eCommerce

It’s been a busy fall for hip eyewear marketer Warby Parker.

The company opened its first permanent location in Washington, D.C., in the Georgetown section.

The 1,230-sq.-ft. store features Warby Parker’s signature classic library design, with custom brass library lamps, suspended globe lighting, chevron wood flooring, walnut shelving, and banquette seating for reading and relaxing.

Low-price grocery chain Aldi is making some changes to the ingredients of its food products just days after Target announced it was banning various chemicals from the products it sells.

Aldi announced it has removed certified synthetic colors, partially hydrogenated oils and MSG from all of its exclusive brand food products.

The move by Aldi (and Target) comes as traditional and even upscale grocers are struggling to increase sales as shoppers increasingly turn to more discounters.

Newegg is looking to be the destination this holiday season for gamers with a new promotion designed to appeal to tech enthusiasts.

The National Retail Federation and e-digital consultancy FitforCommerce have launched a first-of-its-kind Omnichannel Retail Index to help retailers benchmark against industry best practices.

Eleven new brands are heeding the call from Amazon.com to join the Amazon Dash Replenishment Service (DRS) program. General Electric, Samsung, August, Gmate, Oster, Obe, Petnet, CleverPet, Sutro, Thync, and Sealed Air are now offering devices enabled with DRS. DRS enables connected devices that measure consumable usage to automatically order physical goods from Amazon when supplies are running low, DRS is the same reordering service that supports the Amazon Dash Button.

Retailers who do not offer an option for online or mobile shopping may find their customers opting out. A new survey of U.S. and Canadian consumers from MasterCard, “The Psyche of Shopping,” shows that consumers have purposely chosen not to buy something when a retailer did not have an online payment option (68%), a mobile payment option (19%), or an in-app payment option (14%).

It’s no secret that e-commerce is continuing to grow as a portion of holiday shopping volume. But a newer trend shows that holiday e-commerce growth is shifting away from the desktop channel. According to a new survey from digital promotion platform RetailMeNot Inc., mobile app visits and transactions closed on desktop visits and transactions during the 2014 holiday season. If the trend keeps pace in 2015, mobile visits and transactions will surpass desktop visits and transactions as a holiday e-commerce channel.

Walmart offered a sneak peek of its new fulfillment center in the Atlanta area on Thursday on the heels of announcing that it would bring grocery pickup to the region this month. Walmart says the new facility is dedicated to filling online orders and is the latest addition to the next-generation fulfillment network Walmart is building to support its rapidly growing e-commerce business.

Lauren Hobart has been elevated to the role of executive VP at Dick’s Sporting Goods and given responsibility for a potential new growth vehicle. Hobart was named executive VP, CMO and general manager of Dick’s new women’s specialty fitness store format, which is branded as Chelsea Collective. Only two store are in operation currently, in McLean, Virginia. and Pittsburgh, but greater growth could be in store now that Dick’s has given a senior executive oversight of the concept.

Photos: Dalziel & Pow, London