Costco Wholesale Corp.

Slow traffic at its California stores proved a drag for Costco Wholesale Corp. in April.

The retailer reported flat same-store sales in April, below analysts’ estimates of a 1.2% increase.

Total sales in April rose 3% to $8.98 billion, helped by strength in Canada.

Excluding gasoline-price fluctuations and currency exchange rates, U.S. same-store sales rose 2%, below estimates for growth of 3.4%. Same-store sales in Canada increased 2% overall and 7% when excluding gas prices and currency.

When it comes to providing digital consumers with a quality online shopping environment, one well-known discount club chain comes out on top.

According to the “2016 Digital Experience Report” from application performance company Dynatrace, Costco led all online retailers in both performance and reliability. Apple followed in a close second place.

May in Las Vegas is when the dealmakers come out to, well, make deals, as the International Council of Shopping Centers hosts its annual RECon event at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Westgate Las Vegas Hotel. Held May 22-25 and attended by retailers and shopping center owners from around the globe, RECon will display such project wares as mixed-use destinations, outlet centers, and strip and lifestyle projects — and everything in between.

Shoppers may be using EMV-compliant, chip-enabled payment cards, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they like them.

Business research firm Field Agent recently conducted an audit of 100 chip processing systems at leading retailers Costco, CVS Health, Home Depot, Kroger, Lowes, Target, Walgreens and Walmart. It also undertook a survey of 300 consumers who use chip cards. In the survey, only 37% of the respondents reported a preference for EMV cards over the swiping variety; 63% said they would rather swipe a card than insert a chip card.

Shoppers may be using EMV-compliant, chip-enabled payment cards, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they like them.

Business research firm Field Agent recently conducted an audit of 100 chip processing systems at leading retailers Costco, CVS Health, Home Depot, Kroger, Lowes, Target, Walgreens and Walmart. It also undertook a survey of 300 consumers who use chip cards. In the survey, only 37% of the respondents reported a preference for EMV cards over the swiping variety; 63% said they would rather swipe a card than insert a chip card.

Do well by doing good. U.S. businesses are taking this adage attributed to Benjamin Franklin to heart.

It's good business. Happy employees are engaged employees, and that translates into productivity gains and ultimately to happy customers and a better bottom line.

There are going to be a lot of happy chickens roaming free in the coming years as retailer after retailer establish dates by which they will offer only cage-free eggs.

Meijer and Supervalu recently announced plans to source only cage-free eggs by 2025, joining Delhaize and Albertson’s who earlier this year set 2025 as their cage-free deadline. Ahold USA earlier this year also indicated it would be cage-free by 2022. Walmart and Costco have also announced cage-free commitments as have some major food suppliers such as Nestle.

In a history-making move that would have a direct impact on the retail industry and food service sector, the state of California has moved closer to raising the statewide minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022.