eCommerce

Amazon has climbed to the top of the social shopping ranks, thanks in part to the introduction of #AmazonCart and #AmazonBasket.

San Francisco – Uber is reportedly planning to launch a same-day online retail delivery service. According to TechCrunch, Uber has already issued training documents for drivers and couriers who want to participate in the service.

About 400 retailers including Neiman Marcus, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany’s, Cohen’s Fashion Optical and Hugo Boss are said to be considering participating in what will be called the Uber Merchant Delivery Program. Training documents reference retailers Hugo Boss and Cohen’s Fashion Optical as examples.

Covington, La. - Stirling Properties and CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. are announcing 12 new tenants coming to Fremaux Town Center in Slidell, Louisiana. Anchored by a 128,000-sq.-ft. Dillard's, the second phase of this development will include approximately 285,000-sq.-ft. of additional retail space, including previously announced tenants Red Robin, Zales, Francesca’s and Aveda.  

Construction is moving along as scheduled with a planned opening of Phase II in October 2015.

New York – Retailers who offer or are considering offering online grocery shopping may be on the right track. One-quarter of 30,000 online global respondents surveyed in the new Nielsen Global E-commerce and the New Retail Surv say they are already ordering grocery products online for home delivery and more than half (55%) are willing to use it in the future.

San Diego – Engaging consumers online seems like it should be easy – after all, virtually every consumer is actively online and using multiple social media platforms at this point. However, this also means that all of your competitors are also trying to engage the public across multiple online and social channels, resulting in a huge morass of digital noise. To stand out, retailers need to ensure their digital engagement strategy is consistent, timely and personalized.

Wellesley, Mass. - Regional grocery chain has opened its flagship Downtown Crossing Boston supermarket in the newly restored Burnham Building. Roche Bros. is the first large-scale grocery store to be built in Boston's Downtown Crossing.

Beijing, China -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. unveiled plans to countermand slowed growth in China with 115 new stores in the country by 2017 and creating some 30,000 jobs. The announcement adds about 35 new stores to the retailer’s building plans as Wal-Mart previously targeted 480 total stores in China by 2016, up from around 400 now.

CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement that "China is a key strategic market for Walmart. Over the next three years we will increase investment across our diverse business operations in China.”

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon was in Beijing on Wednesday, where he put a finer point on a previously announced international expansion plan that will include a blend of 115 new stores, remodels and select closures in the world’s second largest economy.

McMillon and Walmart Asia CEO Scott Price participated in a press conference in Beijing, where the emphasis was on the retailer’s physical expansion in a market where overall economic rates of growth have been decelerating with little mention of e-commerce.

Smart & Final Stores Inc. credited strong merchandising and marketing initiatives with the retailer's impressive jump in same store sales for the first quarter.

Foot Locker has signed a lease for a redesigned flagship store in the heart of Manhattan’s 34th Street corridor.

The new Foot Locker store will be located directly opposite Macy's world flagship store, at the intersection of Broadway, Avenue of the Americas and West 34th Street, where an estimated 100 million pedestrians pass by annually. Foot Locker will consolidate from three floors into 34,200 square feet on a portion of the ground floor and the entire second floor.