Data & Analytics

Matthews, N.C. -- Family Dollar reported lower net income in the third quarter of 2013 as its shoppers continue to hold off on discretionary spending.  The discounter also named Jason Reiser to the position of senior VP merchandising.

Family Dollar posted net income of $120.9 million, down 3% from $124.5 million in the year-ago period. Its results, however, topped expectations.

Sales rose 9% to $2.57 billion. Same-store sales increased 2.9% as a result of higher customer transaction totals and traffic volumes.

NEW ALBANY — Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is taking its 2013 Stars on the Rise back-to-school campaign, featuring a group of up-and-coming actors, to the digital arena with a new mobile app that offers potential shoppers an interactive experience. 

Minneapolis  -- Target has announced the winner of the $75,000 grand prize in its Retail Accelerator contest: a mobile retail concept called “Divvy.” Jointly promoted by Target and Fast Company, the Retail Accelerator competition was designed to foster digital innovation in retail by challenging developers to build a new mobile experience for Target.

Washington, D.C. -- Import volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase a modest 1.1% in July over the same month last year, but a slow summer should be followed by significant increases as retailers head into the holiday season this fall, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released Wednesday by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.


A social shopping list app called Divvy was chosen from among more than 76 entrants who participated in innovative exercise in crowd-sourced digital development conducted by Target and Fast Company.

The Divvy app was created by a New York-based group that called itself Team Pilot and received a $75,000 prize for their effort. The Divvy app which is designed to improve the group shopping experience by allowing multiple users to update a shopping list in real time while making it easier to split the bill and distribute receipts.

SOLON, Ohio — Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing announced that BV Investment Partners has become its majority shareholder, and Greg Farrar has been named ECRM's CEO as a result.

Boston -- Retailers need to carefully plan ahead in a number of areas to ensure they receive maximum ROI on investments in mobile technology, according to a new report from the Universal Commerce Innovation Exchange and Aite Group.

The areas, detailed in the “Strategies for Mobile Investments,” report, include:

By Christopher Demetriades, [email protected]