Walmart

New York -- He very well may be the oldest employee in the United States. And Walmart has him.

Seattle – Last month Facebook overtook Wal-Mart in valuation, and now another digital giant has reportedly achieved the same feat. According to the Associated Press, after intense after-hours trading, which followed Amazon’s rare report of a second quarter fiscal 2015 profit, Amazon now has market capitalization of about $264 billion.

Data security has been a hot topic in the world of retail IT lately. Based on some recent retail data security-related news items, I have compiled a list of two don’ts and one do when it comes to securing your data.

Don’t outsource whole portions of your e-commerce platform

Months after urging its food producers to improve their animal welfare practices, Walmart has decided to expand distribution of the leading free range egg brand in the U.S.

The happy egg co. is the only U.S. egg brand that is 100% free range with a hen welfare program that covers everything from living conditions to feed to the expertise of the caregivers. To continue its mission of providing humanely produced eggs at an affordable price to consumers nationwide, the happy egg co. says it will now be available in 1,600 Walmart retail locations throughout the U.S.

Boston – The increasingly crowded digital payment field will soon have a new player. According to Bloomberg, the retailer-backed Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) is preparing to launch a trial of its CurrentC digital payment solution in stores.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is taking control of its e-commerce operations in China. The discount giant has acquired the 49% of its Chinese e-commerce arm Yihaodian it did not previously own, taking full ownership of its e-commerce business in China.   

Bentonville, Ark. – Shoppers who frequent 24-hour Wal-Mart locations may want to double-check the opening and closing times. According to Bloomberg, Wal-Mart will begin closing about forty 24-hour stores in areas including Philadelphia, New Jersey and Maryland for a few hours each night.   This expands upon the nighttime closures of about 25 other 24-hour Wal-Marts, which began earlier this year. Wal-Mart plans to use the downtime for activities such as stocking shelves and preparing store floors for customers. 

Walmart wants to advance its long-term growth prospects in China and has acquired full ownership of an e-commerce company in which it already held a majority stake to further that objective.