eCommerce

Augmented reality mobile game Pokémon Go has given a big sales boost to GameStop.  

A familiar chain has been named the most powerful retail brand of 2016.   According to the 2016 Top 100 Most Powerful Brands report from brand marketing firm Tenet Partners, Barnes & Nobile is the most powerful retail brand, and 32nd most powerful brand overall, of the year. This is the second straight year Barnes & Noble ranked highest among retailers.  

eBay beat sales expectations in its second quarter, during which it also crossed an important threshold.

The online marketplace reported that it crossed the one billion live listings mark in the quarter, reflecting its efforts to expand the breadth of selection offered to consumers and the progress it has made on enhancing its shopping platform.

eBay reported net income of $435 million, or 38 cents a share, up from $83 million.

Parents making back-to-school purchases are willing to open their wallets, if the price is right.   That’s according to a new study from digital savings platform RetailMeNot Inc., "Back-to-School Cheat Sheet: Consumer Trends and Insights for Retailers," back-to-school shoppers plan to spend an average of $273 per child, up from their anticipated spending of $246 in 2015.  

Versa Capital Management has formed a new holding company, called Eastern Outfitters, which will continue the restructured operations of Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS) and Bob’s Stores.  

The customer journey for The Yankee Candle Company Inc. has many potential steps, and the company is ensuring they are all connected and help bring shoppers closer to making a purchase.  

There are a limited number of retail apps a customer will use, and an app that is siloed has no chance of being one of them.   Cognizant of the need to ensure a shopping app is part of a larger, streamlined omnichannel environment, specialty online fashion retailer Bluefly is releasing a new app built on the Mozu commerce platform. With nearly 42% of its sales coming from mobile, Bluefly is offering several features designed to put the customer in the center of the shopping experience.  

J.C. Penney and Sears are turning up the heat on one another in the appliance category — and that translates into good news for consumers.     Penney began rolling out expanded appliance departments to stores nationwide this past weekend, offering aggressive price cuts and other special deals, Fortune reported.