Data & Analytics

Atlanta -- Dollar volume growth remained solid at 5.8% in November, down from 6.7% in October, according to the First Data SpendTrend analysis for the full month of November 2012 compared with November 2011. SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations.

Ankey, Iowa -- Casey's General Stores Inc.'s reported Monday that its net income declined nearly 13% in its fiscal second quarter on lower sales of gasoline, groceries and cigarettes.

Casey's made $32.9 million in the quarter ended Oct. 31, down from $37.6 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 7.2% to $1.91 billion. Same-store sales of gasoline fell 0.4%, while sales of merchandise dropped 0.7%. Cigarette sales were hurt by competitive pricing and an increase in an Illinois state excise tax, CEO Robert J. Myers said in a statement.

Menlo park, Calif. -- Technology executives expect information technology hiring to increase in first quarter 2013, according to the just-released Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report.

In the latest quarterly survey, 17% of chief information officers (CIOs) said they plan to expand their IT departments, and 8% expect cutbacks, for a net 9% projected increase in hiring activity. This is up six points from the previous quarter's projections. Seventy-five percent of CIOs plan to maintain their current staffing levels.

BOSTON — Wayfair.com, an online retailer of home goods and furnishings, has raised $36.3 million in new equity financing to fuel the growth of its private sale site for the home, Joss & Main.

Joss & Main has fared extremely well for Wayfair.com, having acquired nearly three million members and operating at a $100 million annual revenue run-rate. Investors include Battery Ventures, Great Hill Partners, HarbourVest Partners and Spark Capital.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — As part of its 12 Days of Giving Facebook campaign, Walmart will distribute more than $1.5 million to 140 grant recipients in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., throughout the next 12 days.

The winning nonprofits were selected from more than 21,677 nominations submitted in November by Facebook users who felt compelled to enter and describe the community impact made by their favorite nonprofit organizations.

Online sales are up 13% so far this holiday season and approaching a record $27 billion, according to the latest tally from the digital measurement firm comScore.

From November 1 through December 7, comScore puts total online spending at $26.8 billion, up 13% from $23.7 billion during the comparable period last year. Last week saw spending on December, 3, 4 and 5 each surpass $1 billion, according to the firm. That brings the number of billion spending days to seven. The highest volume day so far was Cyber Monday when sales hit nearly $1.5 billion.

New York -- Toys “R” Us posted a wider loss for its fiscal third quarter due primarily to an increase in interest expenses. The retailer said it lost $105 million for the quarter ended Oct. 27, compared with a loss of $93 million in the year-ago period.

Toys “R” Us attributed the wider loss to a $29 million increase in its interest expenses due to an issuance of senior notes and repayment of other senior note

Washington -- Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 3.9% in December despite a strike that closed the nation’s largest port complex for the first few days of the month, but retailers are keeping a close watch on a possible strike on the East Coast and Gulf Coast, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

Framingham, Mass. -- The omnichannel retail experience figures prominently in IDC Retail Insights’ Top 10 Predictions for the Retail Industry 2013. A hallmark of IDC’s offering for three decades, the annual report provides IDC's outlook on the IT market, across industries, in the coming year.

By Derek Bonney, [email protected]

Technology has shifted everything, especially the retail experience. Not only has it changed how we locate, evaluate and purchase products or services, it has created a treasure trove of data for both retailers and marketers. So let’s examine something I call the “Retail Shift.”