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CINCINNATI — Macy’s Inc. reported a significant increase in sales for the first quarter, thanks to a strong performance in its online business. The company reported that total sales for the quarter increased 4.3% to $6.1 billion. Online sales for the quarter increased 33.7% and contributed 1.5 percentage points to the company’s same-store sales increase of... Read more »

Despite dropping from the previous year, Kohl’s said its net income for the first quarter ended April 28 was in line with its expectations. The company reported net income of $154 million (63 cents per diluted share) compared with $201 million ($0.69 per diluted share) a year ago. Net sales were $4.2 billion, an increase... Read more »

Though 79 is just one point shy of what ForeSee considers a superior score on its annual top 100 online retailers for customer satisfaction list, Target should still be concerned, as it was three points behind rival Walmart, and three points does make a difference.  With the lowest score on the list being 69 and... Read more »

Walmart has launched a “Pay with Cash” service that offers cash payment options for online orders at Walmart.com in the United States. Walmart is the first major retailer to offer online purchases without the need for banking services or a credit, debit or prepaid card. The retailer said that the majority of its in-store transactions... Read more »

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had declined slightly in March, was virtually unchanged in April. The Index now stands at 69.2 (1985=100), down slightly from 69.5 in March. The Expectations Index declined to 81.1 from 82.5, while the Present Situation Index improved to 51.4 from 49.9 last month. Says Lynn Franco, Director of The... Read more »

A report released by Bloomberg showed that household confidence improved last week to match the highest level in four years.  The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index improved in the week ended April 15 to match the highest level in four years as more Americans said their finances were in better shape.  The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index... Read more »

Lowe’s has created two new executive positions, with the goal of streamlining its operations to better serve its customers. The new positions are chief customer officer and chief operating officer, and they will be filled by current EVP business development, Gregory Bridgeford, and Rick Damron, EVP store operations, respectively. The promotions are effective May 5,... Read more »

The U.S. Census Bureau announced that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for March, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $411.1 billion, an increase of 0.8 percent (±0.5%) from the previous month and 6.5 percent (±0.7%) above March 2011.  Total sales for the January through... Read more »

Numerous research studies demonstrate that retail point of sale reporting (POS reporting) provides vendors with a critical advantage in sales and inventory management.  But we often find a disconnect between the POS report and a hard ROI.  Why is that? Many vendors that create retail POS reporting systems are managing what we call “rear view”... Read more »