Data & Analytics

Jonathan Dall has joined sourcing solutions firm LogicSource as chief sales officer, a new position for the Norwalk, CT., based company owned by Bain Capital.

Third quarter sales at Staples declined 2% to a little less than $6.4 billion and a host of previously announced charges resulted in the company reporting a loss of $569 million or 85 cents a share.

A new relationship with Citi Retail Services gives OfficeMax another benefit to tout when serving small business customers.

The retailer worked with Citi to launch the new store-branded credit card tied to the OfficeMax MaxPerk Rewards program which allows customers to receive a $25 reward for every $500 spent on qualified purchases. In addition, the no-annual fee product provides special financing offers, flexible payment options a dedicated line of credit for business expenses and detailed tracking of purchases.

Meijer has made it so shoppers don’t have to pore through circulars on Thanksgiving Day and then wake at 3 a.m. to wait in line and jostle with other customers on Black Friday.

Meijer said it is making holiday shopping easier for customers this year by offering aggressive Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday doorbuster deals on popular brands all day long while supplies last.

NEW YORK, N.Y. — Social media will influence how people plan to shop this holiday season nearly as much as word-of-mouth and store advertisements, according to a survey conducted by ConsumerSearch.com, part of the About Group.

The busiest shopping weekend of the year is just around the corner and retailers who don’t hit their sales plan won’t be able to blame the weather.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation said Wednesday that, for the first time in three months, retail sales ticked down slightly as consumers cooled discretionary spending in the face of inclement weather and uncertainty in Washington.

October retail sales (excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants) decreased 0.3% seasonally adjusted from September yet increased 3.9% unadjusted year-over-year.



Framingham, Mass. -- IDC Retail Insights on Wednesday released a new survey report, “Business Strategy: At Hand Versus In Hand — Will Consumers Have the Upper Hand in the 2012 Holiday Showroom Showdown?,” which found that 48 million shoppers will “showroom” or use their smartphones in some manner while they shop in stores during the upcoming winter holiday season.

Purchase, N.Y. -- A report released Wednesday by MasterCard Advisors, the professional services arm of MasterCard in partnership with Wells Fargo, found that spending at small retailers in October slowed to an increase of 4.2% year over year, down from a 5.8% growth rate in September.

This was the slowest year-over-year growth rate for smaller retailers in 2012, falling below the growth rate of total U.S. retail sales by one percentage point.        

Foster City, Calif. -- Visa Inc. announced Tuesday it has expanded the reach of V.me by Visa, landing more than 50 additional financial institution partners.  V.me, Visa’s new digital wallet service, eliminates the need for repeatedly entering account number, bill-to and ship-to information at checkout, simplifying the process. Account holders will be able to make payments online using V.me and check out simply by entering a username and password.