Data & Analytics

Philadelphia -- Five Below saw net income surge to $4.1 million for the quarter ended August 3, up from $1.2 million in the year-ago period. Sales climbed 34.9% to $117.1 million from $86.8 million, and same-store sales increased 6.6%. The company had, by the quarter’s end, opened 32 of its previously announced 60 new stores on tap for 2013.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Orchard Supply Hardware has launched a mobile app to mark the company’s 82nd anniversary during its upcoming Founder’s Day weeklong event.

Import volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to grow 5.1% in September over the same month last year as retailers head into the holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation. 

U.S. ports followed by the monthly Global Port Tracker report, released by the NRF and Hackett Associates, handled 1.43 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in July, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available.

The rapid spread of a presumably false rumor about Jack Nicholson retiring from acting last week got me thinking about what a true Hollywood icon he has become and how he took a very unique path to greatness. Retailers aspiring to greatness in their social efforts may want to “be like Jack” in the way they apply social media technology.

Know your own strengths

New York -- Despite their love of the internet, Generation Y shoppers remain loyal brick-and-mortar shoppers, according to survey results by the Urban Land Institute. One caveat, however, is that the physical shopping experience must be exciting.

Bud Light Platinum and Justin Timberlake are launching "Platinum Nights," a digital-to-real-world scavenger hunt that will challenge social media-savvy fans to unlock a series of weekly clues for a chance to win Platinum flyaway experiences during Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience World Tour.

Throughout the next 13 weeks, Timberlake, Bud Light Platinum's creative director, will release a weekly clue via his Facebook page to lead fans to online and real-life Platinum experiences where they can unlock additional clues.  

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Seventy-seven percent of consumers say shipping costs factor into their willingness to shop online. Results of the CFI Group Retail Satisfaction Barometer for second quarter 2013 also show that the most common consumer activity on retail websites is browsing and researching before in-store purchase (59%).

Atlanta -- The Home Depot reportedly expects a continuing recovery in the U.S. housing market to improve its sales later this year. In an interview with Bloomberg, Frank Blake, CEO of Home Depot, Inc., said steady improvement in the housing market should lead to private equity firms and investors renovating properties for rental.