eCommerce

A store development executive from Gap Inc. has been tapped to head up real estate for Foot Locker.   Foot Locker announced the appointment of Scott Martin as senior VP – real estate, effective June 13. Martin succeeds Jeffrey Berk, who retired in April after almost 20 years with the company.    

Ulta Beauty turned in what could be the best retail performance of the first quarter, posting strong brick-and-mortar and online growth and results that easily topped estimates. The company boosted its guidance for the year.    Ulta’s net sales for the quarter, ended May 2, surged 23.7% to $1.07 billion, up from $868.1 million in the year-ago period, and surpassing estimates for $1.03 billion. E-commerce sales shot up 38.8% to $61.0 million from $44.0 million last year.  

Amazon.com is starting to appear like the ‘Teflon e-tailer.”  

Saks Fifth Avenue plans to shutter its 107,000-sq.-ft. store at The Mall at Short Hills, in Short Hills, New Jersey, amid plans to open a flagship in a huge retail and entertainment center in the state.
     
As previously announced, the upscale retailer plans to open a store at the under-construction, three-million-sq.-ft. American Dream Meadowlands mega-center, in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Amazon.com is starting to appear like the ‘Teflon e-tailer.”   According to eMarketer data, Amazon captured $79.3 billion in U.S. e-commerce sales between April 2015 and April 2016, growing 13% year-over-year. Its next-closest rival, Walmart, took in just $13.5 billion online in that period. However, Amazon may not be invincible.    Here are three retailers who could pose a real challenge to Amazon’s e-commerce dominance:   

Twitter, which has been piloting an embedded buy button in tweets since September 2014, is reportedly pulling the plug on the idea.  

Credit card chargebacks are a costly reality for online merchants. Chargebacks occur when customers contact their credit card issuers to dispute charges. If an issuer deems a dispute valid, the e-commerce merchant is required to pay the amount owed for the transaction plus a chargeback fee from the processer – which can range from $15 to $100.

Guess Inc. swung from profit to net loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2017, missing analyst estimates for both net earnings and revenues.

The apparel retailer reported a net loss of $25.2 million, compared to net earnings of $3.3 million the same quarter a year earlier. Restructuring charges, a negative tax impact, and currency fluctuations helped push the retailer into the red.