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.

Fort Worth, Texas – Pier 1 Imports boosted net income and sales during the third quarter of fiscal 2014 compared to the same period in the prior year, partially aided by strong Thanksgiving weekend performance. Net income totaled $26.8 million, up 13% from $23.7 million.

Total sales for the third quarter were $465.5 million, a 9.6% increase from $424.5 million in the year-ago quarter.

Same-store sales rose 6.9%, primarily attributable to increases in conversion rate and higher average ticket.

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.

Los Angeles – Beauty, cosmetics and fragrance stores should experience 2.7% growth in sales to $13.1 billion during 2013. Industry revenue is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 0.8% from 2008 to 2013, according to business intelligence firm IbisWorld.

New York -- While retail and consumer organizations have made significant security improvements, they have not kept pace in today’s business environment and are relying on yesterday’s security practices to combat current business threats and risks, according to PwC US’s recently released 2014 Global State of Information Security Survey.

Store growth is the ultimate goal of most chain retailers. The more locations you have, the more revenues you (generally) bring in. But sometimes adding new stores creates its own new challenges.

When San Francisco-based Philz Coffee determined about four or five years ago that it wanted to start adding to its base of five coffee shops in the Bay Area, first with more stores in California and eventually hundreds of locations throughout the U.S,, the retailer knew its existing enterprise systems would not support that type of aggressive growth strategy.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) has added Ajani Stewart to its sustainability team within the RILA legal department.

Stewart will be leading the development of RILA’s Center for Retail Compliance (CRC). RILA recently received funding to develop the CRC, a Web-based resource for retailers and stakeholders in the industry to access solutions and information for maintaining and achieving environmental compliance. Stewart is responsible for the development of the center.

New York -- The initially predicted “super weekend” (Dec. 21 and Dec. 22) will now become a “monster weekend” for brick-and-mortar stores, according to RetailNext, whose analysts predict a low single-digit uptick in traffic for brick-and-mortar stores, which will translate into an estimated 5% sales growth this weekend, resulting from improved conversion. The impact of last weekend’s snowstorm, coupled with the online shipping cutoffs, makes this weekend for brick-and-mortars even more substantial.