Data & Analytics

Evansville, Ind. – Net income dipped to $10.8 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 from $10.9 million the same period the prior fiscal year. Net sales fared better, climbing 7% to $254.69 million from $235.77 million, ahead of previously issued guidance.

Despite increasing competition from Amazon Local and Google Shopping, Groupon announced Tuesday that its holiday weekend sales set a new record.

For the full Black Friday through Cyber Monday weekend, the e-commerce site’s North American sales climbed over 25 percent from last year, the company reported. This year's Black Friday and Cyber Monday were the two biggest days in Groupon's North American history, the firm said.

Seattle  - Santa may have his elves, but Amazon.com has something better to help send holiday gifts on their way: a robot army. The online giant has deployed more than 15,000  robots in 10 next-generation fulfillment centers it has opened across the United States.  

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart reportedly plans to improve efficiency in its China operation by eliminating 250 jobs, and also open nine new stores and a new distribution center in China by the end of 2014. According to Bloomberg, the positions that will be cut are mostly marketing and merchandising roles, along with some cuts in departments including tax and asset protection.

Washington, D.C. – The FBI is reportedly warning U.S. businesses of a catastrophic new malware that may have links to the governments of North Korea and/or Iran. According to Reuters, the malware has previously been used in destructive attacks against businesses in the Middle East and Asia, but was detected for the first time in the U.S. in a recent cyberattack that shut down corporate email for a week and damaged other systems at Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Irvine, CA – Food producer Systopia International has recently upgraded its payment technology within the dining area of its new Green Bay, Wis. facility. Working closely with in-house caterer Aramark, Systopia designed a cashless payment solution based upon using staff security RFID badges as the cashless credentials.  

In a move to showcase its advanced shipping capabilities to holiday shoppers Amazon.com is touting the finer points of its eighth generation fulfillment centers.

The online giant said its eighth generation fulfillment centers embody two decades worth of software and mechanical innovations including extensive robotics technology from Kiva Systems, a company Amazon acquired several years ago.