Hammacher Schlemmer said Tuesday it added the Eye Scanning Password Authenticator ($279) to its catalog, a device that’s designed to provide users authenticated access to secure websites “and other sensitive digital data.” The biometric device -- designed to supplant the need for passwords -- has a camera that scans a user’s iris to confirm identity before granting access to secure locations, the company said. The camera scans the 240 distinctive points of a user’s iris, which make up an individual’s unique pattern, and creates an encrypted ID that can’t be forged or duplicated, the company said. Once they’re identified, users link their account information for banking and shopping sites, social media and other portals, it said. On subsequent logins, the authenticator scans the iris, verifies identity and grants access to websites, eliminating the need to type in a password, it said. The device plugs into a USB port on a PC and can provide authentication for five users.
Though the slowdown at the West Coast ports began several months ago, Target’s Q4 performance “clearly demonstrates that our team was effective in handling this slowdown by rerouting, expediting and preordering inventory to support in-stock,” said Kathee Tesija, Target chief merchandising and supply chain officer, Wednesday on an earnings call. “We were very pleased with last weekend’s news that a tentative agreement had been reached” in the West Coast ports labor dispute (see 1502230029), Tesija said. “But what we know is it will be some time before the backlog at these ports will be fully eliminated.” In the meantime, we have contingency plans to continue to work around potential issues. But at times, we may encounter periods of light inventory in some assortments.”
Engaged couples have a new option for their wedding registries. Best Buy announced Wednesday one of its own, “enabling couples everywhere to register for their most-wanted tech essentials.” The retailer included wireless speakers, cameras, Ultra HD TVs and kitchen gadgets as suggested options. “Electronics and small appliances are as important to today’s newlyweds as silverware and towels,” said Wendy Fritz, Best Buy, head-gifting strategy. Couples can manage their registries at BestBuy.com/WeddingRegistry and can sync with myregistry.com and theknot.com, said Best Buy. Included with the registry is a one-time-use 10 percent off registry-completion coupon for the couple, Best Buy said. The Best Buy registry has a group gifting option for friends and family wanting to contribute toward a higher priced item and it's available for “nearly everything” Best Buy sells, the retailer said. Shipping is free on all items with no minimum. Gift-givers may want to buy later rather than earlier. According to FAQs, couples can return or exchange “most” registry items up to 60 days after they were purchased. In case a product is no longer available, it will be removed from the registry and a notification will include recommendations for similar items, Best Buy said. The registry launches Feb. 16.
System integration software providerD-Tools has joined ProSource, the AV specialists buying group said.
Stewart Filmscreen joined ProSource as a vendor member, the AV specialist buying group said Monday.
Higher average selling prices in consumer electronics partially offset unit declines in home office in Conn’s most recent quarter ended Jan. 31, the company said Thursday. Same-store TV sales were up 3 percent and stores had "strong" gaming sales, while tablet sales plummeted 47 percent from the year-ago quarter, the company said. CE same-store sales grew 8 percent, while home office same-store sales fell 22 percent. Total retail net sales rose 16 percent to $351 million.
TV trends helped h.h. gregg’s gross margin in the holiday quarter, as its sales mix shifted toward above-margin products such as larger screen sizes and 4K Ultra HD, Janney Capital Markets said in a research note Thursday after the quarterly earnings release. The category will have “additional runway going forward,” Janney said, cautioning that gains could moderate based on the need to move older 1080p HDTVs. Overall comparable store sales fell 6.3 percent, an improvement over an 11.2 percent drop in the year-ago quarter, while consumer electronics comp store sales -- including TVs, audio, personal electronics and accessories -- improved to negative 3.9 percent compared with minus 19.7 percent in the year-ago quarter. Computer and tablet comp store sales plummeted 35 percent in fiscal Q3, compared with growth of 24.5 percent in the 2013 quarter. The drop for the computing category was driven by a fall-off in unit demand for computers and tablets, a decrease in average selling prices for computers and tablets and the retailer’s exit from the contract-based mobile phone business during 2014. Excluding mobile phones, comp sales for the quarter fell 29.6 percent for computers and tablets, h.h. gregg said. The company had an $87 million loss on sales of $665.6 million in the quarter.
RadioShack wouldn’t comment Thursday on media reports that the chain was preparing to file for bankruptcy as soon as early February. “We decline to comment except to say that RadioShack has not confirmed any of the information that is being reported,” it said in an email statement. The reports said RadioShack is negotiating with a firm to buy its assets out of bankruptcy and also has contacted potential lenders for loan agreements to fund operations during a bankruptcy reorganization. The reports sent RadioShack shares plummeting further toward the zero mark. Shares closed 35.6 percent lower Thursday at 26 cents. "We know that coming to a long-term solution will be difficult and our ability to get there will be significantly affected by our performance during the critical holiday period," RadioShack CEO Joe Magnacca said Dec. 11 on the company's Q3 earnings call of his company's precarious financial predicament "There is no predetermined outcome to our recapitalization work and there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully implement a long-term solution," Magnacca said then, without taking questions. RadioShack has not commented on its holiday selling season performance, except to say that its U.S. same-store sales were down 1 percent for Black Friday weekend.
U.S. holiday retail sales for November and December reached $616 billion, the highest level since 2011, said the National Retail Federation (NRF) Wednesday. Online and e-commerce sales grew 6.8 percent to $101.9 billion, NRF said. But a “significant drop” in gasoline prices in December resulted in a retail sales drop of 0.9 percent from November and 4.6 percent year over year, NRF said. “While December’s figures are disappointing, holiday sales in 2014 are the best we've seen since 2011,” said NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz. NRF remains “positive about the future” and expects consumers to “continue to benefit from the extra income gained from an improved job market and the dramatic fall in gas prices,” said Kleinhenz. The Commerce Department said retail sales slumped by 0.9 percent in December.
Smartphone and tablet apps are becoming the norm during in-store shopping, said a Cisco study released at the National Retail Federation convention. Nearly half of U.S. consumers, and 42 percent in the U.K., said they’re using smartphones to augment their shopping experience, Cisco said. A third of U.S. shoppers are using independent shopping apps on a mobile device at least once a week, it said, and 55 percent of U.S. shoppers use retailer-specific apps while shopping. Lisa Fretwell, Cisco Consulting Services managing director-retail, said consumers are interested more in a “hyper-relevant” shopping experience than in a “hyper-personalized” experience, where they receive what they want when they want it versus a personalized experience of “knowing your name.” Consumers are becoming more accepting about giving up personal information as more connected devices enter their lives, Fretwell told us. To get offers relevant to them in a “value exchange,” consumers are increasingly willing to share purchase history and location data, she said. As part of the survey of 1,240 retail consumers in the U.S. and U.K. during October and November, Cisco tested shopping concepts with consumers to help determine the Internet of Things “value that is up for grabs” in terms of revenue “uplift” and employee productivity. Some 53 percent of consumers were interested in same-day home delivery of orders placed online and were willing to pay up to $5 per delivery, Cisco said. Four in 10 said they’d be willing to use a secure locker to pick up orders they had placed online, it said. Nearly three-fourths of respondents said they’d use a smartphone to scan products for customized offers and promotions in stores, and 63 percent were interested in “augmented reality apps” to help locate products in a store. Nearly 60 percent said they’d use augmented reality apps to get more product information such as online consumer reviews, it said. Six in 10 of those surveyed said they would like to scan barcodes on items while shopping to track items and pay at a self-service checkout terminal, said the study. Nearly half wanted to be able to store several payment cards on smartphones and smart watches so they could pay in stores by swiping the device at checkout, Cisco said,