Data & Analytics

Fort Worth, Texas -- RadioShack is giving shoppers the power to name their own deals with an interactive application on its e-commerce site where consumers can select the product and pricing, vote on and share the hot deals. On Nov. 27, consumers can redeem a limited number of coupon codes for "Name Your Deal" products at reduced prices.

Allentown, Pa. - POS system and merchant services provider Harbortouch has unveiled its new “future-proof” payment terminal, Perkwave.The solution features a proprietary EMV-enabled credit card terminal integrated with a customer-facing NFC reader.

San Francisco – Twitter began trading shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Nov. 7 after reportedly raising $1.82 billion in its IPO. According to Bloomberg, Twitter sold 70 million shares at $26 each in its IPO, giving it a $14.2 billion market capitalization that is 12.4 times estimated 2014 sales of $1.14 billion.

Twitter will trade on NYSE under the TWTR symbol. The company’s revenue reached $534.5 million in the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, 2013.

Bentonville, Ark. – A glitch on the U.S. website of Wal-Mart reportedly provided consumers with enormous discounts for a short time on the morning of Nov. 6. According to Reuters, treadmills that normally cost hundreds of dollars were selling for $33.16 and widescreen computer monitors were selling for $9.

Wal-Mart has not said how many discounted items were sold before the glitch was discovered. The retailer has also said it will not honor any sales resulting from the glitch, but will give those consumers a $10 gift card.

San Jose, Calif. -- Despite the shortest shopping season since 2002, online sales look strong for the upcoming holidays. A new survey from Adobe predicts record growth for online sales on Thanksgiving with $1.1 billion and Black Friday with $1.6 billion, increases of 21% and 17%, respectively.

Wayne, N.J. – Toys “R” Us is debuting the Toys"R"Us Toy Channel, the company's revamped and updated YouTube channel. The channel launches with eight playlists, segregating content by topic to showcase in-demand playthings and new products, interviews with toy industry experts, current commercials from the beloved brand and top toy manufacturers, and more.

Foothill Ranch, Calif. – The Wet Seal reported net sales of $127.7 million during the third quarter of fiscal 2013, down 5.8% from the same quarter in the prior year. In a partial release of third quarter figures, the company also reported a 0.8% increase in same-store sales.

Conshocken, Pa. – Ikea plans to nearly double the solar array completed in April atop its Perryville, Md., distribution center, the state’s largest such solar energy system. Installation of the new panels will begin in November with completion expected in 2014.

Los Angeles -- Earlier in October, shoppers were put off by holiday displays in store; now people are warming up to them. Analysis of social media buzz for the week of Oct. 30 – Nov. 5 by social media research firm Fizziology shows that positive conversation about displays rose from 15% to 22%, while negatives dropped from 10% to less than 1%.

Plano, Texas – J.C. Penney says it is making continued progress in its turnaround after reporting some strong financial results for October 2013. Preliminary results indicate that compared to the same month in the prior year, same-store sales increased 0.9%, online sales grew 37.6%, and conversion continued to improve, which Penney says reflects favorable customer response to promotional events and improved inventory levels.