Data & Analytics

Shipments of digital signage displays to the retail sector are expected to triple by 2013, according to market research firm iSuppli Corp. That’s encouraging news in an industry that faces an uncertain holiday buying season.

Birmingham, Ala. -- Hibbett Sports Inc. said that its third-quarter profit jumped 27%, amid strong demand for shoes and apparel. The results beat Wall Street expectations and Hibbett raised its earnings forecast for the full year.

For the quarter ended Oct. 29, the sporting-goods chain reported net income of $16 million, up from $12.6 million in the year ago period. Sales increased 11% to $185.2. Same-store sales rose 7%.
 

Philadelphia -- Checkpoint Systems, a leading global supplier of shrink management, merchandise visibility and apparel labeling solutions for the retail industry, announced that it is partnering with Books-A-Million to improve the retailer’s loss prevention program and enhance its customers’ shopping experiences through its electronic article surveillance (EAS) solution.

Purchase, N.Y. -- Dollar General is now accepting MasterCard credit cards at all of the nearly 10,000 Dollar General locations across the country, expanding on previous acceptance of MasterCard debit and prepaid cards. 

“Dollar General was the first among small-box value discounters to roll out readers for electronic benefits cards and bank debit and credit cards, making transactions even more convenient for customers.

Chicago -- Nearly 70% of U.S. adults would avoid shopping at a retail store if they encountered empty shelves, according to a nationwide survey commissioned by Galleria Retail Technology Solutions, a leading provider of retail and category optimization solutions. Long checkout lines are another big turnoff (64%).

Walmart continues to gain online momentum, judging from the most recent monthly report from measurement firm comScore Media Metrix.

Walmart consistently ranks in the firm’s Top 50 U.S. Web properties report, and that was the case again in October when Walmart.com was ranked 23rd with 45.2 million unique visitors. By comparison, Target.com, which experienced some difficulties with a major relaunch several months ago, was the only other traditional retailer on the list and ranked 46th with 27 million unique visitors.

Sam’s Club president and CEO Brian Cornell may have been the last of Walmart’s three divisional presidents to speak on the company’s conference call, but he had the best news to share.

Sam’s produced a 5.7% third-quarter same-store sales increase that was unaided by fuel prices, and Cornell indicated the string of seven consecutive quarters of sequentially increasing comps could be extended in the fourth quarter, with guidance that set 6% as the upper end of the forecast range. 

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. That seems to be the message implied in Walmart’s guidance for fourth-quarter same-store sales in a range of flat to up 2%. The company’s comps expectations follow a third-quarter increase of 1.3% that ended a two-year string of negative results, but appear rather muted against the backdrop of talk about the company’s gathering momentum, the effectiveness of strategies and solid positioning for the holidays.

PHOENIX — Even in a tough economy, consumers are reluctant to cut back spending on their pets, as was made clear by PetSmart's whopping 32% growth in earnings and strong sales performance during the third quarter.

The retailer reported reported earnings of 50 cents per share, up 32% compared with 38 cents per share in the third quarter of 2010. Net income totaled $56 million in the third quarter of 2011, compared with $46 million in the third quarter of 2010.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. and BOSTON — Staples announced that it is working with Gazelle, a consumer electronics recommerce service, to launch an electronics trade-in program. 

Through the program, Staples will accept the trade-in of used electronics from more than 20 product categories regardless of where they were purchased, according to the company. Eligible items that do not have trade-in value can still be sent to Gazelle for free recycling or brought to the nearest Staples store for recycling.