News

Mooresville, N.C. Lowe's CEO Robert Niblock hammered on the concepts of customer service and value during the company's 2010 Analyst & Investor Conference yesterday in Mooresville.

"At the core of our mission is the belief that we can grow by focusing on opportunities we have with existing customers," said Niblock, who added that the company must adapt to continue to be successful. 

Philadelphia - Monetate, which tests, targets, and personalizes websites, has renewed its contract with Canton, Mass.-based Casual Male Retail Group.
"Monetate continues to drive incremental revenue for us because of the exceptional testing and targeting features that it provides,” said Ric Della Bernarda, chief marketing officer and senior VP, Casual Male Retail Group. “With Monetate on our websites, we have the ability to deliver relevant and personalized content to all of our visitors, throughout their online shopping experience."

New York - Online sales on Cyber Monday surged nearly 20% from last year, according to IBM Coremetrics, which tracks shopper behavior on more than 500 e-commerce sites. Many analysts expected Monday's online shopping will tally more than $1 billion for the first time.

Chicago - According to accounting firm BDO USA, LLP, 63% of chief marketing officers at leading U.S. retailers said their 2010 holiday advertising and marketing budgets have remained flat, a continued trend from 2009 (55%) and 2008 (43%).

BDO’s survey found that 20% of CMOs cited a decrease in their holiday marketing and advertising budget, signaling some flexibility, compared with 2009 (26%) and 2008 (32%). Seventeen percent of CMOs cite an increase, only slightly less than 2009 (19%).

By Andrew Macey

New York - Barnes & Noble Inc. reported Tuesday that it narrowed its loss to $12.6 million in its fiscal second quarter, compared with a loss of $24 million in the year-ago period. Results missed Wall Street expectations, and the book seller has issued a weak outlook for the third quarter and the full year.

Revenue surged 64% to $1.91 billion, attributed to the company’s acquisition of its college book unit. Without the acquisition, sales rose 1%.

Same-store sales fell 3.3%.