laughter from the live audience.
  • Destination XL swings to Q4 loss; plans 40 new stores

    Canton, Mass. – Destination XL Group Inc. reported a net loss of $55.1 million for its fourth quarter, compared to net income of $4.2 million in the year-ago period. The chain cited a sluggish retail environment, a shorter holiday selling season and adverse weather conditions as contributing to the disappointing results.
  • Report: Target prices dropped 20% during breach

    Ottawa, Canada - Target dropped prices on its monitored assortment by more than 20% during the days leading up to its confirmation of the data breach that compromised the security of 70 million customers’ personal information during the pre-holiday shopping season. According to data from 360pi analyzing approximately 830 products across eight categories, including TVs, tablets, digital cameras and more, Target dropped its prices by 18% between Dec. 14 and Dec. 17.
  • Zumiez net income, sales zoom in Q4; plans 55 new global stores

    Lynnwood, Wash. - Net income in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 at Zumiez Inc. increased 17.3% to $26.9 million, from $22.9 million last year. Net sales increased 1.1% to $226.8 million from $224.4 million, although same-store sales dropped 2.2%. Results for the quarter include a $5.8 million benefit related to Zumiez’ acquisition of Blue Tomato. Zumiez plans to open up to 55 new stores during fiscal 2014, including as many as seven in Canada and five in Europe.
  • Report: Measuring ROI biggest Twitter challenge for brands

    Atlanta – Close to half (45.1%) of brands reported that ‘measuring ROI and results’ is their greatest challenge when using the Twitter platform for marketing, followed by ‘building an audience’ (42.1%) and ‘engagement’ (36.8%). According to a new survey from Social Media Marketing University (SMU), 65% of brands say that Twitter is an effective marketing tool, while 30.6% are undecided. Other notable findings include: • 96.2% of brands using Twitter as a marketing tool report having challenges using the platform to achieve specific goals.
  • Brown Shoe Q4 earnings beat company expectations

    St. Louis - Brown Shoe Company beat internal expectations with net earnings of $6.2 million during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, up 55% from $4 million in the same quarter of the prior year. Net sales dropped 3% to $600 million, from $618.7 million.
  • The Buckle’s Q4 net income, sales decline

    Kearney, Neb. –- The impact of an extra week in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 helped drive down net income and sales at The Buckle during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. On a year-over-year basis, net income dropped 3% to $59.4 million from $61.3 million, while net sales declined 6% to $339 million from $360.6 million. Same-store sales for the quarter decreased 2.8%.
  • Survey: Online shoppers just want to have fun

    Austin, Texas – In addition to wanting to efficiently find and purchase products, online shoppers also want to have fun. According to a new survey from Compare Metrics and The E-tailing Group, 70% of shoppers want to go online to browse and have fun, but find current online shopping experiences uninspiring. When asked about their discovery experiences on top retail sites, shoppers gave a “mixed bag” average rating of six-out-of-10. Other key takeaways from the study include:
  • Sears Hometown reports preliminary Q4 net income drop

    Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores Inc. reported preliminary declines in net income, net sales and same-store sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. Compared to the same quarter a year earlier, Sears Hometown reported net income of $3.72 million, down 61% from $9.66 million.
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