Data & Analytics

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation calculated retail industry job gains at 15,200 in September, and 289,000 jobs year-over-year, a 2.4% increase over the same month last year and 2.0% higher than total private sector jobs over the past year.

More stores will be open on Thanksgiving, which is also the first full day of Hanukkah

Those who fail to plan, plan to fail. It's hard to believe that September is already here — time for retailers to attend to the holiday shopping season. We at ShopperTrak recommend the following ways to prepare for the coming busy months.

> Maximize opportunities during the shorter selling season. 

New York -- The majority of companies will be increasing their budget for mobile marketing over the coming year, according to research published by Econsultancy and BuyDesire. Seven out of every 10 companies have stated that they will spend more on mobile marketing in the next 12 months, as they seek to keep up with the mobile revolution.

Online retailer Rue La La will be leveraging Artisan Mobile’s Artisan Optimize platform to enhance its mobile technology.

"We are excited to be working with Artisan Optimize to directly impact the results of our mobile app," said Gerry McGoldrick, VP, Marketing, Rue La La. "Through their technology we are learning what drives conversions and, more importantly, we are able to make changes quickly and easily to keep consumers engaged."

Fort Worth, Texas - RadioShack Corporation reported a net loss of $112 million during the third quarter of fiscal 2013, compared to a net loss of $47 million in the year-ago period. It was the retailer’s seventh straight quarter posting a net loss. The company also named Paul Rutenis, formerly senior VP, general merchandising manager for the home division of J.C. Penney Company, as its new chief merchant.

Salt Lake City – Supply chain technology vendor Park City Group has named Gary Rocheleau, a 40-year retail industry veteran who most recently served as VP of retail marketing execution for Safeway subsidiary Vons Pavilions, as senior advisor.

Other previous roles Rocheleau has held include president of Grocery Works, Safeway’s home shopping and delivery company. He began his career with Lucky Stores, Inc., where he spent nearly 23 years and his last position was VP of grocery.

Amazon.com has announced that this holiday season, thousands of third-party sellers will have the opportunity to participate in its holiday deals promotion program.

Third-party sellers on Amazon will be allowed to offer holiday deals that will be featured on the Amazon holiday deal pages, including its Today’s Deals page. Holiday deals from sellers will appear on high customer traffic merchandising pages which highlight limited-time discounts on holiday items exclusively from sellers.

Austin, Texas – Digital coupon provider RetailMeNot, Inc. has named Gokul Rajaram to its board of directors, effective Oct. 15. Rajaram is currently product engineering lead at Square, where he leads software development for Square Register, a full point-of-sale system for local businesses, and other products.