Strategy

Bentonville, Ark. – Walton Enterprises LLC, the corporation which holds Wal-Mart stock for the Walton family, plans to sell off some of its ownership stake in the discount giant. In a brief statement on the Wal-Mart investors webpage, Walton Enterprises said its stake in Wal-Mart has risen to about 50% as a result of stock buyback programs.

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. has named grocery and consumer packaged goods veteran Anne Dament to the role of senior VP, merchandising. In the role, she will be responsible for leading the strategic repositioning of Target’s food business.

The retailer had previously announced its intent to reposition its approach to food over the next 12 to 18 months, with an emphasis on making better-for-you options simple and attainable, providing meal solutions and offering unique selections for everyday occasions as well as entertaining.

When retailers' customers aren’t happy, how do they really know? Many key metrics, such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), are born from accumulated survey results and don’t capture true happiness. Surveys focus on whether a customer is satisfied, which is very different from happieness. These are two very different things. So, the question becomes: Are companies really primed to measure customer happiness, or are they settling for a rationalized alternative created by linguistic gymnastics in a survey?

Starboard Value, the investment firm driving change at Staples, pushed the retailer to merge with Office Depot and now has achieved another of its goals with the addition of a new board member.

San Jose, Calif. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may sue PayPal for practices of its PayPal Credit same-day loan provider unit. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), PayPal said the lawsuit could occur by June 2015.

The bureau has been investigating PayPal Credit, formerly known as Bill Me Later, since 2013. The investigation includes practices in areas such as online credit products, advertising, loan origination, customer acquisition, servicing, debt collection and complaints handling practices.

Duluth, Ga. -- NCR Corporation announced that the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) will replace 6,000 point-of-sale terminals with NCR RealPOS 72XRT systems. The new technology will replace non-NCR terminals in both its retail and food services locations, and will be maintained globally by NCR Services.

The Exchange provides quality goods and service at comparatively low prices to American armed forces families. It operates more than 3,100 facilities worldwide, in more than 30 countries, five U.S. territories and 50 states.

Lowe's outlined its progress in meeting its sustainability objectives in its 2014 Social Responsibility Report.

Sears Holdings will eventually need to sell more stuff to shoppers to remain viable as a retailer, but in the meantime the company has shown itself to be more adept at generating cash through complex real estate deals that unlock the value of an increasingly less productive store base.