eCommerce

Ken Martindale has stepped down as chief executive of Rite Aid Stores to take the reins of the struggling GNC Holdings.   The specialty retailer of vitamins and supplements on Wednesday announced that Ken Martindale would succeed GNC interim CEO Bob Moran, effective Sept. 11. As part of the transition, Moran will become chairman, replacing Michael F. Hines, who will remain on the board.   

Gap Inc. is shifting its emphasis to its two best-performing brands — and realigning its store portfolio to reflect its new emphasis.   

As the online delivery wars heat up, Walmart is expanding its grocery pickup service to the hometown of one of its biggest rivals.  

Raley’s is helping its customers make more informed food purchasing decisions in-store and online.   Called the Raley’s Shelf Guide, the program features icon-based shelf tags that educate shoppers about current food trends and industry research — and also sets stricter standards for packaged food claims. Overall, the service is creating label transparency when it comes to helping customers understand packaged goods’ ingredients, food processing and nutritional value.  

Walmart is making a bold move as it continues to seek out ways to distance itself from Amazon.   The discount giant is investing in Nvidia chips. These high-level graphical processing units (GPUs) will be the foundation of a robust cloud network where Walmart data scientists can build out AI systems, reported Geek Wire.  

Amazon is getting ready to introduce its same-day delivery service in its 10th country.   Canada will be the newest country to offer Amazon Prime Now’s free two-hour delivery service. The online giant reportedly plans to pilot the program in Vancouver. Based on positive results, Amazon will expand the service to other Canadian cities throughout 2018, according to Nasdaq.  

There's more disruption in the mattress category at retail.    West Elm has entered into a partnership with hot online mattress company Leesa Sleep, which will replace another hot online startup — Casper — as the home furnishings retailer's official mattress partner. The news come on the heels of Casper's announcement that it will open up more than a dozen pop-up stores in cities nationwide.

You’ve read the news: More and more spending is moving online and retailers that have not been able to adapt are falling by the wayside. E-commerce accounted for 8.9% of all retail spending in early 2017 and has nearly tripled its share of overall retail spending since 2008.