News

Snyder’s-Lance is promising an innovation filled product pipeline for 2015 that includes meal-replacement snacks to drive growth for retailers following a pivotal second quarter for the company.

Memphis, Tenn. – Fred’s Inc. expects to report a net loss of $0.15 to $0.20 per share. The discount chain cited transitional costs associated with implementing its convenience center model, as well as vendor-related cost pressures on pharmacy, as driving the negative profit growth.

However, not all the financial news was bad for Fred’s in the second quarter. Compared to same period a year earlier, Fred’s total sales grew 2% to $490.6 million, from $482.2 million. Same-store sales declined 0.1% for the quarter.

Costco saw a boost in net sales and same-store sales during the month of July.

Net sales totaled $8.55 billion for the four weeks ended Aug. 3, an increase of 9% from $7.87 billion during the similar four-week period last year.

Same-store sales increased 5%, while U.S. same-store sales also increased 5% during the period.

For the 48 weeks ended Aug. 3 net sales were $101.43 billion, an increase of 7%. During the 48 weeks, same-store sales increased 4%. In the United States, same-store sales rose 5%.

Austin, Texas - Nearly seven-in-10 consumers (68%) surveyed strongly believe that digital coupons have a positive impact on a retailer's brand, and 68% also state that coupons generate loyalty. According to a new survey from RetailMeNot Inc. and Forrester Consulting, digital coupons increase the potential for conversion when consumers are in the cart and checkout phase of a purchase, and they play a key role in combating shopping cart abandonment.

Zulily remains a company to watch in the e-commerce world with strong second quarter sales growth coming from existing and new customers on mobile devices.

The Seattle-based company’s value priced offering of apparel, shoes, home décor and gifts resonated with shoppers during the second quarter ended June 29. Sales at the four year old company increased 97% to $285 million and adjusted earnings per share nearly doubled to nine cents from five cents the prior year.

Chemnitz, Germany – Data analysis technology vendor Prudsys AG is updating features of its Prudsys Realtime Decisioning Engine (RDE), which allows businesses to individually address customers with personalized content and recommendations. This applies to every channel and device, both online and directly at the point of sale.

Sales at Coupons.com surged 32% in the second quarter, but the digital coupon provider reported an increased loss as stock-based compensation expenses ate into profits.

Total revenue increased 32% to $51.7 compared to $39.1 million while the company reported a loss of $6.9 million, $6.7 million of which was related to stock-based compensation, compared to a prior year loss of $2.9 million. On an adjusted basis, the company said profits increased to $3.7 million from a $100,000 profit the prior year.

San Francisco – Twitter is reportedly making moves that indicate it is considering launching e-commerce services. According to The Next Web, users of the Twitter Android app are reporting a dormant “Payment & Shipping” option appearing in the settings menu.