Data & Analytics

San Francisco -- Google made a quiet announcement on Friday that it is officially launching the pilot of its Google Shopping Express program, which features online delivery initially in the San Francisco Bay area.

In a notice on the company’s website, Google Shopping Express product management director Tom Fallows described the program as a “new experiment,” one that offers “a local delivery service that we hope will make it possible for you to get the items you order online the same day, and at a low cost."

Naperville, Ill. -- OfficeMax Inc. announced Monday the unveiling of a new format, OfficeMax Business Solutions Center, in downtown Milwaukee. The 5,000-sq.-ft. store is designed to serve small businesses with services, solutions and products to help local entrepreneurs grow their companies.  

Located in The Shops of Grand Avenue, the new format replaces the previous OfficeMax store.

Polaroid Fotobar, a new retail concept from Polaroid, has opened its first location, in Delray Beach, Fla. The 2,000-sq.-ft. store is designed to allow consumers to take the images from their smartphones and tablet devices and easily turn them into “museum-quality” art that can be framed and hung on a wall or displayed on a desk. 

Polaroid Fotobar has a modern, streamlined look, with sleek lines. The Delray Beach location will serve as a prototype for nine additional cites due to open this year, including locations in New York, Las Vegas, and Boston.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens has selected OMD to be its new media planning and buying agency of record. OMD will be responsible for U.S. and Puerto Rico activity related to traditional, multicultural, digital and mobile media planning and buying. The business will be led from OMD’s Chicago office.

CULVER CITY, Calif. — Glenn Hasen has joined Magento, the leading e-commerce platform part of the X.commerce division of Ebay, as VP global sales and channels. In his new role, Glenn will manage day-to-day operations of the sales organization and oversee merchant adoption, successful customer onboarding and retention of the Magento platform.

SEATTLE -- Amazon.com went back to its roots as bookseller last week with the announcement that it would acquire social site Goodreads, an online book recommendation community that has more than 16 millions around the globe. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

AURORA, Colo. — Walgreens announced Monday an expansion of its relationship with SolarCity, saying the new power systems would reduce more than 47.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over the next two decades.

The Colorado-based firm will install solar power systems at 22 Walgreens stores in 14 cities in the state over the next few months.

LOS ALTOS, Calif. — The Container Store has enlisted Talend, a global open source software leader, to simplify, standardize and move data across multiple platforms. With Talend, The Container Store now has cross-platform standardization, improved development times and automated processes that were previously done manually.

LOS ANGELES — Virtual Piggy, an online service that allows parents to monitor their children's online shopping behavior, has appointed Iain Herd as global mobile product director.

With over thirteen years experience in product management, and seven years leading mobile initiatives at major corporations, Iain will be responsible for directing and managing Virtual Piggy’s Mobile First initiative, reporting directly to CEO and founder, Dr. Jo Webber.

The North Central and Northeast states will be warmer than last year and normal for April 2013 overall with warmer trends arriving mid-month, a positive for spring products. However, an active jet stream will bring frequent showers and storms to much of the eastern half of the nation where precipitation will trend greater than last year which may soften spring category demand, especially for outdoor products. Temperatures in the Southeast and along much of the West Coast will be similar to last year and near normal.