Data & Analytics

CHICAGO — A year after Groupon acquired Breadcrumb, a point of sale system and iPad app, the deal-of-the-day website has launched the suite of cloud-based iPad and smartphone tools. The free iPad app enables quick-service eateries, salons, spas and retail merchants to maximize revenue. 

Breadcrumb products include flexible iPad point-of-sale products and payments solutions for all businesses, which include a low price guarantee on credit card transaction fees, free installation assistance and 24/7 phone technical support. 

Seattle -- Nordstrom Inc. reported its first quarter net income fell a greater-than-expected 3%, hurt by weak demand for spring merchandise and softer performance in the Northeast and Midwest. The company also lowered its full-year sales forecast.

The results were a rare miss for the upscale department store chain whose shoppers have proved resilient throughout the uncertain economy.

SEATTLE — Nordstrom reported its first quarter net income fell a greater-than-expected 3%, hurt by weak demand for spring merchandise and softer performance in the Northeast and Midwest. The company also lowered its full-year sales forecast.

The results were a rare miss for the upscale department store chain whose shoppers have proved resilient throughout the uncertain economy.

NEW YORK & CHICAGO — Global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company Accenture is acquiring Acquity Group to help it strengthen its e-commerce and digital marketing capabilities. 

Houston -- Stage Stores reported a loss of $6.9 million for the first quarter, compared with a loss of $418,000 for the year-ago period, as the retailer dealt with cool weather that put a damper on sales of spring apparel.
 
"The unseasonably cool weather in March and April, particularly when compared to last year's warm spring, strongly impacted our sales performance," president and CEO Michael Glazer said.

Revenue rose 4% to $378.6 million from $365.7 million. Same-store sales inched up 0.7%.
 

Online and mobile marketing have turned the retail supply chain upside-down. Gone are the days of moving volumes of product in efficient, bulk moves to stores across the world. Today, smaller shipments rule the supply chain, delivering — literally — on brand promises to ensure receipt of single, customized packages under same-day or next-day delivery.  

New York -- Contingent Network Services has announced the successful completion of a strategic IT project to deploy new in-store technology to stores operated by The Finish Line. The retailer has reinvented its in-store shopping experience at all locations with a total store overhaul and technology refresh that included implementation of innovative mobile POS and interactive kiosk technologies. Contingent provided Finish Line with incremental project and technology experts to manage the in-store deployment for 320 of the 664 sites completed within the overall project.

Stockholm, Sweden -- Starcounter announced that its high performance in-memory NoSQL database powers the supply chain management application utilized by Gekas, a superstore in Sweden visited by 4.5 million customers each year. With 100,000 different products in stock and all items in its warehouse sold out more than three times per week, Gekas uses the low-cost system from Heads, a real-time retail application vendor, to integrate and streamline its entire supply chain, from procurement and its central warehouse to customer sales.