eCommerce

Los Angeles-based Nasty Gal, which filed for bankruptcy protection in November, may soon have a British owner.   Boohoo.com is bidding $20 million (£16.3 million) for the brand and its customer databases as the “stalking horse” candidate. Based in Manchester, England, Boohoo specializes in fast-fashion and targets teens and young women, the same audience as Nasty Gal.      

Sears Holdings’ store portfolio continues to shrink.   The struggling retailer told employees on Tuesday that it will close 30 Sears and Kmart stores in early 2017, reported Business Insider.  

The majority of retailers managed to keep their shipping promises this holiday.   That’s according to Kurt Salmon’s annual Holiday Shipping study, which found that 97% of retailers successfully processed and delivered orders to customers on their last guaranteed shipping date before Christmas. according to Kurt Salmon’s (part of Accenture Strategy) annual Holiday Shipping study. This compares to 87% in 2014 and 95% in 2015. 

The comeback of downtown Detroit, led by the expansive District Detroit project under construction, was advanced this week with the opening of The Scott at Brush Park. The upscale, mixed-use development of Broder & Sachse Real Estate and Sachse Construction is located about eight blocks north of District Detroit on Woodward Avenue.   

Rent the Runway’s total investment keeps growing.    The dress rental business announced it has closed on a $60 million round of funding, led by Fidelity Management and Research Company with additional money from such existing investors as Bain Capital Ventures and Highland Capital Partners. Total investment in the company now stands at $190 million.      

When it comes to combining in-store visits and online product research or purchase, Generation Z (ages 18 to 26) leads all other shopper age groups in the U.S., lending some spark an otherwise flat “omnishopping” environment.  

Nothing like doing a little shopping as presents are being unwrapped.   E-commerce traffic volume on Christmas Day shattered all previous records according to Verizon Enterprise Solutions’ Holiday Retail Index report.   The report finds that traffic continued to build into the Christmas weekend, and reached feverish pitch on Christmas Day which also coincided this year with the first full day of Hanukkah.   

At its recent I/O 2016 developer festival, Google signaled its intent to embrace artificial intelligence. With Google’s fall release of the Pixel phone and, more important, its Assistant, the transition to an AI-powered future is underway.