News

Ann Arbor, Mich. – Rolling Stones fans will sympathize with the devilish problem facing American customers, who couldn’t get satisfaction in the third quarter of 2014. The national level of customer satisfaction fell 0.7% in the third quarter of 2014 to 75.6 on a 100-point scale, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), pointing to weak spending growth for the fourth quarter.   

New York - Customer engagement is becoming an ever trickier proposition. Thanks to increasing connectivity and functionality of mobile and wearable devices, today’s consumers can enter an intensely personalized, stimulating and informationally rich virtual environment at a moment’s notice. Enticing them with omnichannel promotions is no easy task.  

The nation’s leading automotive retailer credited investments in inventory and favorable weather with helping it achieve its 33rd consecutive quarter of double digit earnings growth.

The company said sales for its first quarter ended Nov. 22 increased 8 percent to $2.3 billion while same store sales increased 4.5 percent. Profits for the period increased 9.3 percent to $238.3 million while earnings per share advanced 15.6 percent to $7.27 and were aided by the company’s repurchase of 571,000 shares.

New York - In an abrupt move, Michael Jefferies, the longtime and often controversial chief of Abercrombie & Fitch, has retired as CEO and stepped down from the company’s board, effective immediately. His retirement caught the industry by surprise, particularly since it comes in the middle of the crucial holiday selling season.    

Atlanta - Chick–fil–A is mobilizing its customers, at least when it comes to payment and ordering. The quick service chain is launching two new features, mobile payment and mobile ordering, within the Chick–fil–A mobile app.   

Toronto, Canada - Danier Leather is going for both form and function with a new POS rollout. The retailer's flagship store at the Toronto Eaton Centre, Toronto, has implemented Fujitsu TeamPOS 7000 All-In-One (AIO) hardware. The solution offers faster and sleeker point of sale technology and the capability to integrate with future omnichannel offerings to enhance usability, increase sales capacity and improve the consumer experience, according to Fujitsu.    

Eastern Mountain Sports has enlisted JustEnough Software Corp., a leading provider of demand management solutions for retail, wholesale and direct-to-consumer businesses worldwide, to improve its inventory capabilities for its brick-and-mortar as well as its Internet site.

By Luis Salazar and Neha Dagley   Watch out, retailers with stores in Florida. The Florida State Legislature has tightened controls over businesses for data security breaches. Effective July 1, 2014, the new Florida Information Protection Act (FIPA) will impact your business and how you handle data breaches.  In recent years, data breaches have become commonplace, and have undoubtedly affected the chain-store industry.     FIPA: COMPLIANCE AND CONSEQUENCES