Data & Analytics

eBay has completed its previously announced acquisition of Braintree, a global payment platform powering the next generation of leading online and mobile-first startups.

In accordance with the terms of the acquisition agreement announced Sept. 26, eBay acquired Braintree for total consideration of approximately $800 million in cash.

Armonk, N.Y. -- In five years, buying local will beat online. That is one of five predictions that appear on IBM’s eight annual “IBM 5 in 5” forecast, which the company describes as a list of innovations that have the potential to change the way people work, live and interact during the next five years.

Rite Aid modestly increased its full year sales forecast following the release of third quarter results and said it will aggressively expand its “Wellness” format as it looks to drive greater growth in 2014.

New York -- TXT e-solutions, a leading provider of integrated and collaborative planning solutions, today announced that European footwear brand Camper, has successfully implemented TXT e-solutions’ integrated retail planning software to support its entire retail planning cycle as it continues to expand both online and internationally.

Minneapolis – Target confirmed that it suffered a major data breach that may have affected as many as 40 million credit and debit card transactions at Target stores between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15. Target said the information included customer name, credit or debit card number, and the card’s expiration date and CVV (the three-digit security code).

Port Washington, N.Y. -- In the week following Thanksgiving 2013 (Dec. 1 – Dec. 7, 2013), sales of mailing and shipping products were up 13% to $13.3 million, compared the previous year (Nov. 25 – Dec. 1, 2012). In addition, new analysis from The NPD Group indicates that within shipping and mailing categories, wrapping sales were up 52%, mailer sales rose 17% and packing tape sales grew 14%.

By channel, mailing and shipping product sales rose 14% in the brick-and-mortar channel compared to the same period a year earlier and 3% online.

Camp Hill, Pa. – Rite Aid reported a solid 15.5% increase in net income during the third quarter of fiscal 2013, to $71.5 million from $61.9 million in the year ago period.  Lower interest expense and lease termination and impairment charges helped drive Rite Aid’s net income growth.

In addition, revenues grew about 2% to $6.4 billion from $6.2 billion, primarily due to a 3.5% increase in pharmacy same store sales. Same-store sales rose 2.3%.

LLBean.com provided the highest-rated customer service of all major online retailers during the month of November 2013, according to the Stella Monthly Ranking from the StellaService customer service analysis firm.

L.L. Bean was ranked number one for overall customer service and also in the email customer service area.

SierraTradingPost.com took top honors for phone customer service, Sears.com had the highest ranked shipping customer service and Bloomingdales.com has the best returns customer service.