eCommerce

Hong Kong – A subsidiary of global export company Li & Fung is partnering with two Chinese department store retailers to open as many as 300 stores in the Shanghai free trade zone. Li & Fung Trading (China) Holdings Ltd. is forming a joint venture with Shanghai Bailian Group Co. Ltd. and Beijing Wangfujing Department Store (Group) Co. Ltd. Li & Fung holds a 20% stake and each department store chain owns a 40% stake.

Waban, Mass. – Grocery retailer H-E-B produces a positive emotional reaction with consumers. Based on a study of 10,000 U.S consumers, H-E-B, Publix, Chick-fil-A, and Trader Joe's took the top four spots in the 2015 Temkin Emotion Ratings, which rates how customers feel about their interactions with 293 companies across 20 industries.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will no longer sell merchandise featuring the Confederate flag in its stores or online. The retailer is removing the flag, long a source of controversy due to its connections to slavery and use as a symbol by white supremacists, in the wake of a racially-motivated mass shooting at a historically black Charleston, South Carolina church.

Seattle – Amazon.com is reportedly using a proprietary machine learning solution to analyze online customer reviews and present newer and more relevant reviews first. According to CNet, the system takes into account factors such as newness, whether the review was written by a verified Amazon purchaser and how many customers found the review helpful.

San Francisco – In its latest step toward becoming more of a commerce platform, Twitter is testing two new ways to make finding content about products easier. The first pilot is of a new way to surface and organize relevant Tweets about products and places on dedicated pages.

These pages will feature images and video about the product alongside information such as a description, price, and an option to buy, book, or visit the website for more information. Twitter is starting to experiment with a small number of products and places.

Armonk, N.Y. – When consumers look for Father’s Day gifts, they increasingly are doing so on the go. According to new IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark data, mobile accounted for more than 48% of all online Father’s Day traffic in 2015.

This figure was just shy of desktop, which claimed 51.7%, a far slimmer gap than 2014. For sales however, desktop remains supreme, accounting for 74.3% of sales (compared to 25.7% for mobile) and driving average order values of $115.12, compared to mobile devices at $93.14.

As competition for online sales becomes ever more aggressive, Sam’s Club has unveiled a "shocking" new promotion to attract shoppers to its website.

The retailer is launching a program called Shocking Values, which will offer daily deals at SamsClub.com with up to 60% off regular retail prices on brands consumers know and love.

A major U.S. retailer has launched preorders for the Pebble Time, just days after the Apple Watch became available at Apple's own retail stores.

Best Buy is selling red, white and black versions of the Time for $200 each. The retailer has yet to say when the watch will be available for in-store shopping. The smartwatch is available for sale only through the manufacturer and Best Buy.

A study of 10,000 U.S. consumers revealed H-E-B, Publix and Trader Joe's are tops when it comes to making customers feel delighted.

Rebel flags are now a hot commodity after numerous retailers yanked Confederate-related merchandise from their stores and websites.

Wal-Mart, Sears and eBay announced their decisions Monday, and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called on legislators to remove the flag from the statehouse grounds. After doing so, sales of Confederate flags spiked on Amazon to claim first, second, and third place on the site's list of biggest sales gainers in the previous 24 hours. Prices ranged from under $2 to nearly $16 per flag.