Data & Analytics

Family Dollar saw strong growth in refrigerated and frozen food, health aids and tobacco, which buoyed sales in consumables to 8.3% for the fourth quarter ended Aug. 31. Despite the increase, comparable store sales for the quarter were flat. 

The company’s total net sales for the quarter increased 5.8% to $2.5 billion compared with total net sales of $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. However, customer traffic and the average customer transaction value were flat during the quarter. 

Shopper activity decreased this September, in line with ShopperTrak’s predictions. Total retail store shopper traffic for the month decreased 20.2% compared to August. In a year-over-year comparison, shopper traffic for September 2013 decreased 6.9% compared to the same month last year.

Back-to-school shopping activity that peaked in August slowed as school came back in session. The early Labor Day (Sept. 2) compounded the reduction in September’s shopper activity by combining two normally distinct shopping opportunities into just one.

RadioShack unveiled a store remodeled to its new high-touch format, in Manhattan, with an additional Big Apple location set to open on Oct. 12. The format incorporates interactive areas designed to help shoppers improve their technology profile. The chain premiered the design in July, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Features of RadioShack’s updated design include: 

Milwaukee — Northwestern Mutual, Prudential Mortgage Capital Company and TIAA-CREF have announced that each has provided $283.3 million for a total of $850 million to refinance Tysons Corner Center, the 1.9-million sq.-ft. super regional mall in Tysons Corner, Va., owned by the Macerich Company.

Cincinnati — Phillips Edison & Co. has announced that D.J. Belock has joined the company as senior VP of finance. He will take responsibility for all financial and internal control activities, including planning and reporting, fundraising, investor relations, accounting and risk management.

Purchase, N.Y. -- MasterCard has partnered with Wired magazine to offer a one-touch shopping experience, right from their iOS device. This “in-content purchasing” concept allows readers to buy the products they are reading about right from the pages of editorial or ads.

Durham, N.C. -- Marketers are constantly combating shopping cart abandonment, and with good reason: Abandonment rates range from 70%-80%. The good news is that much can be done to reduce abandonment, recapture sales from abandoned shopping carts, and provide a better shopping experience for consumers, according to a new report by Bronto Software and Magento

Dallas -- To help retailers better understand and act on consumer behavior in the fast changing retail market place, SAP AG announced the SAP Customer Activity Repository application, a new retail data repository powered by the SAP HANA platform. 

Seattle -- The global retail real estate market rebounded in the first half of the year, with international and luxury brands expanding to new markets and high street properties growing in popularity, according to a new report from Colliers International. Fifth Avenue in Manhattan claimed the highest rent, at $3,052 per square foot, followed by Hong Kong’s Queen's Road Central ($2,086) and Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui ($1,993), London’s Old Bond Street ($1,520) and Manhattan’s Madison Avenue ($1,325).

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney Co. on Tuesday said that it was making “solid progress” in its turnaround as it reported a smaller decline in same-store sales for September, compared to August. The company also said it expects that it will have ample liquidity at year end.

While Penney’s September same-store sales fell 4% over the same month last year, they showed an improvement of 580 basis points compared with August.