Data & Analytics

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears announced that it has expanded its online toy shop to provide parents with a trusted and fun resource for toy advice. 

PHILADELPHIA — Shoplifting, employee or supplier fraud, organized retail crime and administrative errors cost the retail industry $41.7 billion in the United States in 2011, representing 1.6% in sales, according to the Global Retail Theft Barometer released Tuesday by Checkpoint Systems. Of that, $18.4 billion was attributed to employee theft, $14.9 billion to shoplifters, $6.6 billion to internal error and $1.8 billion to suppliers.

PALO ALTO, Calif. — A location-based mobile shopping application has teamed up with a supermarket chain to reward users for buying specific products or brands.

Shopkick said users that shop at Giant Eagle now can utilize the app's Kickbuys technology at any of the chain's 228 stores. Shopkick users can collect thousands of "kicks" by buying featured products from many of the world's leading brands, Shopkick said.

NEW YORK — Deloitte Monday released some disappointing news for retailers who were hoping that consumer spending might get a boost in the months leading up to the holiday season. The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index (Index) plunged in September to its lowest level since May 2009, primarily due to a significant fall in home prices and deterioration in real wages.

The Index, which comprises four components — tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages, and real home prices — fell to 2.39 from 2.51 the previous month. 

By Sven Hammar, CEO, Apica

Although Walmart won’t provide official fourth-quarter sales guidance until Nov. 15 when it releases third-quarter sales, company executives sounded very bullish about Walmart’s prospects for holiday success and longer-term growth during an all-day meeting with financial analysts on Wednesday.

Commerce, Calif. -- 99 Cents Only Stores reported Friday that same-store sales for the second quarter rose 6.7%. The news comes just days after the discounter agreed to a $1.6 billion buyout by private equity firm Ares Management LLC and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Total revenue for the quarter ended Oct. 1 rose 8.8% to $363 million.
 

Walmart didn’t release a third-quarter same-store sales figure when it held a meeting with financial analysts on Wednesday, but it might as well have. Everything else the company’s senior executives said about the performance of the U.S. stores division indicated the nightmare that has been nine consecutive quarter of negative comps will end on Nov. 15 when quarterly results are reported.