Retail

Redwood City, Calif. - YottaMark Inc. has enhanced its ShopWell food nutrition app with weekly healthy eating advice from registered dietitians, personalized to the user's dietary goals. In response to member feedback, the ShopWell scoring algorithm has also been enhanced to include support for shoppers with vegetarian and vegan diets, and individuals trying to avoid corn.  

Second quarter sales at Amazon increased 23% to $19.3 billion thanks to growth of new and existing products, but the company reported an even bigger loss than it did the prior year.

Cambridge, U.K. -- Grafton Shopping Centre, Cambridge, is hoping to dazzle shoppers with a “virtual” employee who greets customers when they enter the mall. The shopping center is using the Tensator Virtual Assistant, innovative technology which projects a life-like image of a person.

The display interacts with customers, answering common questions and promoting mall offers. This is the very first use of the technology in a United Kingdom shopping mall.

San Jose, Calif. – EBay is offering $3.48 billion in debt bonds in a sale that will close July 28. EBay intends to use the net proceeds from the offering, for general corporate purposes including loan repayments.

$400 million of the debt will mature in 2017, with the rest coming due in stages through 2024.

London -- Fifty-four percent of online shoppers feel that they are more conscious of their security online compared to 12 months ago, following a string of high-profile security breaches at various international retailers and brands. Of the 2,000 online consumers surveyed as part of EDigitalResearch's and IMRG's EcustomerServiceIndex, half (50%) felt that retailers should be doing more to keep them safe online, especially in the wake of yet more data and security breaches in 2014.

Tablet point of sale company ShopKeep unveiled a redesigned website, logo and tagline earlier this week. The rebranding is intended to accompany ShopKeep’s growth since it started six years ago, and new features such as customized email receipts.
 
According to ShopKeep CEO Jason Richelson, the company’s new look “respects where we’ve come from but better reflects where we are, and where we intend to go as a company.”

Chicago – Physical stores continue to be customers’ preferred shopping channel and a place where the most significant consumer and retailer value is created, according to a new report by A.T. Kearney.

The firm’s “Omnichannel Shopping Preferences Study” found that stores play a crucial role in online purchases, as two-thirds of customers purchasing online use a physical store before or after the transaction. The survey covered all age segments — teens, Millennials, generation X, baby boomers, and seniors.

Sears Canada has added EVP and operating chief Klaudio Leshnjani to the board of directors, following the sudden passing of H Ronald Weissman.

Weissman has served as a member of board since Nov. 2013 and was a member of the audit committee.

Leshnjani held several executive positions with the company, including EVP, chief administrative officer and general counsel, EVP, financial and home services, human resources, general counsel and corporate communications and SVP and general counsel.