Walmart

Despite weak overall sales growth and an expected decline in third quarter profits, Walmart’s third quarter results offered reasons for the company to be optimistic and for competitors to be concerned.

Popularity and resale value do not always correlate when it comes to gift cards.

Visa is tops in a ranking of the gift cards expected to be most popular this holiday season.

Rounding out the top 10: American Express; iTunes; Wal-Mart; Target; Starbucks; Netflix; eBay and Google Play. The ranking is from CardHub, a credit card comparison Web site owned by Evolution Finance.

Grocery e-commerce has thus far mostly been the province of large vertical players like Kroger, mass merchandisers like Target and Wal-Mart, and online platforms like Amazon and Instacart.

However, a successful regional grocer is throwing its Stetson in the grocery e-commerce ring. Texas-based H-E-B, one of the nation's largest regional grocery retailers with more than 370 stores in Texas and Mexico, is making 50,000 food, drugstore and general merchandise products available to purchase and ship at its corporate site.

Walmart’s Thanksgiving weekend promotional strategy is taking a more digital, less promotional turn that may hurt sales but should lessen the scenes of customer chaos and conflict that find their way onto YouTube.

Retailers are feeling confident about their overall financial situations, but less so about omnichannel investment.

This is a main finding from the 7th annual CIT Group Retail Outlook study conducted among 250 senior middle-market retail executives by Harris Poll. Although respondents are generally projecting growing sales and revenue, many feel significant investment toward innovation in an omnichannel strategy -- including website, mobile and social media channels -- will be needed to remain competitive.

Everyone wants to know how Walmart can compete with Amazon in e-commerce when the latter doesn't really make money at it. According to Ad Age, "The more Walmart does to differentiate itself from Amazon and offer a better value proposition, the more it will succeed," she said. "The more it focuses on price and value, the more it can compete." But it's a very long game. [Ad Age]

Excess energy consumption in retail can exceed 30%, which means there is a huge opportunity for savings that many retailers s have not yet fully explored.

Retailers spend nearly $20 billion annually on energy expenses, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. By saving just 15% from optimizing operations and eliminating waste, we can save $3 billion as an industry.

Think quick – who are your top competitors? No matter what product category or channels you operate in, if your list of top two or three rivals doesn’t include Amazon.com, it probably needs updating.

Staples CIO Tom Conophy has publicly identified Amazon as a prime competitor, and Walmart has launched a clear strategy of trying to one-up Amazon innovations like Prime Day and delivery drones. But even if you’re not a major big-box chain, Amazon still most likely represents a critical threat to your market share. Here are three reasons why.

Sam’s Club is introducing a new way for shoppers to get a head start on their holiday shopping: Pre-Black Friday.

The nation’s eighth largest retailer and the warehouse division of Walmart is planning to give Sam's Club members early access to exclusive savings on some of the most sought-after holiday items and Thanksgiving meal must-haves.

While Whole Foods Market and The Fresh Market struggle to eke out sales growth and profit, Sprouts Farmers Market is quietly emerging as a perennial winner in the grocery sector.

Sprouts reported its third quarter results this week, and the company's financials exceeded company guidance and even Wall Street estimates.

The grocery chain reported results for the 13-week third quarter ended Sept. 27 that included:

• Net sales of $903.1 million, an 18% increase from the same period in 2014