eCommerce

New York – Fast-fashion retailer H&M estimates that it will continue to expand annually at a rate of 10% to 15%, which would take the U.S. store count to more than 400 and the total store count to almost 4,000 stores by the end of the year.

During 2015, the Swedish retailer has thus far announced it will open 61 stores, including the Herald Square flagship in New York City, which will become the largest H&M in the world when it opens on May 20.

Seattle – Starbucks Corp. is denying reports that hackers illegally gained entry into accounts of some users of its mobile app. Multiple media reports have indicated hackers broke into hundreds of accounts of Starbucks app users, stole their stored value, and leveraged the reload function to obtain customer payment card data.

In a statement, Starbucks said news reports of a hack are false and that it occasionally receives reports of unauthorized activity caused by criminals re-using names and passwords stolen from other customer accounts.

Secaucus, N.J. – A reduction in cost of sales helped The Children’s Place Inc. boost net income 15% to $15.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 from $13.6 million in the same quarter a year earlier. The Children’s Place achieved this increase in profitability even as net sales dropped 1% to $404.9 million, from $410.15 million.

Negative impact of foreign currency exchange fluctuations drove the reduction in net sales. Same-store sales rose 0.7%.

Bentonville, Ark. – Walmart will test a free online shipping service in summer 2015 that will serve as a competitor to the Amazon Prime service from Amazon.com. The service will only cost $50 for a year’s subscription, as compared to $99 for Amazon Prime.

New York - Cole Haan is launching Apple Pay within its mobile shopping application. The retailer partnered with mobile commerce platform, PredictSpring, to build the Cole Haan iPhone, iPad and Android mobile apps.

Notable features include Shop the Look, allowing consumers to shop directly from the Cole Haan Instagram feed, as well as geo-fencing technology that alerts consumers to nearby Cole Haan stores. The Cole Haan app with Apple Pay is available for free download on the iTunes App Store.
 

Philadelphia - Five Below will make its initial entry into the Kansas City, Missouri market with the opening of three stores on May 15. The tween and teen specialty retailer expects to open a total of 70 new stores during 2015, on top of opening 62 stores in 2014

The three approximately 7,500-sq.-ft. Five Below Kansas City stores are located in Tiffany Springs Market Center in Kansas City, Adam's Dairy Landing in Blue Springs, Missouri, and Olathe Pointe Shopping Center in Olathe, Kansas.

London – Moms with kids younger than 18 are known to be discerning, and only two retailers made the list of top 10 best perceived brands among these special ladies. According to the latest Brand Index from market research firm YouGov, Amazon.com ranked number two with a score of 58.8, Skechers came in at number eight at 48.1, and Samsung nabbed the number 10 spot at 47.7.

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney Co. topped analysts estimates for the first quarter, reporting a smaller-than-expected loss. Declaring its intent to become the “preferred shopping choice for middle America” and gain back market share, the company also raised its outlook for the year.

Penney posted a loss of $167 million in the quarter ended May 2, compared with a net loss of $352 million in the year-ago period.