eCommerce

New York – As millennial moms are making back-to-school preparations that include planning school lunches, many are turning to their peers and the Internet to get ideas. According to a survey of millennial moms about their back-to-school lunch plans by online review site Influenster, word of mouth (79%) is the top influencer for school lunch shopping decisions.

That is followed by online reviews (59%), social media (57%), brand websites (43%), television (37%), news websites (16%) and newspapers (15%).

“Now Trending” is an exclusive online series to chainstoreage.com, featuring trending topics that impact the retail real estate landscape.

For many, the concept of an outlet mall is associated with not only appealing deals on name-brand products, but also with driving long distances to get to the far-flung locations where outlets have traditionally been located.
 

Phoenix – Holiday shopping often starts earlier than commonly thought and also frequently being online. According to a new survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers from G/O Digital, 62% of respondents go straight to search engines when researching gifts for the holiday season and more than three-quarters look online for holiday shopping deals and discounts.

Minneapolis – The ongoing shakeup of senior management that has been occurring at Target Corp. since CEO Brian J. Cornell took the reins in August 2014 is continuing. Target has promoted John Mulligan, who has served as CFO since 2012, to the newly created role of executive VP and COO, effective Sept. 1.

Sidney, Neb. – Cabela’s Inc. is reorganizing its merchandising team with the transition of executive VP/chief merchandising officer Brian J. Linneman to the role of strategic advisor, effective Aug. 31. As part of this change, the company is promoting Scott K. Williams to executive VP and chief commercial officer, merchandising, along with marketing, e-commerce, real estate, and strategy.

Roger Verhulst, senior VP of merchandising, will continue to lead the merchandising teams and report directly to Williams.

Bellingham, Wash. – West Coast regional grocer Haggen is scaling back some highly ambitious growth plans. Haggen, which made headlines by buying 146 divested Albertson’s and Safeway stores as an 18-unit chain in December 2014, is closing or selling a number of locations in California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

Seattle – Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon.com, is reportedly blasting an article in the New York Times that accuses the retailer of having a ruthless and even abusive workplace culture. According to CNBC, in an internal memo (excerpt below), the article is inaccurate and goes beyond “isolated anecdotes.”

I recently participated in an SAP-sponsored panel discussion on Game-Changers Radio about how consumer product companies are using real-time consumer insights and engagement. Buoyed by constant customer connectivity, consumer product firms are gaining a much clearer and timelier picture of their end customers, and also directly engaging them near or in real time.

Englewood, Colo. – Home shopping retailer QVC is expanding its omnichannel reach. QVC parent company Liberty Interactive Corp. is purchasing struggling online retailer Zulily Inc. for $2.4 billion in cash and stock.