News

Washington, D.C. – Valentine’s Day should be especially sweet for retailers this year. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF) Valentine’s Day Consumer Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics, the average person celebrating Valentine’s Day will spend $142.31 on candy, flowers, apparel and more.

That figure is up 6% from $133.91 in 2013. Total spending is expected to reach $18.9 billion, a survey high.

London - Dixons Carphone plc has selected Reflexis workforce management solutions to further enhance its customer service offering and increase employee involvement in labor management processes. The retailer will implement the solutions in its 500 Currys, PC World, and Dixons Travel Stores.

After an 18-month review including live trials with multiple vendors, Dixons selected Reflexis Workforce Manager, Reflexis Time and Attendance, and Reflexis Advanced Analytics and Reporting.

Orlando, Fla. – Digital receipts solution provide FlexReceipts will provide its technology to  several independent retailers including denim retailer Paige USA, sportswear retailer TravisMathew, men’s clothier Milton’s, Rusty Del Mar Surf Shop and Robert’s China.

Chicago – One pure-play and six omnichannel retailers received top honors for their online customer service in the E-Tailing Group’s Q4 2014 Mystery Shopping Study. In alphabetical order, the top performers were Dick’s Sporting Goods, Kate Spade, Office Depot, Ross-Simons, The Home Depot, Williams-Sonoma, and Zappos.

New York – E-commerce revenue continued its strong growth trend of recent year in 2014. According to the Custora E-Commerce Pulse 2014 Holiday Recap Report, U.S. e-commerce revenue was up 15.6% from the 2013 holiday season.

Black Friday (20.6% year-over-year jump in revenue) and Cyber Monday (15.4% year-over-year revenue growth) were the two biggest single e-commerce shopping days of the 2014 holiday season.

New York - With gas prices down 31% since June 2014 and oil prices tumbling to their lowest levels in several years, American consumer confidence has improved dramatically. According to the Nielsen Consumer Confidence Report, in fourth quarter 2014 U.S. consumer confidence went up 12 percentage points year-over-year.

Deerfield, Ill. - Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. has named George Fairweather, formerly group finance director of Alliance Boots, as executive VP and global CFO, effective Feb. 20. Fairweather will succeed Timothy McLevish, who served as Walgreens CFO since August 2014, where he oversaw the merger with Alliance Boots to form Walgreens Boots Alliance and served as the initial global CFO of the combined companies.

New York – Investment fund Trian Fund Management LP has reportedly reduced its stake in Family Dollar Stores Inc. from 7% to a little more than 2%. According to the Wall Street Journal, the fund, headed by activist investor Nelson Peltz, had publicly supported the Family Dollar-Dollar Tree merger.

Triad has an executive on the Family Dollar board. The SEC has confirmed Family Dollar shareholder approval of the Dollar Tree merger.
 

Louisville, Ky. – Papa John’s International Inc. is taking its Super Bowl focus off trivial football inflation concerns and on something that matters – free pizza. Customers who place a minimum order of $15 on Papajohns.com using promo code SUPERBOWL between Thursday, Jan. 29 and Sunday, Feb. 1 will receive a free large pizza with up to three toppings on their next order beginning Monday, Feb. 2 through Sunday, February 22.

Nashville, Tenn. - Genesco Inc. has selected DiCentral to help streamline the company’s supply chain management processes and provide better exchanges of data with suppliers. Genesco selected DiConnect Enterprise as its EDI (EDI/INT) solution.

In addition to connecting with the DiCentral Network, Genesco also plans to use DiConnect to exchange data with its large suppliers. DiConnect is a scalable, Internet EDI solution for enterprises seeking to exchange purchase orders, invoices and other business documents with trading partners.