Data & Analytics

If it seems like Dollar General stores are everywhere it’s because they are. And more keep coming presenting price sensitive shoppers with a viable alternative to Walmart.

Chelmsford, Mass. -- A report released Thursday by workforce management solution-provider Kronos Inc. found that retail experienced gains in job applications and hiring during the month of August.

Atlanta -- M-commerce provider CorFire said Thursday that it is providing virtual mobile payment capabilities to Dunkin' Donuts.

The technology supports Dunkin' Donuts' recently launched mobile app, which eliminates the need for physical cards and enables consumers to gift via SMS, email and social networks.
 
The Dunkin' App is technology agnostic and the solution, which works on most smartphones, delivers Dunkin' Donuts franchisees with payment and gifting solutions that drive customer loyalty while providing cost savings.

Cincinnati -- The Kroger Co. has saved more than 2.34 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, which equals 1.47 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, in 2011, according to the chain’s sixth annual Sustainability Report.

Dallas -- PeopleAnswers and Real Mex Restaurants said Thursday the pair has executed a software licensing agreement that will bring the PeopleAnswers HR solution to Real Mex for pre-screening, selecting and hiring managers.

Atlanta -- A new study from RedPrairie, The Millennial Report, is designed to help retailers and manufacturers better understand the shopping habits of Gen Y and how to effectively communicate with this group of tech-savvy 18-to-29-year olds.

Orlando, Fla. -- IBM announced Thursday at its Smarter Commerce Global Summit that RadioShack Corp. is working with IBM's cloud-based solutions to improve price image and pricing operations over the entire pricing lifecycle.

The solutions being used by RadioShack are part of IBM's cloud-based merchandising analytics software and services, which help companies define the optimal price points and product mix based on customer buying trends.

Dallas -- Loyalty solution-provider Alliance Data Systems Corp. said Thursday that its Canadian coalition loyalty business has signed a new agreement with Michaels of Canada, a subsidiary of Irving, Texas-based Michaels Stores, to issue Air Miles reward miles across multiple Canadian provinces.

By Kent Smith, [email protected]

Virtually all grocery stores, especially large chain grocery operators, are dealing with the same dilemma when it comes to clustering customers by linking point-of-sale data with loyalty card program information.

And, based on the two very different types of data generated by POS and loyalty cards, it’s obvious to see why grocers are in a quandary on how to approach the issue.

Same store sales increased 5.1% at Dollar General during the second quarter and the company remains on track to open more than 600 new stores this year.

Sales increased 10.4% to $3.95 billion during the second quarter ended August 3, thanks to the combination of same store sales growth and the addition of new stores. Net income increased 47% to $214 million in the second quarter compared to $146 million the prior year and earnings per share increased 52% 64 cents, inline with analysts’ consensus estimated, compared to 42 cents the prior year.