eCommerce

While athleisure apparel is still quite trendy these days, the creator of the trend, Lululemon Athletica, is struggling to grow profits as competitors threaten its value proposition.

For the third quarter ended Nov. 1, the company posted a profit of $53.2 million, or 38 cents a share, down from $60.5 million, or 42 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 14% to $479.8 million. Same store sales rose 6% for the second quarter in a row on a constant-currency basis.

Executives from Staples and virtual reality firm Magic Leap have joined the strategic advisory board of leading online handbags, luggage and backpacks retailer eBags.

Mike Edwards, eBags president and CEO, said Faisal Masud, executive VP of global e-commerce at Staples, and Scott Henry, CFO at Magic Leap, would bring a wealth of wealth of entrepreneurial and operational experience and an understanding of what it takes to excel in a fast-paced technology to eBags as the newest members of the board.

Women’s lifestyle brand and retailer Vera Bradley is the latest company to feel the negative sales effects of weaning shoppers off promotions, but the strategic shift has done wonders for the company’s bottom line.

What kinds of searches, ads and content are consumers interacting with before and after a tech purchase?

Target Corp. has opened a 16,000-sq.-ft. space in New York that is part store and part holiday playground — and a testing ground for merging physical and digital retailing.

Custom-built LED displays enhance the atmosphere at Irish fast-fashion retailer Primark’s first U.S. store, at Downtown Crossing in Boston.

The displays are integrated into high visibility locations throughout the store, blending into the environment and highlighting key features of the Primark brand. The displays are designed to attract shoppers, present current trends and provide store information in a hip, stylized fashion.

Target is back to its old marketing tricks in New York City this holiday season with a16,000-square foot omnichannel "spectacle” opening Dec. 9 next to Chelsea Market.

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the holiday pop-up store "is filled with 10 holiday-themed displays that incorporate a digital element on top of an interactive physical experience. Each one is tied in to a popular holiday toy that Target is selling at the space."

It’s like it is 1997 all over again with the Federal Trade Commission stepping in to block a merger between Staples and Office Depot on grounds that the deal would diminish competition.

Target is looking to generate excitement online this holiday season with a just-launched promotion aimed at shoppers who love subscription services like Birchbox.

Target has just launched a specially designed collection of boxes called Wonderpacks, which the retailer says are “meant to inspire and capture family fun.”

The kits, available on target.com, are curated and contain a combination of products to create experiences, from a game-packed road trip to sledding after sunset, the retailer says.