International Business

Strong growth in its e-commerce divisions couldn't lift profits at Nordstrom Inc., which reported a drop in earnings for the first quarter. 

For the period ended May 2, Nordstrom reported a profit of $128 million, or 66 cents a share, down from $140 million, or 72 cents a share, a year earlier. The retailer also reported that Nordstrom.com and Nordstromrack.com had a combined 70% increase in sales in the first quarter.

Cincinnati -- Bad weather, decreased spending by international tourists  due to the strong U.S. dollar and delayed merchandise shipments from the West Coast port slowdown all contributed to Macy’s missing Wall Street projections for profit and revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2015. Net income fell 13% to $193 million, from $224 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

Net sales dropped about 1% to $6.23 million, from $6.28 million. Same-store sales declined 0.7%.

Austin, Texas – Video and text messaging app Tango is partnering with Wal-Mart and Alibaba to offer full e-commerce functionality inside the Tango app. Tango is rolling out functionality to U.S. users, which will provide them with the ability to browse and purchase items available from Wal-Mart and the AliExpress international shopping site, which is hosted by Alibaba.

Washington, D.C. – The National Retail Federation (NRF) is publicly criticizing the Senate for blocking consideration of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act, which would renew Trade Promotion Authority. Trade Promotion Authority is legislation from Congress outlining objectives and oversight for trade negotiations between the U.S. and other countries.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is partnering with the Alipay payment services subsidiary of Alibaba Holding Group to offer a new mobile payment option in some Chinese Wal-Mart locations. Customers at 25 Wal-Mart stores in the Chinese city of Shenzhen in southern China are now able to use the Alipay mobile wallet to pay for purchases.

On the heels of Walmart's decision to acquire 13 Target locations in Canada comes an announcement from Lowe's, which has also decided to acquire 13 Target Canada leases as well as distribution center in Ontario.

The deal is worth about $125 million.

Macy’s Chairman and CEO Terry Lundgren offered plenty of reasons why the company’s first quarter sales were worse than expected – but also noted the confluence of factors that caused the disappointing results are largely behind the company.

Staples is accelerating its pursuit of growth opportunities abroad even as the company awaits regulatory approval of a proposed merger with Office Depot.

Staples has announced a partnership with Bidvest Waltons, South Africa’s leading office products company, and Dacris, a major distributor of office supplies in Romania.

Sephora is looking to increase online sales by expanding its omnichannel capabilities in China with a new flagship store on JD.com.

Sephora says its JD.com store will be the largest cosmetics store on JD.com's platform, featuring over 1,200 items from more than 70 leading international cosmetic brands, including Dior, Guerlain, Givenchy, Benefit and Kenzoki, among dozens of others.

Walmart is partnering with Chinese e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba to allow customers to make purchases using mobile devices in 25 of its stores in southern China.