Data & Analytics

New York -- Wal-Mart Stores’ ongoing investigation into bribery allegations was thrust into the spotlight again on Monday after the New York Times ran a lengthy piece detailing how an elaborate series of payments accelerated construction of a controversial store in Mexico City.

Fort Mill, S.C. — Honeywell has introduced a next generation scanner said to offer retailers improved label reading properties and increase checkstand throughput.

Anxiety over Amazon.com is at an all time high this holiday season and a top executive at Nordstrom shared insights recently on competing successfully.

Reston, Va. — Survey results released Monday by comScore revealed that the most recent work-week saw four individual days eclipse $1 billion in spending, led by Green Monday with $1.275 billion.

comScore, which has monitored holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 44 days of the November–December 2012 holiday season, reported that to date $33.8 billion has been spent online, marking a 13% increase versus the corresponding days last year.

The Saatchi & Saatchi X division of the Publicis Groupe named three new executives focused on digital media.

Springdale, AR.-based Saatchi & Saatchi X said it hired Alan Segal as digital creative director, Brandon Viveiros as digital production director and Chance Chapman as senior digital strategist.

Jeremy Cage was named CEO of the global LED lighting firm Lighting Science Group.

Cage, 48, was selected to lead the company based on his experience in building major brands, his success in developing commercially-appealing technologies and bringing them to market, as well as his distinguished track record of strengthening business models and improving operational efficiencies, according to a statement by Lighting Science Group.

Cage replaces Brad Knight, who served as interim CEO while the board worked with an executive search firm. Knight will continue to serve as COO.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot has added PayPal to its selection of online payment options, giving customers a secure way to pay for purchases.   

Using PayPal on the chain’s website simplifies the online checkout process by providing shoppers with a quick and secure option to pay for purchases without sharing financial information, Staples said.

Purchase, N.Y. -- A SpendingPulse report released Monday by MasterCard Advisors found that after a three-week recovery of retail spending growth that started two weeks after Superstorm Sandy and lasted through the week ending Dec. 1, a slowdown occurred in the week ending Dec. 8.  

After a surge in growth in late November some key sectors such as Specialty Apparel slipped into negative growth in early December, according to the report.

Boston -- A report issued Monday by CEB TowerGroup found that sales of gift cards will surpass $110 billion and spillage will drop 20% to $1.7 billion.

Propelling gift card sales past the $100 billion dollar mark is an increase in open loop gift cards purchases like those offered by American Express, Visa, Mastercard and Discover ($40 billion), restaurant gift cards ($19 billion) and merchant cards ($36 billion).

Reston, Va. -- Survey results released Monday by comScore revealed that the most recent work-week saw four individual days eclipse $1 billion in spending, led by Green Monday with $1.275 billion.

comScore, which has monitored holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 44 days of the November–December 2012 holiday season, reported that to date $33.8 billion has been spent online, marking a 13% increase versus the corresponding days last year.