Data & Analytics

An omnichannel transformation initiative underway at department store retailer Belk is being executed with the aid of Accenture following a recent agreement between the operator of 300 stores and the global management consultancy.

Accenture has worked with Belk previously, but the recently announced agreement brings the consultant and retailer closer together as Belk looks to improve on its ability to provide customers a more seamless experience as part of its wide-ranging Omnichannel Transformation Initiative.

Spindle, a leading provider of mobile commerce solutions, has acquired Los Angeles-based Yowza!!, a leading provider of mobile couponing technology. As a result of the transaction, Spindle will integrate its MeNetwork mobile marketing services with the Yowza!! mobile couponing solution to deliver an end-to-end mobile commerce service.

The new mobile commerce offering will have an existing user base of nearly 2 million consumer downloads, and approximately 95,000 merchant locations.

Supermarket chain Raley's Family of Fine Stores has hired an Austin, Texas-based company to help it launch a new social media rewards program.

Zappos is reportedly instituting a radical overhaul of its management structure that will eliminate traditional managers and flatten the corporate hierarchy, even eliminating internal job titles. According to the Washington Post, this management structure is known as a “holacracy.”

Generic drug introductions at Walgreens had a negative impact on total comparable sales, but the company still reported net sales of $7.2 billion, an increase of 7.2%, and a comparable-store sales increase of 6.1% in December.

Calendar day shifts positively impacted total comparable sales by 170 basis points, while generic drug introductions in the last 12 months negatively impacted total comparable sales by 70 basis points. December 2013 had one additional Tuesday and one fewer Saturday compared with December 2012.

Ahold USA has opened 120 pickup points for online orders as of the end of 2013. The company hopes to triple its online food sales by 2016, and said the opening of pickup points in the United States and Europe would be an important part of reaching that goal.

Most of the pickup points in the United States are operated under the Stop & Shop, Giant Food of Landover, Md., and Giant Food Stores of Carlisle, Pa., banners. The 120 pickup points compare with only eight a year ago.

Coupons.com, a leading provider of digital printable coupons, digital paperless coupons and mobile promotions, has acquired Yub. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Yub allows consumers to link digital offers and promotions to payment cards for instant savings when they use the cards for in-store purchases. Merchants, retailers and restaurants can easily track offers from online clicks to offline purchases. Coupons.com plans to bring its scale, affiliate network reach and merchant base to the Yub platform to increase consumer adoption.

Hhgregg cited poor performance in the consumer electronics and wireless categories for preliminary third quarter results which came in below its expectations. Hhgregg now expects its full fiscal year performance to miss previously stated guidance.

For the third fiscal quarter of 2014, Hhgregg estimates net sales to be approximately $707.1 million, a decrease of approximately 11.6% as compared to net sales of $799.6 million reported for the third fiscal quarter of 2013.