Data & Analytics

San Francisco – U.S. consumers remained active in January 2014 despite the effects of bad winter weather across much of the country. In-store retail analytics provider Euclid measured data on nearly 25 million domestic shopping sessions during January, revealing that shopper traffic and window conversion showed improvement from the prior year for another month in a row as shoppers looked to capitalize on a very promotional January.

Atlanta – Supply chain technology provider Manhattan Associates Inc. both signed and expanded implementation agreements with a number of retail clients during fourth quarter 2013. New retail clients signed during the quarter include Arcadia Group, Body Central Stores, Desigual, and Woodcraft Supply.

In addition, Manhattan expanded relationships with existing retail customers such as Aldi, Belk, Cornerstone Brands, Devanlay SA (Lacoste), HEB Grocery, Phillips-Van Heusen, and Toys "R" Us.

Irvine, Calif. — Home automation product retailer Smarthome has deployed the 360pi 360price solution, providing the retailer with pricing intelligence for 3,000 SKUs in near real-time. Smarthome had built an in-house solution to compete with the SKUs carried by the large online pure-plays, but these SKUs only accounted for a fraction of its revenues.

More importantly, Smarthome needed a reliable solution to address its direct competitive set, those retailers focused expressly on the home automation market.

New York -- International sales from U.S. online retailers will jump from $11 billion in 2014 to almost $50 billion by 2020, which would make up 16% of the overall U.S. online retail market, according to a new report by OC&C Strategy Consultants.

Kohl’s January sales were significantly lower than planned as a result of lower traffic and low levels of clearance merchandise.

Comparable-store sales decreased 2%. Combined November and December same-store sales increased 0.8%.

Despite severe weather that caused a 0.7% decrease in January sales, Stein Mart looks like it will report its seventh consecutive quarter of comparable-store sales increases when it closes the fourth quarter.

January sales were fueled by strong sales in linens, ladies' boutique and gifts, while jewelry, ladies' sportswear and men's performed lower than the chain. Geographically, January sales were strongest in Florida and the West, while most other areas experienced comparable sales declines due to winter storms combined with record cold weather.

Shoppers Drug Mart posted an increase in fourth quarter sales driven by gains at the front end and strength in prescription count growth.

Sales for the quarter were Canadian $2.75 billion, an increase of 0.9% compared with the year-ago period. Same-store sales increased 1.2% during the quarter.

Costco reported net sales of $8 billion for the four weeks ended Feb. 2, representing an increase of 6% from the similar four-week period last year.

Comparable store sales across Costco's U.S. store base were up 5%.

For the 22 weeks ended Feb. 2, Costco reported net sales of $46.3 billion, representing a similar increase of 6% versus the year-ago period.

The company plans to release its operating results for the second quarter Thursday, March 6.

The weather posed a significant challenge for Fred’s in January. According to CEO Bruce A. Efird, Mother Nature not only disrupted consumer shopping patterns, but also resulted in more than 120 store closings during the final week of the month.

“Prior to the last week of January, sales were running in the mid-range of our forecast, with reconfiguration departments leading the way,” Efird explained.

Fred's total sales for January were $134.8 million compared with $173.5 million for the five-week year-earlier period.

Despite inclement weather this winter, Scotts Miracle-Gro’s financial results for the first quarter ended Dec. 28 showed signs of improvement.

Net sales for the quarter totaled $196.4 million, down 5% from $205.8 million during the same quarter a year ago. The company pointed to the timing of pre-season shipments to retailers for the decline.