eCommerce

Los Angeles -- Earlier in October, shoppers were put off by holiday displays in store; now people are warming up to them. Analysis of social media buzz for the week of Oct. 30 – Nov. 5 by social media research firm Fizziology shows that positive conversation about displays rose from 15% to 22%, while negatives dropped from 10% to less than 1%.

Leading diamonds and fine jewelry online retailer Blue Nile has added Scott Howe to its board of directors, effective Jan. 1, 2014. Howe is president and CEO of Acxiom Corporation, an enterprise data, analytics and software-as-a-service company.

Prior to his current role, Howe was corporate VP of Microsoft Advertising Business Groups, where he managed a multibillion-dollar business encompassing all emerging businesses related to online advertising including search, display, in-game, mobile, digital cable and a variety of enterprise software applications.

Brooklyn, NY. -- Home furnishings retailer West Elm will open a new store in Huntington Station, N.Y. at the Walt Whitman Shops on Nov. 7. The 9,948-sq.-ft. store is the brand’s first location on Long Island.

“We are excited to continue to grow the West Elm brand with new locations around the world,” said Jim Brett, president of West Elm. “The Walt Whitman store will be a creative, community-driven space with products and services designed to help customers discover their personal style at home.”

Lover.ly, a wedding inspiration and shopping site, has appointed founder of Nordstrom.com Bob Schwartz as the company’s first chairman.

As chairman, Schwartz will work closely with founder and CEO Kellee Khalil and the Lover.ly executive team to help shape the company’s long-term strategic growth, business and partnership development, capital strategy and build out Lover.ly’s brand and product pipelines.

New York – Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity was strong in the retail and consumer industry during the third quarter of 2013. Data from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) shows that transaction values on M&A deals in the retail/consumer sector rose 112% compared to the same quarter a year earlier.

Target created A Bullseye View a little more than two years ago as an innovative digital platform to achieve a deeper level of engagement with those who have an interest in all things Target. Billed as a behind-the-scenes magazine, A Bullseye View was recently relaunched to incorporate new features and functionality to build upon its original mission.

New Albany, Ohio -- Abercrombie & Fitch reported weak net and comparable store sales and laid out plans to restructure its Gilly Hicks brand as part of a strategic review in advance of releasing its full results for the third quarter of fiscal 2013.

Philadelphia – Native apps, or mobile apps developed in the native operating language of a hardware platform, figure prominently in the plans of many holiday shoppers. In a survey of 500 consumers conducted by Artisan Mobile, 80% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that they are purchasing and browsing products on native apps more than ever before, and 77% intend to make purchases through a mobile and/or tablet app this holiday season.