Data & Analytics

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Luxury shoppers are more likely to use mobile channels when shopping but are slightly less satisfied with e-commerce overall, according to the Luxury E-Retail Satisfaction Index released by customer experience analytics firm ForeSee. Luxury brands have an aggregate score of 77 on the study's 100-point scale, falling just short of the average score of the top 100 online retailers overall (78).

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Appcelerator, a leading mobile development platform, has Gamiel Gran as VP of business development and Neeraj Gupta as VP of engineering.

By Mike Troy

Mobile, social, solution, cloud, big data, SaaS, optimize and engage. It was impossible to have a conversation at the National Retail Federation convention in New York without hearing these words — a lot.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Best Buy has partnered with Listia, a Web and mobile marketplace where customers can trade used items for new ones.

According to the agreement terms, Listia will enable customers to trade their used items for new Best Buy products via its Rewards Store.

New York -- Family Dollar on Friday increased its annual dividend by 24%. The annual payout now totals $1.04 following a decision by the retailer’s board to elevate the quarterly dividend to 26 cents a share from 21 cents a share.

In addition, the board authorized the repurchase of an additional $300 million in stock under an existing program that had only $94 million in authorization remaining.

New York -- Brands and retailers have the most followed or “Liked” pages on social media, according to WSL/Strategic Retail. Nearly two-thirds (61%) of users who “Fan” social media pages, are choosing to follow brands and retailers -- beating out celebrities and TV shows which are followed by just over half of users.  

The finding was unveiled as part of the company’s Buzz to Buy 3.0 trend report, its third annual survey measuring how the power of Social Media and online information are impacting buying decisions.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — OfficeMax is joining forces with Go Daddy, a leading Web hosting and domain name provider.

OfficeMax's exclusive bundles of Go Daddy website services will allow businesses to register their domain names, create professional websites and maximize their business visibility on Internet search engines. There are no monthly service fees. One-year service bundles range from simple domain and website authentication to hosting an online store.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Staples has launched the Staples App Center, an online marketplace for cloud-based business applications.

The App Center will allow small businesses to purchase and manage their apps all in one place. The center boasts a selection of business apps, an administrative console and one consolidated bill.

ARMONK, N.Y. and AKRON — Signet Jewelers teamed up with IBM to give its national U.S. store chains, Kay Jewelers and Jared the Galleria of Jewelry, a digital makeover.

The digital marketing redesign has transformed the multichannel experience for Kay and Jared customers, according to Signet, and resulted in consistent sales growth, including a year-over-year increase of 49% in online sales, as reported in the company's recently announced holiday sales for fiscal 2013.

By Bruce Jones

The 2012 holiday shopping season featured stores opening earlier on Thanksgiving, extended hours shopping marathons, and, according to the National Retail Federation, an additional 585,000 to 625,000 seasonal retail workers.