Data & Analytics

WEST CHESTER, Pa. -- QVC has announced the promotion of Claire Watts to the newly created position of CEO of U.S., reporting to QVC president and CEO Mike George.  Watts' new position, which is effective immediately, includes responsibility for the overall strategy and operations of QVC's U.S. business.  

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Fry, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Micros Systems, announced that Cabela’s has launched its newly designed website on Fry’s Open Commerce Platform.

Chicago -- A survey released Tuesday by the e-tailing group said that nine merchants out of the 100 benchmarked excelled at online customer service.

According to the group’s 13th Annual Mystery Shopping Study, conducted during fourth quarter 2010, Lands’ End made the list for a third consecutive year. Coach and Saks Fifth Avenue are two-year repeat achievers.

Chicago -- Jones Lang LaSalle announced Tuesday that it has launched a website to deliver strategies, tools and information regarding the upcoming changes in lease accounting treatment by the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and its counterpart, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).

By George F. Brown, Jr., [email protected]

The increased pace of merger and acquisition activity late in 2010, including some huge deals, suggests that 2011 will be an active year. Low interest rates, significant cash on many firms’ balance sheets, and stock prices that are low enough to attract buyers but high enough to move sellers off the sidelines all reinforce that possibility.

Mountain View, Calif. -- Survey results released Tuesday by CyberSource, a Visa Co., showed that the online fraud rate has remained flat in the United States and Canada; however, U.K. merchants are seeing a rise in e-commerce fraud.

According to the annual surveys of e-commerce fraud in North America and the United Kingdom, the 2010 fraud rate (the percent of accepted orders which later turn out to be fraudulent) remained at 0.9% for the second straight year.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart's philanthropic arm announced a $2 million donation to help food banks save money on energy bills.

This funding, the Walmart Foundation said, will help 16 food banks "go green," by becoming more energy efficient through lighting, refrigeration or heating and air conditioning equipment upgrades.

This initiative is a part of Walmart's commitment to fighting hunger. In May, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation announced a $2 billion cash and in-kind commitment through the end of 2015, including:

Long Beach, Calif.  -- Epson America announced that Friendly's Express, a new fast-casual concept from Friendly Ice Cream Corp., is using Epson's TM-T88 ReStick thermal printer with MAXStick liner-free, biodegradable and recyclable labels to identify orders in all five of its locations. By installing an intelligent label interface into the Epson ReStick printer, Friendly's Express was able to configure its point-of-sale (POS) systems to print individual item labels for only its carryout orders.