Retail

Boca Raton, Fla. – Office Depot is offering college students a variety of online back-to-school shopping services through a dedicated page on its e-commerce site. Features include an online catalog geared toward college students and an online college checklist, as well as a partnership with connected learning platform Chegg.

Through the Chegg partnership, Office Depot will run a contest called the “Countdown to College Giveaway” with prizes including technology devices and school supplies, and co-authored online tips and articles.

By Niklas Bjorkman, [email protected]

In retail we all struggle with data regardless if it is related to chain store management, logistic solutions, business intelligence at the head office, or ERP.  

New York -- Supermarket operator Compare Foods announced that it begun the implementation of the Swift Shopper app created by ezCommerce Solutions. The app, designed for those retailers hesitant to invest in mobile point-of-sale, costs retailers nothing and doesn’t require any hardware, training or integration to implement. Customers download it to their phone/tablet for free (or upgrade for the low cost of $1.99) and it enables them to scan any barcode as they shop.  

It works in every store where cashiers have dual-line handheld scanners.

Grand Rapids, Mich. -- Spartan Stores and Nash Finch Company on Monday announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Spartan Stores and Nash Finch will combine in an all-stock merger valued at approximately $1.3 billion, including existing net debt at each company.

Nash Finch, which had revenues of about $4.8 billion last year, will become a subsidiary of Spartan Stores, which had revenues of $2.6 billion.

Miami — AT&T is looking to fill nearly 235 retail openings in South Florida before the end of October.

More than half of the openings are newly created jobs for retail sales consultants and retail sales managers from Key West to Vero Beach. More than 40 of the new positions will staff two new AT&T www.att.com stores slated to open in Miami this October.

Pittsburgh -- GNC Holdings Inc. on Monday opens its first freestanding store in China. The store, located in the Raffles City complex in Shanghai, is the first of about 25 standalone stores GNC plans to open in China during the next 12 months.

Austin, Texas – Digital coupon provider RetailMeNot launches its IPO on Friday of 9,090,908 shares of its Series 1 common stock at a price to the public of $21 per share. Shares will be available on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "SALE." Of the shares in the offering, 4,545,454 shares are being offered by RetailMeNot and 4,545,454 shares are being offered by selling stockholders.

Dallas – The market for social CRM software, or technology that allows retailers to perform activities such as social monitoring, social listening, social management and social measurement for providing an enhanced customer experience, is set to grow exponentially in the next few years.

According to a new report from RnR Market Research, the social CRM technology market will expand from $1.91 billion in 2013 to $9.08 billion in 2018. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36.5% from 2013 to 2018.