Data & Analytics

San Francisco – Shopper traffic declined 6% in July 2014 compared to the same month in 2013, due to real wage pressure, favorable summer weather, and a shift towards big-ticket item purchases, according to monthly benchmarks from in-store analytics provider Euclid.

Once again a move by our innovative friends at Amazon.com has prompted me to write a Tech Bytes column. Amazon’s latest interesting venture is the launch of an online marketplace for items created by 3D printer. Currently, the online 3D printed products store includes more than 200 items in categories such as jewelry, toys, home décor and fashion accessories. The new store will feature design templates for product individualization and 3D preview capability.

Just a few days after naming a new CEO, Target issued a preliminary update on its second-quarter expenses related, in part, to the December 2013 data breach.  

Scottsdale, Ariz. – On dates ranging from October 19, 2013 and April 10, 2014, hackers compromised the security of credit card processing systems at 33 locations of the P.F. Chang’s restaurant chain in Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nevada and North Carolina, and may have stolen consumer credit card data. The U.S. Secret Service notified P.F. Chang’s of the breach on June 10, 2014 and P.F. Chang’s says it has been processing credit card numbers securely since June 11.

Scotts Miracle-Gro reported declines in sales and income for the third quarter of 2014, but pointed to momentum that may place the company at the top end of its guidance for the year.

Deerfield, Ill. – Same-store sales at Walgreen Co. rose 5.2% in July. Walgreens had July sales of $6.39 billion, an increase of 6.1% from $6.02 billion for the same month in fiscal 2013.

Total front-end sales increased 1.4% in July compared with the same month in fiscal 2013, while same-store front-end sales increased 1.1%. Same-store customer traffic decreased 2.6% while basket size increased 3.7%.

Boca Raton, Fla. – Office Depot has raised its full-year adjusted operating income forecast as cost savings from the closure of some U.S. stores related to its acquisition of OfficeMax are expected to be higher than previously anticipated. As previously announced, Office Depot plans to close at least 400 stores by the end of 2016, with about 165 closures in 2014.

San Mateo, Calif. - Feedzai, a data science company that uses real-time, machine-based learning to analyze Big Data to prevent fraud, has developed e-commerce apps for the Shopify and Big Commerce platforms. The Feedzai apps on Shopify and Big Commerce provide online retailers with real-time information to determine the legitimacy of an order.