Data & Analytics

Chicago -- ShopperTrak has acquired ReTel Technologies Inc. (ReTel), a Silicon Valley-based provider of hybrid video-auditing solutions and advanced shopper analysis.

ShopperTrak will integrate ReTel’s technology with its managed service to deliver an unprecedented level of shopper insights to retailers. Once available with ShopperTrak’s core offerings, the new capabilities will provide retailers with rapid access to customer demographics, queue analysis, speed-of-service and sales process effectiveness.

San Diego, Calif. -- Warehouse club operator PriceSmart reported Wednesday that net income for the quarter ended Aug. 31 rose to $17.7 million from $12.7 million in the year-ago period.

Total revenue rose to $515.5 million from $447.4 million.

Leading payment processor Vantiv said it signed an agreement to acquire Litle & Co., a leading mobile payment processor in a deal valued at $361 million.

According to Vantiv president and CEO, Charles Drucker, the deal makes sense because e-commerce is one of the fastest growing segments of payments.

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- Regional department store retailer Von Maur has implemented the Oracle Retail Merchandising System suite of applications to support same-store revenue growth, as well as its scheduled expansion into new markets, such as Atlanta, Milwaukee, Victor, N.Y., and Hoover, Ala.
 

St. Petersburg, Fla. -- Multichannel retailer HSN Inc. reported Wednesday that net income for the third quarter dropped 27.2% to $17.7 million, from $24.3 million in the year-ago period. Results still beat Wall Street projections.

Revenue rose 7.1% to $778.8 million, beating analysts’ estimated $747.1 million in revenue.

The company has now seen profit fall in two consecutive quarters, but it has beaten Wall Street estimates for three quarters in a row.

New York -- In a surprise announcement on Tuesday, Apple Inc. said its retail senior VP John Browett abruptly left the company on Monday. Another senior-ranking staffer iOS software senior VP Scott Forstall, will exit next year.

Chicago -- Survey results released Tuesday by Technomic found that restaurant goers are increasingly open to trying new technologies in the dining environment.

According to the survey, a majority of consumers expect to use technology to order food at restaurants more often in the coming year, and very few (just 3%) expect to use it less than they currently do.

Consumers expressed the most interest in tableside touchscreen devices that enable them to self-order and pay, iPad/tablet menus and digital rewards tied to loyalty programs.  

New York -- While it may be days, even weeks, before the full extent of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy is known, economists are forecasting that retail sales will be impacted in October and November but that the economy overall will experience an uptick.