Google, Inc.

Wegmans Food Markets, Costco, Publix and CVS are among the highest ranked companies in terms of corporate reputation, according to a new poll.

The 16th annual Harris Poll Reputation Quotient study ranked the reputations of the 100 most visible companies. Scores range from excellent (scores of 80+) to poor (scores of 50 to 64).

In another sign technology advancements are turning everyday life into the stuff of science fiction, Microsoft recently unveiled a new holographic computer system called HoloLens. Slated for official release this fall, HoloLens layers interactive 3-D holograms on top of the user’s physical surroundings, providing an “augmented reality” experience.

It may be hard to believe (considering its financial troubles), but Sears was the most popular U.S. department store on Facebook during the 2014 holiday shopping season, according to a new study. 

The data also show that Walmart.com was the most popular mass merchant store site.

Amazon’s Prime membership seemed to be the golden ticket to stronger sales for the e-commerce giant in the fourth quarter.

San Mateo, Calif. -- A pair of veteran retailers were among the most popular store sites on Facebook during the 2014 holiday season. Sears was the most popular U.S. department store, while Walmart.com was the most popular mass merchant store site, according to a study by Searchmetrics.

The Searchmetrics study analyzed the number of weekly Facebook likes, comments and shares for pages from the websites of nine top US department stores and three mass merchant stores during November and December 2014.

Los Angeles - Savings.com has launched Favado 2.0, a redesigned version of the grocery community savings app. The sale and coupon data in Favado 2.0 is aggregated by grocery saving experts throughout the country and presented in a new visual format.

By Marcel Munoz, CTO, Thanx Media

2014 was an interesting year in e-commerce. Who would have predicted that mobile commerce would explode the way it did? Advances in technology continue to influence consumer behavior and in turn their preferences are driving innovation in software and hardware.

For many supermarkets, having an effective grocery shopping app is a key component of their omnichannel toolkit. But how to design it?

Retailers could learn from Favado 2.0, a redesigned version of the grocery community savings app by savings.com. The sale and coupon data in Favado 2.0 is aggregated by grocery savings experts throughout the country and presented in a new visual format.

Redmond, Wash. – As part of its Windows 10 OS announcement earlier this week, Microsoft Corp. revealed it will be releasing a new holographic computer system called HoloLens that may offer retailers some interesting new ways to deliver an enhanced, seamless customer experience. HoloLens features see-through, holographic, high-definition lenses and spatial sound so users can see and hear holograms in the physical world around them.

Fans of Wawa may be excited to learn about the innovative new programs the convenience retail chain has rolled out.

The new initiatives -- the Wawa Mobile App and the Wawa Rewards program -- are now available for free through the App Store for Apple devices and through Google Play for Android devices.