Data & Analytics

Strong retail sales in the month of October point to a good holiday sales season ahead. According to the National Retail Federation, October retail sales, excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, increased 2.5% seasonally adjusted over September, and 4.2% unadjusted from 2012.

In a broader view, October retail sales released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau, which include non-general merchandise categories such as automobiles, gasoline stations, and restaurants, increased 0.4% seasonally adjusted month-to-month, and 3.9% adjusted year-over-year.

Despite a weak demand for core office supplies, Staples is driving growth online and in new categories, which resulted in net earnings of $135.2 million for the third quarter ended Nov. 2, compared with a loss of $596.2 million a year earlier.

Snap36, a leading provider of complete 360-degree spin photography services, has added retail industry veteran Steve Embree to its executive leadership team. Embree will act as director of business development.

The company plans to leverage his experience to accelerated Snap36 adoption throughout the online retail and distribution industries. Embree will be responsible for driving business development and go-to-market strategies for Snap36 across both B2C and B2B markets.

Macy’s flagships in Herald Square, New York, and Union Square, San Francisco, are the first major retail locations to deploy Shopkick’s Apple iBeacon-based presence signal. The trial is in closed beta and is anticipated to go live to Shopkick users within weeks.

Thanks to a housing market that continues to flourish, Lowe's had a solid third quarter, with sizable gains in earnings and sales.

The company's net earnings jumped 26% to $499 million. Sales for the quarter increased 7.3% to $13 billion, up from $12.1 billion in the year ago quarter. Comparable sales for the quarter increased 6.2%.

Fairway Market has launched a new mobile app designed to provide an enriched experience for its shoppers who love to cook. It is available on the iPhone App Store, and can be downloaded in any Fairway location since the stores all offer free Wi-Fi.

App users can create individual food profiles by choosing dietary preferences, and then explore beautifully photographed products along with step-by-step gourmet recipes curated by Fairway experts.

Family Dollar is turning to Propelics, a provider of enterprise mobile strategy and mobile apps, to help it improve its mobile strategy.

Despite posting a larger-than-expected loss for its third quarter, J.C. Penney pointed to hopeful signs that its business is starting to stabilize as its heads into the holiday season.

Penney reported a loss of $489 million in the three months ended Nov.2, compared with a loss of $123 million in the year-ago period.

Sales fell 5.1% to $2.78 billion. Same-store sales were down 4.8%, but the period ended with its first monthly gain since December 2011. And online sales rose 24.5%, to $266 million.