eCommerce

Twenty-year Walmart veteran Laura Phillips is set to become the company's senior VP of sustainability, effective Jan. 1, according to GreenBiz. Manuel Gomez, who previously held the title, has accepted a new position with Walmart de Mexico and Central America as VP of strategy for e-commerce, the report said.

Saks Fifth Avenue is expanding further into the specialty store business.

The retailer announced plans to open a 21,000-sq.-ft. store devoted to jewelry and contemporary women’s ready-to-wear in Greenwich, Connecticut. Earlier this year, Saks announced plans to open a standalone shoe store concept, 10022-Shoe, also in Greenwich.

Saks already operates a women’s-only store in Greenwich, which it opened in 1997.

All three of the Saks stores will be in walking distance of one another.

The National Retail Federation issued an above average holiday season sales forecast in which the desire of Americans to spend will be offset by their ability to do so.

The trade group projects that total holiday sales will increase 3.7% to $630.5 billion during the November time-frame and that online sales would increase between 6% and 8% to represent $108 billion of the total.

For the 2015 holiday shopping season, the dollar figure forecast on consumer spend is less relevant for retailers, according to PwC's 2015 Holiday Outlook. Rather, a deeper understanding of the complex retail landscape and the focus on building long-term shopper relationships is how retailers will define success this year.

PwC outlines 10 big trends that are expected to drive the 2015 holiday shopping season:

When it comes to a primary device, consumers of all ages make the same choice by a clear margin.

According to a new survey of 4,000 consumers from Adobe, 92% of millennials consider the smartphone as their primary device.

Tablets show opposite age trends. While 72% of all consumers say they own tablets, baby boomers and 70 and over report higher usage. 87% of respondents use tablets at home, with 66% using it every day. Top activities include reading emails (72%), playing games (60%), sending emails (60%) and shopping (55%)

The same day that TJX announced the retirement of its CEO, Ascena Retail Group named a new executive to lead its recently acquired Ann Inc. division.
 

Jet is abandoning its fee model less than three months after it launched in order to broaden its appeal to shoppers.

The online marketplace startup announced Wednesday that it will get rid of its $50 annual membership fee.

Brevity is the soul of online retail.

According to a new survey of more than 300 consumers from checkout optimization provider PCA Predict, 84% of U.S. consumers stated they would abandon their e-commerce order if presented with complicated or lengthy Web forms.

Asked about their experience with retailers failing to deliver, an overwhelming 95% of U.S. consumers said that they would be unlikely to shop with a retailer again if an order failed to arrive.

Everyone knows fraud is costly, but it be more expensive than you think.

In addition to typical fraud costs, such as the loss of goods and chargeback fees, merchants that sell digital goods, such as MP3 files and streamed movies, each spend an average of $10.1 million every year on fraud-related costs.

Not only is a picture worth 1,000 words, but it may be worth $1,000.

A new survey from Adobe shows that consumers have a very positive response to “shoppable media” – online images and videos that serve as direct transactional tools.