Retail

Denver -- Junction Solutions announced today that Pet Supplies Plus, a leading retailer of pet food, pet products and pet supplies, has selected Junction Solutions to implement Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail to help the company standardize business processes, support its growth goals, as well as expand the business into a multichannel operation.

To achieve these goals, Pet Supplies Plus selected Junction Solutions to replace its legacy systems with Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail.  

New York -- Omnichannel retailer Benchmark Brands has chosen intelligence provider, Upstream Commerce, to maximize Benchmark's price and assortment optimization.

"We chose Upstream Commerce for their experience with large high fashion and apparel retail companies in the US," said Christine Mueller, VP, Benchmark, which specializes in footwear and related products for baby boomers and seniors. "Upstream Commerce fits our goals of providing the best omnichannel shopping experience to our customers while driving profitable growth.

New York -- The hunt is on for a new president and COO at Dick's Sporting Goods. Dick’s disclosed in a regulatory filing that Joseph Schmidt is retiring as president and COO of the retailer, a role he has held since 2009, at year-end. In other changes, John Duken, executive VP of global merchandising since 2012, plans to retire, effective at the end of November.

New York -- ICA Sweden has signed a licensing agreement with Starbucks Coffee Company to open Starbucks retail stores in the grocery store channel in Sweden. The cafés will be operated by ICA according to the Starbucks licensing concept and under the Starbucks brand.

Initially, the plan is to open three Starbucks retail stores during 2015. These will then be evaluated before a decision is made on the possible establishment of more cafés.

New York -- Sears Holdings Corp. said in regulatory filing that it would borrow $400 million from the hedge fund of its CEO, Edward Lampert, who is also the company’s largest shareholder.  

Sears received the first $200 million of the loan from Lampert's ESL Investments on Monday, and expects to receive the remaining amount on Sept. 30.

The company said it would use the money for “general corporate purposes.

New York – Department stores are increasingly using an omnichannel approach to meet the needs of consumers. According to the Digital IQ Index from digital intelligence provider L2, half of department stores offer shoppers a “click and collect” option, 68% allow in-store returns of online purchases, and 25% provide real-time store inventory.

Other notable findings include:

• Seventy-seven percent of department store brands offer a mobile app;

Milford, Conn. -- Subway announced that it will launch NFC-based mobile payments nationwide on Oct. 1 with Softcard, the mobile commerce joint venture created by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA, Inc. and Verizon Wireless. It is one of the largest deployments of mobile payment capability in the country, Subway said.

By Graeme Grant, president & COO, CQuotient

Technology and the proliferation of communications channels have significantly altered the way brands and retailers approach customer engagement. What was a “nice-to-have” strategy of coordinating messages across shopping channels only three years ago is now a “sink-or-swim” requirement for merchants. Consumers engage across every touch-point and demand that retailers have an omnichannel communication approach to complement their always-connected behaviors.