Data & Analytics

New York -- Rwanda, Nigeria, Namibia, Tanzania and Gabon occupied the top five places of the first-ever A.T. Kearney African Retail Development Index (ARDI), a new study designed to help large, organized retailers determine where and how to best enter Sub-Saharan Africa's rapidly growing retail market. The ARDI not only identifies the markets in Africa most attractive for retail expansion today, but those that offer the most potential in the future.

Milwaukee – Roundy’s Supermarkets has selected Symphony EYC Customer Insights behavioral insights platform and expertise to enable customer-centric business processes. With Symphony EYC, Roundy's will gain and leverage consumer insights to optimize product selection, customer communication and other critical functions across all Roundy's grocery stores and pharmacies throughout the Midwest.

Hong Kong – Chinese e-commerce platform provider Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is reportedly planning a U.S. initial public offering (IPO). According to Bloomberg, Alibaba has received approval from Hong Kong regulators for its proposed governance structure.

Leading online cash back shopping platform Ebates has acquired Extrabux, a free comparison-shopping website where consumers discover the best prices, find coupons and earn cash back on their online purchases.

As a result, the two companies have a growing membership base in China and have launched Ebates.cn.

By David Coleman, CEO and founder, Brandoogle

According to a recent IBM report, retailers should no longer feel threatened by the practice of retail showrooming. Agreed, and also great news for traditional brick-and-mortar retailers.

Retail showrooming is a known margin killer.

Canton, Mass. – Destination XL Group Inc. reported a net loss of $55.1 million for its fourth quarter, compared to net income of $4.2 million in the year-ago period. The chain cited a sluggish retail environment, a shorter holiday selling season and adverse weather conditions as contributing to the disappointing results.

After a 15% fourth-quarter same-store sales decline, Aeropostale is looking to accelerate the pace of previously announced store closures, further reduce an already limited store expansion program and has secured new financial flexibility from a private equity firm.

New York — The economy is in better shape than many people think — especially when you look under the hood at some of the parts, CNBC senior analyst Ron Insana told attendees at Chain Store Age’s 50th annual SPECS show. Insana was a keynoter at the event, which was held at the Gaylord Texan Hotel, Grapevine, Texas, March 9 – 12, and attracted retail executives in store planning, construction and facilities. “The United States economy is actually performing quite nicely,” Insana said. “If you look around the world, no one else comes close.”