Corporate Governance

Did a last-minute rush make for stronger holiday sales than many — including the National Retail Federation — had expected?

That’s the way it looks based on the MasterCard Spending Pulse report, which found that sales (excluding auto and gas) increased 7.9% during the holiday season, led by double-digit gains in e-commerce, women’s apparel and furniture.

The SpendingPulse report, released on Monday, December 28, looked at U.S. sales trends across cards, cash and checks from Black Friday to Christmas Eve.

Staples Inc. is turning to Twitter to provide extra assistance for its small business customers.

Staples is preparing the launch of the #MoreSmallBiz Squad, a group of experts who will directly interact with small business customers through use of the #MoreSmallBiz hashtag. The experts will offer blog posts and other content, and also directly interact with small businesses who post questions on Twitter using the hashtag.

On-demand alcohol delivery app Drizly is in a growth mode. The start-up has an average transaction of around $70, about three times higher than a normal, average in-store transaction, the founders told Boston.com. [Boston.com]

Amazon.com had a merry (and prosperous) holiday season, at least according to a limited set of statistics released by the e-tail giant.

Amazon touted the impact of mobile commerce on its 21st holiday season, reporting that nearly 70% of its customers shopped using a mobile device. However, Amazon did not break that figure down into how many shoppers actually made mobile purchases compared to those who browsed on a mobile device and bought through another channel.

The holiday season got off to a horrible start at Bed Bath & Beyond and things went downhill from there, judging from the industry leader's uncharacteristic and concerning profit warning.

Which brands will break new ground, fall from grace, or overcome obstacles in 2016? Here’s my list of brands to watch in 2016. Since I couldn’t narrow the list to a handful as I’ve done in past years, I decided to expand the list to 26, one for each letter of the alphabet.

So here’s a brand-builder’s almanac for the coming year:

It is common during an election cycle for candidates to lament how nothing gets done in Washington. However, that’s not always a bad thing, as evidenced by some of the Retail Industry Leaders Association’s efforts to influence and repeal legislation.

As the 2015 legislative session comes to a close, RILA has identified several important regulatory and legislative wins that will benefit retailers and their millions of employees and customers.

With 2016 upon us, many employers find themselves nervously awaiting what election-year politics might bring to their doorsteps. Retailers and restaurant operators, more than ever, have been thrust front and center into the political landscape, with labor issues at the top of candidate's agendas as well as the subject of numerous ballot issues at the state and local level.   As a result, the business models and labor practices of entry-level employers are being evaluated by the public in much the same way the candidates are.