News

The National Retail Federation (NRF) had forecast that Father's Day spending would shrink this year, reaching just $12.5 billion. But it looks like the smallest of gift-giving holidays fared better than expected.

According to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark, a real-time, cloud-based digital analytics platform, overall U.S. retail online sales for the week leading up to Father's Day — June 9-15 — climbed more than 14% compared to the same period last year.

BJ's Wholesale Club has renewed and expanded its in-Club advertising contract with IZ-ON Media, a digital media company specializing in in-store shopper marketing services.

For the past three years, IZ-ON Media has provided content programming and delivery, network operations and advertising sales for the BJ's HDTV Network. According to the renewed and expanded deal’s terms, IZ-ON Media will also represent the BJ's In-Club Radio Network.

Montreal - LightSpeed is launching Advanced Reporting for LightSpeed Cloud, which adds Big Data analytics to LightSpeed’s cloud-based POS system. The analytics capability is designed to give retailers real-time insight into sales, inventory trends and customer preferences.

LightSpeed’s new Advanced Reporting for Cloud includes more than 40 reports that give detailed information on product sales, profits and margins; customer preferences; employee performance; payment methods; and vendor-by-vendor analytics; across all stores and channels.

Washington, D.C. - The National Retail Federation (NRF) and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) have asked an appeals court to overturn a federal judge’s approval of a lawsuit settlement regarding Visa and MasterCard’s credit card swipe fees, saying it was negotiated by only a handful of merchants and would do nothing to bring the fees under control.

Amazon has thrown its hat into the smartphone ring. At an event in its hometown of Seattle, the online retailer unveiled Fire, the first smartphone it has ever designed.

In a marketplace that’s already crowded with the latest iPhones, Andriods and Blackberrys, Amazon has invested in two new technologies — Dynamic Perspective and Firefly — that make Fire a compelling product that won’t get lost in the mix.  

By Jason Christoff, PE, LEED AP BD+C

The way business is executed within the retail construction industry may never be the same. The Great Recession is finally behind us, but it has changed how retailers deliver stores, as well as how architecture and engineering professionals design them. The A/E delivery model is constantly being reimagined to meet the needs of the changing market, but typically not as quickly or drastically as within the last five years.
 

During the World Cup, Bud Light will donate to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund for each goal scored, up to $250,000. Though Budweiser is the official Beer of the World Cup, 2014 is the first year that Bud Light has been a partner of the month-long event.

"Integrating our sponsorship with education is at the core of our company values,” Bud Light Brand Manager Miguel Nigrinis said. “It's a winning recipe for Latinos that aspire to hold a university degree.”

CloudTags, an emerging omnichannel marketing technology company, has partnered with in-store analytics market leader Brickstream to create a comprehensive in-store data platform capable of analyzing physical store intent and behavioral data.