Data & Analytics

Target spent an estimated $28 million on advertising November 3-7, which netted it nearly 12% of retail traffic during Thanksgiving weekend, according to data released this week from Kantar Media Ad Intelligence and Placed.

CodeBroker has developed a marketing tool that enables retailers to securely deliver money savings offers to potential consumers via Facebook, while increasing brand awareness and building customer loyalty.

Created with retailers who are reluctant to leverage Facebook to offer discounts in mind, Smart Coupons for Facebook lets retailers know when an offer is received on Facebook, when it is viewed and when and where it was redeemed — which, according to CodeBroker, provides retailers with a comprehensive picture of the purchase funnel.

Unprecedented shopper traffic was seen at Target on Black Friday, according to president, CEO and chairman, Gregg Steinhafel, who also said the retailer provided exceptional service without offering much insight into sales.

Although sales at Express during Thanksgiving week exceeded last year's, results did not meet the company’s expectations and it’s bracing itself for a tough holiday shopping season.

The specialty retail apparel chain operating approximately 630 stores reported net sales of $503 million, an increase of 7% from $468.5 million in the third quarter of 2012. Comparable sales increased 5% versus a decline of 5% in last year's third quarter. E-commerce sales increased 29% to $71.2 million this quarter, above last year's third quarter increase of 21%.

Virtual Piggy has changed the name of its youth payments service to Oink.

The service enables teens to manage — with parental supervision — their allowances online, shop safely and track budgets, thereby teaching them financial management skills. Now called Oink, the service is available online or via mobile, and is 100% free to use. Oink will continue to employ Virtual Piggy’s privacy protection protocols, compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

Black Friday came early for Rakuten.com Shopping. The online marketplace saw a huge jump in visits to the site, consumer sales and conversion on and leading up to the biggest shopping day of the year.

Rakuten.com Shopping reported a rise in consumer sales and traffic beginning the Monday before the big sale days, with a spike on Thanksgiving Day and a crescendo at 10 a.m. PST on Black Friday.

New York -- Dunkin’ Donuts is the chain with the most locations in New York City, operating 515 stores across the five boroughs, according to The Center for an Urban Future’s sixth annual “State of the Chains” study. Subway is the second largest national retailer in the city with 467 locations. Rounding out the top ten are: Duane Reade/Walgreens (with 318 stores), Starbucks (283), MetroPCS (261), McDonalds (240), Baskin Robbins (202), Rite Aid (190), T-Mobile (161) and GNC (138).

Plano, Texas  -- J. C. Penney said that its same-store sales rose 10.1% for the fiscal month ending November 30, 2013.  The retailer's stock was up 4.6% to $10.57 percent in after-hours trading Tuesday.

New York -- Visa reported that Black Friday weekend e-commerce sales across smart phones, tablets and PCs conducted by U.S. Visa accountholders increased 30% to $7.8 billion.

The company also noted that Cyber Monday ruled the five-day period with spending on Visa cards up 28% to $2.6 billion while Thanksgiving Day saw a 30% jump to nearly $1 billion.

San Bruno, Calif. -- Walmart said that Cyber Monday 2013 was the biggest online sales day in its history.

The top-selling items at Walmart.com on Cyber Monday included the following: