News

Five Below achieves market milestone
Rapidly growing extreme value retailer Five Below could see its share price improve in the coming months as it is added to an important market index.

Five Below will join the S&P SmallCap 600 index effective after the close of trading on Friday, Dec. 18. The change is noteworthy for Five Below because such moves offer trigger increased buying of the company’s shares by funds that track the performance of the index which the company is joining. Five Below replaces UIL Holdings which merged with Iberdrola USA.
Study: Most holiday shoppers check out this retailer
Close to nine in 10 consumers will take a look at one specific retailer before making a holiday gift purchase.

According to a survey of 3,000 U.S. consumers by marketing platform provider BloomReach, 87% of respondents will comparison shop at Amazon.com before buying a gift. This frequency of product searches is paying off for Amazon, as 73% of respondents said they will buy from Amazon and 71% will spend more than a quarter of their holiday budgets on Amazon.

Study: Omnichannel experience has a ways to go

Retailers need to improve several aspects of their omnichannel customer engagement strategies if they want to truly satisfy customers.
The cloud offers Dylan’s Candy Bar sweet growth possibilities

An information technology modernization effort at innovative candy retailer Dylan’s Candy Bar saw the company convert to the cloud and now the sky’s the limit.
Microsoft turns store into digital showroom

Microsoft introduced its HoloLens interactive 3-D virtual reality platform at the beginning of 2015. So far, it has not entered wide use among consumers or businesses.

According to The Verge, Microsoft is promoting HoloLens with a HoloLens Experience Showcase live demo area in its New York flagship store.

Read more by clicking here.
Study: Holiday delivery performance worsens

Delivery performance in the first half of December may land many providers on the naughty list.

According to analysis of what more than 130,000 shoppers said in surveys about on-time deliveries of their full orders between Dec. 1 - Dec. 15 by Bizrate Insights, a division of Connexity, time is not on their side.

Bizrate Insights data indicated on-time delivery rate went from 93.3% on Tuesday, Dec. 1 to 89.9% on Tuesday, Dec. 15. There were small day-over-day spikes in on-time delivery rate on Saturday, Dec. 5, Tuesday, Dec 8 and Friday Dec. 11.
Get ready for 'Super Saturday'

Shoppers are expected to turn out in droves this coming Saturday (“Super Saturday”) and also on Sunday, the last weekend before Christmas.
Gillette takes aim at Dollar Shave Club

Dollar Shave Club has been a thorn in Gillette’s side since launching its disruptive subscription business model.
AmEx Survey: Lots more holiday shopping left—and get ready for a busy Dec. 26

Going into the final stretch of the holiday season, a majority of Americans are far from finished with their holiday shopping.

Seventy-three percent (73%) plan to shop last minute (vs. 79% in 2014), as most wait to find the best deals (44% vs. 46% in 2014), according to the latest American Express Spending & Saving Tracker.

Other reasons consumers are shopping last minute include trying to save up until they have enough money (22%, on par with 2014) and difficulty finding the time to shop (20% vs. 16% in 2014).
Rite Aid Q3 revenues up 21.8%, calls special meeting to decide WBA merger

Rite Aid on Thursday reported revenues of $8.2 billion, up 21.8%, for its fiscal third quarter ended Nov. 28, 2015.