eCommerce

Photo: ColorTek - Studio C, St. Louis

Rite Aid last week reported a same-store sales decrease of 0.1% for the four weeks ended Dec. 26. December front-end same-store sales increased 0.8% while pharmacy same-store sales, which included an approximate 207 basis points negative impact from new generic introductions, decreased 0.6%.

Despite the report of relatively flat sales, Rite Aid stocks were up on Dec. 31, reaching a peak of $7.89 for the day. Today, the stock is trading at $7.86, up slightly from the day's open of $7.84.

The resounding priority among retailers has been accelerating their integrated omnichannel offering – which has meant everything from merging online and store teams to measuring the in-store impact of digital campaigns. Recent innovations include mobile app and in-store technologies, multichannel fulfillment solutions, and coordinated cross-channel promotions. These kinds of initiatives will continue to be top of mind in 2016, particularly as consumer expectation for a seamless and personalized experience – and deep discounts – continues to grow.

Walmart may be planning to release its proprietary Walmart Pay mobile wallet application this year, but at least online is preparing for a varied digital payment landscape.

Walmart will accept the MasterPass by MasterCard digital payments platform in 2016 for online purchases, including mobile commerce. The platform securely stores payment and shipping information, which is accessible when a consumer checks out using the “Buy with MasterPass” button and logs into their account from any connected device.

St. Petersburg, Fla. -- The Sembler Company’s latest listing is nearly 3,250 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail space in The Salvador, new luxury condominiums, located in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. The 74-unit, green-certified condo tower is located just 300 ft. from the University of South Florida, and walking distance from The Dali Museum, The Mahaffey Theater and the Central Avenue arts/entertainment district among other attractions.

I left Walmart to pursue what I saw as the future of retail. In my exit interview with Mike Duke (at that time president and CEO of Walmart International) he asked me what I meant by the future of retail. Having worked in the international division, Sam’s Club and Costco prior to that, the future I saw at the time revolved around leveraging data and managing technology to understand customers in a granular fashion and speaking to them directly as individuals with highly lifestyle relevant products and services.

How will retailers fare in 2016? Very well, according to experienced market watchers.

“We expect core retail sales to grow 5.3% in 2016,” says Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics for Moody’s Analytics, a research firm based in West Chester, Pennsylvania. (Core retail sales exclude volatile revenues from auto sales and gas stations.)

That is notably faster than the 4.2% rate anticipated when 2015 sales are finally tallied. The 2015 experience was, again, slightly better than that the 3.9% growth of 2014.

The Ferris Wheel in the Toys “R” Us’ Times Square flagship has had its last go round.

The 110,000-sq.-ft., four- level megastore shut its doors forever at 6 p.m., Wednesday, December 30, 2015.

Toys “R” Us Times Square opened in fall 2001, complete with a 60-ft.-tall Ferris wheel, a life-sized Barbie dream house, a giant animatronic T-Rex and other attention-getting attractions.

The retailer, which opted not to renew its pricey Times Square lease, is looking for another location in Manhattan.

FedEx on-time performance went up this holiday season while UPS did not fare quite as well.

According to new data from package tracking provider ShipMatrix Inc., FedEx met its guarantees of one-, two- and three-day holiday deliveries 97.8% of the time in 2015. This marked an improvement from 97.3% in 2014 and 95.4% in 2013.

Christmas may have passed, but the holiday shipping surge continues

According to UPS, the holiday peak shipping season will extend well into the first week of the New Year. On Jan. 6, 2016 (National Returns Day) alone, consumers are expected to ship more than a million packages back to retailers. By the end of the first week of January, UPS expects to deliver more than 5 million return packages, an increase of 500,000 from the 2014-15 holiday returns season.