Data & Analytics

Soft sales at leading home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond led to a puny comp increase of 1.3%, lower than expected third quarter profits and a downward revision to fourth quarter expectations.

Framingham, Mass. – Staples and Zonoff are expanding the Staples Connect platform in stores and online, including new ecosystem device partners, support for additional wireless protocols, and the opening of a Manhattan in-store display. Companies announcing support for the 2014 expansion of the Staples/Zonoff ecosystem include Kwikset, Netgear, Radio Thermostat, Centralite, Withings, Waxman, Goji, Koubachi, and Rachio.

While the vulnerabilities of Target's data systems were exposed during a recent data breach the company’s data centers were being hailed as a model of energy efficiency by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program.

Los Angeles — The retail availability rate fell 70 basis points in 2013, reaching 12% and reflecting continued net absorption gains, according to a report from CBRE. The rate fell 30 basis points in the fourth quarter, which matches the momentum of the first half of 2013 after a flat third quarter.

Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing on Wednesday unveiled the ECRM Data website, ECRMData.com. ECRM Data is an industry solution that offers turnkey solutions for promotional tracking and analysis functions.

Nehausen, Switzerland -- Tyco Retail Solutions, a provider of retail performance and security solutions, has entered into a patent license agreement with Round Rock Research, LLC regarding RFID solutions. The agreement resolves the involvement of some Tyco retail clients in a patent infringement suit Round Rock filed in January 2012.

Reston, Va. -- A total of $46.5 billion was spent online from desktop devices for the full November-December 2013 holiday season, an increase of 10% versus a year ago, according to comScore. While the total represents a record for online holiday spending and a double-digit gain from last year, it nevertheless fell short of comScore's forecasted 14% growth of $48.1 billion in desktop spending.

Restaurants, retailers partner with STM Mobile Loyalty Program

Technology-enabled customer disruption is not strictly the province of retailers. Montreal’s public transportation authority, Société de transport de Montréal (STM), is in the midst of a successful pilot of a loyalty program that uses advanced geolocation and real-time mobile messaging to disrupt the public transportation customer experience. And in another sign of how traditional silos in the customer experience are falling, retailers are playing an active role.