Budgets/Spending/Market Size

Franklin, Tenn. - Much of the retail industry’s $642.6 billion in annual returns worldwide ($246.3 billion in North America) can be prevented.

That’s according to a new research report from retail analyst firm IHL Group, commissioned by OrderDynamics, “Retailers and the Ghost Economy: The Haunting of Returns,” which finds that quality problems/product defects are the leading cause of retail returns.

Carpinteria, Calif. -- With more Americans using credit, debit and prepaid goods to pay for goods and services, the amount merchants pay to process those cards continues to rise.

Washington, D.C. - Retailers lose billions of dollars to shoplifting, employee and vendor theft and administrative error, collectively known as inventory shrink.

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF)/University of Florida National Retail Security Survey, inventory shrink averaged 1.38% of retail sales, or $44 billion, in 2014. (The methodology for the survey changed in 2015 and as such, NRF does not have comparable data from prior years for this year’s report.) The report was sponsored by The Retail Equation.  

Conshohocken, Pa. – Home furnishings giant Ikea is increasing the minimum wage it pays to U.S. employees in stores and some distribution centers for the second straight year.

According to the Associated Press, Ikea’s average U.S. minimum hourly wage will rise about 10% to $11.87 from $10.76 as of Jan. 1, 2016.

Retailers are losing billions of dollars to shoplifting, employee/vendor theft and administrative error, according to the National Retail Federation.

Washington, D.C. – Back-to-school spending for both K-12 and college students is on the upswing this year. According to a study of more than 6,400 adults with children in K-12 and college conducted by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights, 29% of K-12 households plan to spend more in the current year than the previous year, as do almost 30% of college households.

Seattle – Starbucks Corp. putting its money where its mouth is in terms of ethical and sustainable sourcing. Starbucks is making a new commitment to contribute $30 million in the next five years as part of its Global Farmer Fund program that aids sustainable farming operations.

In a little over three years as a public company, Facebook may now be worth more than Walmart.

The question is, will the social network's surge last?

According to Quartz, over the last year, Facebook’s stock has jumped roughly 30% as the broader S&P 500 has barely managed to keep its head above water. The climb has added more than $65 billion to Facebook’s market value, bringing it to more than $236 billion, just above Walmart’s $235 billion.

Boca Raton, Fla. — A deal that would leave the nation with one giant office-supply retailer is one step nearer to completion.

Office Depot shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favor of the proposed $6.3 billion buyout offer from rival Staples Inc., with 99.5 % of the votes cast in favor of the merger.

Staples proposed to acquire Office Depot in February in a cash-and-stock deal. Under the deal, Office Depot shareholders will get $7.25 per share in cash and 0.2188 of a share in Staples stock for each Office Depot share held.

New York -- Women have a real investment hiding in their closets, according to a survey by Alliance Data’s Card Services business, which manages store-brand credit card programs for retailers.

One-fourth of survey respondents indicated the total value of the items in their closet to be from $1,000 to $2,499, and 17% valued the contents between $5,000 and $9,999.