Walmart

San Francisco -- Gap Inc. plans to hire more than 63,000 seasonal associates—more than Walmart—at its stores, call centers and distribution centers nationwide for the 2014 holiday season. (Walmart previously announced it was hiring 60,000 seasonal associates.)  

Walmart’s newest omnichannel initiative is on display at a supercenter in Northwest Arkanas where the retailer has installed lockers for online order pickup.

By Dov Cohn

Boston -- Dollar General maintains its overall opening price point leadership position in Kantar Retail’s fourth annual opening price point (OPP) study. For the third consecutive year, Dollar General‘s overall basket was the least expensive, edging out Walmart supercenter’s basket by 2.5%, representing a widening of the gap between the two in the 2013 study.   

Kmart said its store payment systems were penetrated by cybercriminals who used a form of malware undetectable by current anti-virus systems.

The retailer said its information technology team on October 9 detected its payment data systems had been breached and immediately launched a full investigation working with a leading IT security firm. It was determined the breach began in early September and upon detection Kmart said it was able to quickly remove the malware.

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in September 2013 versus September 2014 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains. In the aftermath of back-to-school season, Walmart and Staples appear to be trying to clear out all remaining school and office supplies. Staples accomplished this by improving its previous offer of $5 off with purchase of $30 to $10 off and also cut backpack prices by 50%. Walmart shifted the focus from school to office, with a “Run Your Business for Less” promotion.

More than 362,000 votes were cast online in an innovative approach Walmart used to determine how $3.7 million in donations would be allocated among food banks nationwide.

Walmart is set to announce its 2015 growth priorities next week and in a clear sign of an accelerating Neighborhood Market rollout, the retailer has created a new organizational structure made up of seasoned operators and accomplished merchants.