MARKET WATCH
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IBM to Acquire DemandTec to Expand Cloud-Based Analytics
IBM and DemandTec have entered into a definitive merger agreement for IBM to acquire DemandTec. The acquisition will extend IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative by adding cloud-based price, promotion and other merchandising and marketing analytics to help companies better define the best price points and product mix based on customer buying trends.
According to IBM, Smarter Commerce turns customer insight into action, enabling new business processes that help companies buy, market, sell and service their products and services. The company estimates the market opportunity for Smarter Commerce at $20 billion in software alone. Extending these capabilities to the cloud gives organizations immediate access to consumer information, providing instant return on investment. IBM is a recognized market leader in each of the categories within Smarter Commerce, launched in March 2011.
DemandTec expands IBM’s Software-as-a Service (SaaS) strategy by adding additional, subscription-based offerings to IBM’s SaaS solutions portfolio. DemandTec has approximately 450 customers worldwide in retail, consumer products and other industries. Retail industry segments served include grocery, drug, convenience, consumer electronics, office supplies, apparel, department stores, and quick-serve restaurants. Manufacturer segments include fast moving consumer goods categories such as food, beverage, and health & beauty. DemandTec also has a portfolio of 31 patents in the areas of pricing, response analysis, and promotion analysis.
DemandTec will be integrated into IBM’s Software Group, a key driver of growth and profitability for IBM.
Hy-Vee Food Stores Deploys Mobile Navigation Service
Shoppers in Hy-Vee Food Stores can find what they are looking for more easily by using their smartphones to link to a customized navigation service. They can access the shopping platform for the stores within aisle41’s iPhone and Android applications, as well as within the Hy-Vee Foods iPhone application.
Hy-Vee is leveraging aisle411’s API and SDK to enable the creation of a customized application that features retail navigation technology, context-aware product recommendation engine and advertising server. aisle411's proprietary platform takes in-store inventory data and floor maps, and makes them easily searchable and interactive via a mobile app.
Nathan Pettyjohn, CEO, aisle411, said “Hy-Vee Food Stores has taken the initiative to deliver its shoppers a premium tool to ensure shopping experiences are enjoyable.”
General Mills Expands Innovation Network
General Mills is expanding its successful General Mills Worldwide Innovation Network (G-WIN) open innovation program to include emerging digital marketing technologies with the launch of G-WIN Digital. With the expansion, the company seeks to connect with partners who have digital marketing technologies focusing on video, social, mobile and gaming.
“From the Betty Crocker radio programs in the 1920s, to sponsoring the first televised commercial sports broadcast in 1939, to the Betty Crocker iPad app today, General Mills has a rich history of using emerging technology to develop relationships with consumers,” said Mark Addicks, General Mills senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “Today, digital marketing innovation is essential for us to connect and engage with consumers when and where they seek inspiration.”
G-WIN Digital leverages the benefits of open innovation to discover, pilot and share emerging digital marketing technologies with General Mills’ portfolio of iconic brands.
Prospective partners with emerging digital technologies can contact General Mills online by visiting www.GWINDigital.com. Submissions are evaluated according to several criteria, including application for General Mills brands, uniqueness and proof of concept. Media plan proposals, original content ideas and media kits will not be accepted.
Bashas Offers Advanced Loyalty Card Promotions
Bashas’ Family of Stores, operator of more than 120 food stores throughout Arizona, is providing advanced promotions to shoppers who use the Thank You (loyalty) card. The grocer is working with Incentive Targeting to create, implement and measure its loyalty card promotions.
Robert Ortiz, Bashas’ Vice President of Sales and Marketing, said “Vendors can now provide more targeted offers to specific Bashas’ shoppers, and they’ll have the ability to track the results instantaneously and over time.” Vendors working with Bashas’ on Thank You Card promotions will
now have instant access to sales and shopper insights down to the per-store, per-SKU level.
Win Burke, President and CEO of Incentive Targeting, said, “In the current economic climate, time and money are more precious than ever, and shoppers want to receive more relevant, higher-value offers. Our loyalty card promotions will deliver a win-win-win for shoppers, for vendors, and for Bashas’.”
Incentive Targeting, based in Cambridge, Mass., provides a web-based system for retailers and consumer product marketers to create, manage, and measure behaviorally-targeted promotions. Through patent-pending software, Incentive Targeting enables targeted, pay-for-success marketing and real-time analytics across hundreds of stores and millions of shoppers. To learn more, visit www.incentivetargeting.com.
Nestle Purina Uses QR Codes to Boost Charity
Nestle Purina is driving donations to its charity that supports pet shelters by leveraging QR codes on packaging of its Purina One cat food, according to published reports. The pet food maker will donate $1 for each mobile bar code scanned to provide food to pet shelters. QR code scans from consumers can add up to $30,000 in donations.
Purina began producing packages with the QR codes in November and will continue to make them through this month. The codes appear on bags of Purina One dry cat food in two flavors: chicken and rice, and salmon and tuna.
Donations will provide food for Purina One’s network of 15 pet shelters across the U.S.
CVS/pharmacy Launches iPhone
CVS/pharmacy has launched a mobile application for shoppers using the iPhone and other Apple mobile devices. The application leverages the tools available on CVS.com including managing prescriptions, planning shopping trips and even scheduling a flu shot.
Chain officials say the app will simplify everything from prescription management to easily locating the nearest store with maps and driving directions from any location. Users can also make store visits more efficient by creating mobile shopping lists in advance by browsing the weekly sales and adding items to a custom shopping list with one click.
“We have introduced the CVS/pharmacy mobile application to give customers the ability to manage prescriptions and access important health information from any location,” said Rob Price, senior vice president of marketing and chief marketing officer for CVS/pharmacy. “In addition to managing prescriptions, the mobile application will provide instant access to our flu shot scheduler, and even allow customers to plan shopping trips in advance using our mobile circular.”
M-Commerce Sales Growing Quickly
Sales will nearly double this year and more than quadruple again by 2015
Mobile commerce is still small compared to the overall ecommerce market, but m-commerce sales are on a steep upward trajectory, thanks in part to increasing adoption of smartphones and rising mobile internet usage, according to a new forecast by eMarketer.
Its estimates say mobile commerce sales will reach $6.7 billion this year in the US - a tiny fraction of overall retail sales, to be sure, but a 91.4% increase over 2010. Next year, sales will rise another 73.1% to $11.6 billion.
“Mobile commerce is growing at a fast clip. It’s acting as an engine of overall ecommerce growth, by converting potential brick-and-mortar sales to digital sales as consumers use their smartphones while shopping in-store,” said eMarketer principal analyst Jeffrey Grau, author of a forthcoming report on mobile buying.
Save Money Using Mobile Shopping Apps: Survey
How will shoppers plan to use mobile shopping applications this holiday season?
Eighty-four percent of the consumers who have shopping-related apps indicated that they plan to use their apps to help save money when purchasing holiday gifts, says a survey by PriceGrabber, a part of Experian. Four of ten consumers (39%) have shopping-related apps on a smartphone, 26% do not, and 35% do not own a smartphone.
Many consumers will download new apps for the holidays, according to the survey. Comparison shopping apps are most popular since consumers believe apps help them find the best prices.
The survey, conducted from Oct. 18 to Oct. 26, includes responses from 3,574 U.S. online shopping consumers.
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