eCommerce

Amazon is exploring its next grocery opportunity — but not in the United States.    The online giant is looking for physical store locations in France, especially Paris. French newspaper Le Monde, which first broke the story, said Amazon has approached various French supermarket operators — including Groupe Casino, Intermarche and Systeme U — about setting up distribution deals or making an acquisition in the country, according to CNBC.  

Nordstrom opened the doors on Tuesday to its newest full-line store, one that includes new store design concepts and services.   

Target Corp. is testing curbside pickup in its home base.   The discounter has launched the service, called Drive Up, at its stores in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The retailer described the program as the latest example of how Target is using its stores as hubs to help customers shop “on their own terms.”  

Destination Maternity is making it easier for its customers to connect with the brand.   The maternity clothing retailer transitioned from a custom e-commerce platform to Salesforce Commerce Cloud, with the help of global commerce provider Lyonscg. The transition enabled the chain to launch customized mobile sites for its Motherhood, Motherhood Canada, A Pea in the Pod and Destination Maternity brands. All sites feature more intuitive navigation, improved site merchandising and on-site search, and easier check out.   

With more customer-specific information filtering into retail enterprises, brands are primed to deliver more personalized, seamless experiences. Such efforts not only drive repeat visits and purchases, but also “help retailers to differentiate themselves in the marketplace, and get closer to the customer,” said Tom Moore, industry lead of retail and hospitality at Zebra Technologies.

Marcus & Millichap’s Q2 Boston market report signals urgency to retailers like the famed lamps Paul Revere placed in the tower of the Old North Church. To wit:

Streets of St. Charles (bottom right)

Fake news. Or, at the very least, over-exaggerated news. That’s what I call the reports about the death of retail. Retail sales are up $121.5 billion (through the first seven months of the year) and the holiday forecasts look promising, with Deloitte predicting a healthy 4 to 4.5% increase over last season.