Data & Analytics

ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Costco membership seems to defy current consumer trends as the warehouse club announced Wednesday that it would raise its annual membership fees at the same time reporting increases in fourth quarter sales and earnings.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Wednesday reported September sales of $6 billion, an increase of 5.4%. Sales in comparable stores increased 3.1%. The effect of calendar day shifts negatively impacted total comparable sales by 10 basis points.

NEW YORK — Gilt Groupe has announced that Andrew Page has been promoted to the role of president from CFO, effective immediately. Page will report directly to Kevin Ryan, Founder and CEO. In his new position, Page will have operational responsibilities for Gilt's various business units, including Women's, Gilt MAN, Gilt Children, Gilt Home, Gilt Taste, Park & Bond, and Gilt City.

PORT WASHINGTON — The NPD Group has some good news for retailers worried about weak video game sales this holiday season. According to a survey of spending habits in the second quarter of 2011, in addition to the $1.44 billion spent in the U.S. by consumers on new physical video and PC game software in the second quarter of 2011, the total consumer spend on content via other monetization methods, including used games, game rentals, subscriptions, digital full-game downloads, social network games, downloadable content, and mobile games, is estimated at $1.74 billion.

NEW YORK — Global information services company Nielsen announced the passing of one of its former executives.

Arthur C. "Art" Nielsen, Jr., 92, helped Nielsen create such innovations as consumer and performance surveys, market share, department and food index and television ratings, during his tenure as chairman and president. Nielsen's father, Arthur C. Nielsen, founded the company in 1923. Nielsen, Jr., joined the company in 1945 and retired in 1983, according to the New York Times.

Duluth, Ga. -- A majority of U.S. consumers believe that self-service technologies such as self-checkout and kiosks improve the store experience, with almost half of younger shoppers preferring to use self-checkout in stores, according to a new survey by The NPD Group for NCR Corp.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreen Co. said Wednesday that its sales increased 5.4% in September, to $5.95 billion from $5.65 billion in the year-ago period.

Pharmacy revenue rose 4.6%, while front end sales were up 5.1%.

Same-store sales rose 3.1%. Wall Street analysts were expecting growth of 4.6%.
 

Raleigh, N.C. -- Economic weakness and low consumer confidence, combined with vendor capacity/reliability, are the top threats to business success this peak season, according to a recent Peak Season Trends and Strategies Survey Report by Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium.

By Ken Nisch, chairman, JGA

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl’s Department Stores’ new store prototype has achieved LEED Gold precertification using the LEED for Retail: New Construction rating system, making Kohl’s the first U.S. company to achieve this designation in the LEED Volume Program. The program, administered by the United States Green Building Council, launched in November 2010.