Data & Analytics

Leading U.S. bookstore chain and online bookseller Books-A-Million has named James Phelps as VP of e-commerce.

“We are pleased to welcome James to Books-A-Million, and look forward to him bringing his expertise to our team as we continue to build our digital business,” said Cy Fenton, Books-A-Million’s CIO and president of Booksamillion.com.

Irving, Texas – The Michaels Companies Inc. on Wednesday reported a net loss of $48 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2014, compared to net income of $17 in the year-ago period, as $68 million in costs associated with debt-extinguishment and drove the retailer into the red. Its results, however, beat analysts estimates, and the company raised its full-year outlook. It was Michaels’ first earnings report since it went public again at the end of June.

The LED revolution sweeping the building industry is now ready for the next stage: intelligent lighting control, which has the potential to transform the retail environment by making it more flexible, better understood and connective with shoppers.

LEDs are inherently dimmable, and many LED products are sold with dimming capability regardless of how the owner plans to control them.

Newgistics, a leading provider of end-to-end e-commerce solutions for top retailers and brands, has added Andrea Weiss and Robert Rosenblatt to its board of directors.

The company said that it plans to leverage the duo’s first-hand knowledge of what retailers need to compete in an increasingly omnichannel environment.

New York -- AccuStore, a leading provider of site intelligence for retailers and multi-site operators, has added Jan Davis, president and CEO of ShopperTrak, to the board of AccuStore’s parent company, GSP.

Combining system controls in refrigeration, HVAC and lighting is key

Retail facility directors continually look for ways to drive down operational costs, but are limited in their efforts without a strong control system. Installation of a facility control system can provide savings and improve operations of a small-format retail store if adhered to well.

Why is it important to use controls to ensure store policies are being enforced?

Electrolux has joined the AllSeen Alliance, a nonprofit open source consortium, as a premier member. The company joins Haier, LG, Microsoft, Panasonic, Qualcomm Connected Experiences, Sharp, Silicon Image, Technicolor and TP-Link as premier members of the alliance.

New York - L.L. Bean provided a level of customer service across all channels in July that was among the best in the U.S. For the third month in 2014, L.L. Bean has topped the overall customer service rankings in Stella Benchmarks.