Data & Analytics

Walmart president and CEO Doug McMillon was among the dozens of high-profile business executives from the world of technology who participated in the inaugural Code Conference this week. Organizers of the event, which cost $6,500 to attend, made available a brief video of McMillon’s comments on a wide range of topics.

Research Triangle Park, N.C. - Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions is releasing the TCxGravity Link architecture. TCxGravity Link enables point of commerce, supporting retail from virtually any location and any device.

Omnichannel retail company Delia’s, which markets apparel, accessories and footwear to teenage girls, is looking for a new CFO. Current financial chief David Dick has resigned and will remain with the company through Aug. 1.

Washington, D.C. -- Online shopping is showing rapid growth compared to the rest of the retail trade sector, with the number of establishments growing 27.4% between 2011 and 2012, according to new U.S. Census Bureau statistics released today. Drawn from County Business Patterns: 2012, the new data provides the only detailed annual information on the number of establishments, employees and payroll for nearly 1,200 industries at the national, state and county levels.

Issaquah, Wash. – Costco Wholesale Corp. reported 3% year-over-year net income growth in its third quarter, to $473 million from $459 million in the year-ago period, as sales and membership fees improved. However, it came in short of the roughly $482 million in profit analysts had expected.

Net sales for the quarter increased 7% to $25.23 billion, from $23.55 last year.

Yonkers, N.Y. – Sixty-two percent of U.S. online consumers have done nothing to protect their privacy on the Internet. According to a recent national Consumer Reports survey of 3,110 adults, one-in-seven online consumers were notified that their personal data had been breached in 2013, a 56% increase from 2012, and a projected 11.2 million people fell for e-mail phishing scams, up 22% from the previous year.

Savvy consumer packaged goods and retail marketers already know the value of leveraging social media to drive sales and now Twitter has equipped them with a new tool to more effectively engage shoppers.

The social media platform recently introduced a new creative ad unit called the “Website Card” which enables advertisers to perform the neat trick of surfacing Web site content within a Tweet. Doings so allows advertisers to then drive traffic to any page of their site such as a specific product page, relevant blog post or notworthy review.

Hamilton, Bermuda -- It’s official: Signet Jewelers Ltd. has completed its acquisition of Zale Corporation for $21 per share in cash and a total consideration of $1.46 billion. Zale shareholders approved the acquisition by its longtime rival on May 29.

With the deal completed, Signet now operates over 3,600 locations under the retail banners of Kay, Jared, and Zales in the United States; H.Samuel and Ernest Jones in the United Kingdom; and People's in Canada. Signet also now operates kiosks in the United States under the Piercing Pagoda banner.