eCommerce

Atlanta - Hooters of America LLC has finalized an agreement with global commercial real estate services firm Colliers International to have the firm advise Hooters on real estate needs and provide strategic counsel as the brand expands domestically and internationally. Colliers International’s Bob Browning, VP for retail services, and Robert Hantgan, senior VP, are managing the exclusive assignment.

Manchester, U.K. - Global online fashion retailer Boohoo has selected cross-channel marketing attribution software company Visual IQ, to provide marketing attribution management solutions across TV and digital channels in support of its 2015 growth initiatives. Boohoo leverages a number of traditional, digital and mobile channels to connect with consumers.

Waban, Mass. - Chick-fil-A took the second spot in the annual Temkin Customer Service Ratings, tops among all retailers and food service chains. Other retailers and food service companies in the top 12 include Aldi, Trader Joe's, Publix, Panera Bread, H-E-B, Amazon.com, and Bed Bath & Beyond.

Supermarkets, retailers, and banks, as an industry, earned average ratings of "strong.” Retailers RadioShack and Sears were ranked at least 15 points below retail industry average.

Framingham, Mass. – Staples Inc. sees Amazon.com as its biggest competitor, and is not shying away from the competition. During a panel discussion at the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium held May 20 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Staples CIO Tom Conophy explained his company’s intentions in its rivalry with the e-commerce giant.

“We’re going after Amazon in a big way,” declared Conophy. “We were an original disruptor in retail but lost our way. We didn’t see the onslaught of Amazon coming.”

Washington, D.C. – Online marketplace LivingSocial appointed Atul Kavthekar as CFO. He will join the company in June, and will report to president and CEO Gautam Thakar.
 

San Francisco – E-commerce platform Bigcommerce teamed up with Braintree and PayPal to offer an end-to-end ecommerce solution that makes it easier to launch and grow an online store. As part of the collaboration, Bigcommerce merchants will also get access to PayPal’s One Touch for web and mobile, enabling shoppers to pay across more than 90,000 online stores in a single touch, without needing to enter user IDs or passwords after their first login.

San Francisco — Gap Inc. posted an 8% decline in its first-quarter profit amid currency fluctuations, merchandise delays from the West Coast ports slowdown, and sluggish sales at its namesake and Banana Republic stores. On a positive note, Old Navy continued its strong performance. 
 

New York – Increases in selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses and interest expenses helped increase net loss at New York & Co. to $4.7 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 from $300,000 the same period a year earlier. The growing loss occurred as sales improved 2% to $223.4 million from $219.6 million, and same-store sales rose 1.8%.