Data & Analytics

CHICAGO — One-in-five consumers between the ages of 35 years and 54 years are choosing products due to a loyalty card discount, SymphonyIRI Group reported Wednesday as part of its Q4 2012 MarketPulse survey. And almost one-third are forsaking their preferred brands due to a sale price. The survey found that shopper sentiment dropped to its lowest point since Q3 2011.

Seattle -- Starbucks Corp. said its profit rose in its first quarter as customers spent more at its stores in the United States and Asia.

Starbucks earned $432.2 million in the quarter ended December 30, 2012, compared with $382.1 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 11% to $3.8 billion, slightly below expectations.

The company reported that global same-store sales rose 6%. In Europe, the metric fell 1%. Americas’ comparable store sales grew 7%. Same-store sales in the China/Asia Pacific region grew 11%.

London -- Three cities in Germany are ranked the top five European markets for commercial real estate investment, according to a report by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Munich took the top spot in the report, “Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe 2013,” followed by Berlin, London, Istanbul and Hamburg. The ranking of 27 cities across Europe was based on respondents’ expectations for market performance in 2013.

New York -- The latest data from Nielsen shows the number of U.S. convenience stores continues to expand and last year set a new record with 149,220 units.

That figures is up 1,094 units from the prior year so the increase amounts to only a 0.7% gain, according to the 2013 National Association of Convenience Stores/Nielsen Convenience Industry Store Count. Even so, the growth is noteworthy at a time when overall expansion of selling space in the broader retailer industry has remained stagnant even though the recession officially ended in 2009.

Tampa, Fla. -- Applied Data Corp. said Wednesday that regional grocery chain Carlie C’s has selected ADC’s – a provider of fresh item management, recipe management, and scales management software – InterScale Scales Management Software system.
 


Hampshire, U.K. -- Retailers are predicted to spend $55 billion on mobile marketing by 2015, which is almost double the $28 billion expected this year, according to a new study by Juniper Research.

PHOENIX — PetSmart announced that its current president and COO David K. Lenhardt will assume the role of CEO, effective June 14, following the annual meeting of stockholders. Lenhardt will also be appointed to the board of directors at that time. Bob Moran, current chairman and CEO, will be appointed executive chairman.

The Ecco shoe brand has engaged the services of Demandware to power its new U.S. e-commerce and mobile commerce site. The company also plans to use Demandware’s cloud platform to quickly and efficiently expand internationally, beginning with Canada.

Ecco products are sold online and in 4,000 branded locations in more than 90 countries. 

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. — Kohl's has engaged Oracle's services to integrate core retail operations across the company's 1,146 stores in 49 states.

Oracle solutions will help Kohl's by providing an integrated, scalable retail suite of applications to streamline merchandising and planning while enabling its multi-channel growth strategy.

DALLAS  — The growing popularity of Netflix, Hulu and other on-demand video rental services continues to take a toll on traditional brick-and-mortar video rental stores. 

Dish Network reported that its subsidiary, Blockbuster will close about 300 of its stores in the United States in the coming weeks. The closures will result in the loss of about 3,000 jobs and leave the chain with some 500 U.S. locations.