News

Study: Digital influences U.S. consumers
Consumers in the U.S. are definitely relying on digital tools to aid their shopping activities.

According to a new study of 2,000 consumers in nine countries including the U.S. from Deloitte, “Navigating the New Digital Divide,” 49% of purchases made in the U.S. are digitally influenced, and 28% are influenced by mobile.
Whole Foods to take Instacart partnership to new level
Whole Foods Market has been offering deliveries via Instacart in select markets for about a year, but reportedly is significantly extending the scope of the deal.

According to Re/code, Whole Foods has at least in principle made an unspecified investment in Instacart. Whole Foods has also reportedly signed a five-year deal making Instacart its exclusive perishables delivery provider.

Record results for Ace Hardware

Ace CEO John Venhuizen

Even with one less week in the calendar year, Ace Hardware Corp. ran up its wholesale sales to a record $5.0 billion. Along the way, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based co-op delivered a pre-tax return on equity of 33%.

“I'm honored to report the third consecutive year of record financial performance for the company," said John Venhuizen, president and CEO.
Visa enhances online payment service

Visa has been busy adding new retailers to its Visa Checkout online payment service, and now is rewarding them with an upgraded offering.

In April 2016, Visa will be releasing a set of new enhancements designed to improve both the consumer interface and ability for retailers to customize and integrate the service. Most features will be automatically available to retailers.
Digital sales soar at HSN, but profit dips

The CEO of HSN says that for the first time ever, more than half of sales at HSN came from digital channels.

But onine sales did not make up for heavy discounting, and the companyposted profit and revenue declines.The company reported that for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, net sales decreased 2% and adjusted EBITDA decreased 3%.Adjusted EPS was $1.15 compared to $1.22 in the prior year.
Consumer confidence slips in February

Consumer confidence fell into a slump in February, driven largely by a less optimistic view of business conditions.

According to the Conference Board, the index currently stands at 92.2, down from 97.8 in January.
Lowe's goes high with growth in 2015

Lowe's rode the same wave of recovery in the housing market as its rival Home Depot in the fourth quarter, topping its own expectations with substantial gains.
TJX results show where consumers are spending

Off-price giant The TJX Companies attracted record numbers of bargain-hungry shoppers during the holiday period as the retailer reported record sales and profit sales for the fourth quarter.

For the period ended Jan. 30, net sales at TJX Cos. increased 8% to $8.96 billion, and same-store sales increased 6%.

Net income rose 2.8% to $666.5 million and diluted earnings per share were 99 cents, a 6% increase over the prior year’s 93 cents. Both income and sales exceeded expectations.
Golfers spread the word about TaylorMade

Golf aficionados are notoriously particular about their equipment, and most interested in the recommendations of fellow duffers when making product selections.

Vertical golf retailer TaylorMade is leveraging the Needle Advocate Marketing Cloud to help bring online customers in contact with brand advocates to provide highly targeted content and information. Advocate Marketing Cloud eases the collaboration process for retailers and advocates.
Facebook gives users more ways to 'like' retailers

A new collection of five emojis created by Facebook gives users of the social media platform new ways to express themselves that could have huge implications for retailers.
Pinterest appeals most to this age group

One demographic in particular may want to break into a chorus of The Who’s “My Generation” when they use Pinterest.

New data from Pinterest shows that more than one in three of Pinterest’s 100 million global users are Millennials. With 75% of all content saved by Pinterest users coming from businesses, this reflects an opportunity to present brands and products to a Millennial-heavy audience.
Target is winning back shoppers, especially online

Brian Cornell says Target's fifth consecutive quarter of traffic growth is evidence that the retailer is making good progress on itsomnichannel capacity improvements.

For the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30, same-store sales at Target increased 1.9%, driven by traffic growth of 1.3%. This is Target's sixth consecutive quarter of rising same store sales.