Strategy

New York City -- The Private Label Manufacturing Association reported Tuesday that store brands have capped a decade of strong growth by posting sales increases across all three of the major retail channels in 2010 and pushing dollar market share to new all-time highs in supermarkets, drug stores and total outlets.

Salisbury, N.C. -- Grocery chain Bloom said Tuesday it has introduced a free iPhone application that will allow its customers to access weekly specials, search recipes, manage shopping lists and find their nearest Bloom.

"At Bloom, we look for opportunities to leverage technology to enhance our guests shopping experience," said Tammy DeBoer, VP of Bloom. "This new mobile application, from Mercatus, is user-friendly and makes it easy for our shoppers to connect with us and plan family meals."

NEW YORK — Trucks that operate around major U.S. ports tend to be heavier polluters than their over the road counterparts but that situation could change thanks to a new initiative that has drawn support from major retailers and government and non-government entities.

San Francisco -- Survey results released Tuesday by online customer experience management firm Tealeaf and conducted by Econsultancy showed that nearly 23% of online revenue is lost annually by U.S. companies due to poor online customer experiences.

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- Belk department store said Tuesday that it has selected Oracle Retail Merchandising System to enable a seamless, non-channel view of the brand both in-store and online.

“We are enabling next generation best practices that will center on optimizing the customer experience at both the store and ecommerce level,” said Mike Laurenti, CIO and executive VP, Belk.

New York City -- A report by the Associated Press on Tuesday said that private equity firm Aletheia Research & Management has once again reduced its stake in Barnes & Noble.

The major shareholder, which Barnes & Noble has said joined forces with Ron Burkle last year during a proxy fight, has for the second time in a month cut its shares, now owning about 3.2 million shares, or 5.4% of Barnes & Noble's outstanding stock, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Tuesday.

New York City -- Footwear manufacturer and retailer Skechers U.S.A. said Tuesday it has upgraded and expanded its Oracle Applications investment, implemented Oracle Database and moved to Oracle On Demand to support rapid growth across its retail and wholesale channels.

The new business information systems are part of a larger initiative for the billion-dollar-plus footwear company to fuel growth, reduce total cost of ownership and enable the business to respond faster to market opportunities.

New York City -- Retailers lost $37.14 billion to theft last year, or 1.58% of retail sales, up from 1.44% in 2009, according to preliminary results of the National Retail Security Survey. The annual survey is conducted by the University of Florida for the National Retail Federation, with funding from ADT Commercial.

As in previous years, employee theft accounted for the largest (approximately 44%) portion of the losses. Shoplifting and organized retail crime was second, with 33%. Administrative errors, vendor fraud and unknown causes make up the rest.