Data & Analytics

Import volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to grow 1.8% in December, compared to the same month last year, and the year should end with an increase of 2.3% from 2012.

According to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates, U.S. ports followed by Global Port Tracker handled 1.43 million 20-ft. Equivalent Units (TEU) in October, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available.

The Pep Boys is converting 18 recently acquired Service & Tire Centers in Southern California to its new Road Ahead format and preparing for the grand reopening of six supercenters and five Service & Tire Centers in Tampa, Fla.

The company already converted nine Service & Tire Centers to the Road Ahead format this year, and reported that performance at those stores has been ahead of original projections. The company also plans to convert three additional smaller markets (20 supercenters) in the first half of 2014.

Pin, share, Tweet will join sit, stay, come at the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship when Procter & Gamble introduces cutting-edge social capabilities to the top dog show.

The entire event scheduled for December 13-15 in Orlando will be live streamed which gives those who visit Live.Eukanuba.com the opportunity to virtually sit ringside. However, where things get interesting is with the addition of interactive features to the live streaming that will allow viewers to immediately chat, share, Pin, post and Tweet with the click of a button.

New York -- Barnes & Noble Inc. said is cooperating with a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into its accounting.

The SEC notified the bookseller Oct. 16 that it was investigating the company's restatement of earnings announced in July.
 
The agency’s New York regional office also said it was looking into a former non-executive employee's allegation that the company improperly allocated certain expenses between its Nook e-reader and retail businesses.

Charleston, S.C. -- Despite some early negative reaction to stores opening on Thanksgiving, shoppers ultimately embraced the idea of an extended “Black Friday” and came out for a full weekend of spending, according to the Christmas & Holiday Shopping Forecast released by America's Research Group and Inmar. Survey results show almost three-quarters of shoppers spent part of at least one day of the weekend in stores.

New York -- Target is testing a section of its website that features products popular on Pinterest.

The Target Awesome Shop includes products from several lines, including beauty, each of which is among those most-pinned on Pinterest in the last few days. The products are mentioned only if they have at least a four-star guest review.

The website is currently in beta testing and was put together "in a matter of a few weeks" by Target's Rapid Accelerated Development team, a small group of digital experts working for the company.

Atlanta -- Year-over-year retail dollar volume growth during Thanksgiving and Black Friday was strong at 9.0%, and a significant increase compared to last year’s growth of 5.6%, according to First Data Corp.’s SpendTrend analysis, which tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations.

New York -- Verizon Enterprise Solutions is launching a new managed, cloud-based Wi-Fi for business solution aimed at retail and food service environments. The solution is designed to be easy to deploy while enabling businesses to improve customer service, customer loyalty and business processes.

Los Angeles -- International payment and business development platform Payelp Global is partnering with mobile payment service Onebip, part of global mobile commerce group Neomobile.

Los Angeles — Retail rents in the world’s most expensive markets will rise further in 2014 due to a shortage of available prime locations combined with a lack of new development, according to CBRE Group’s third quarter report on the world’s prime global retail markets.

Hong Kong (US$4,333 per sq. ft.) remains the world’s most expensive retail market by a substantial margin. Hong Kong houses the highest representation of luxury retailers among all global cities. With a healthy tourist market and a lack of available space.