eCommerce

Solid. That’s how many industry analysts described retail sales in May.   Driven partly by rising gasoline prices, sales increased 0.5% in May, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, above the 0.3% gain economists expected. Excluding automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants, retail sales rose 0.2% unadjusted over April, according to the National Retail Federation.   

Staples is hopping on board the same-day delivery train.    The chain is testing “Staples Rush,” a same-day delivery service to its online customers in major metropolitan areas across the United States. It’s offering the service initially for a fee of $14.99 per delivery, which may change while the project is in beta.  

Arc’teryx Equipment, a Vancouver,Canada-based specialty retailer of high-performance outerwear and goods, is all about helping customers achieve their maximum potential.   The retailer has decided to take that same performance-driven ethos and apply it internally with help from visual analytics technology provider Qlik. Arc’teryx is using the Qlik visual analytics platform to transform its operational efficiencies and expand its global footprint.   

Amazon currently accounts for one in three shopping transactions in North America, but few details about the e-tail giant’s product assortment have not been readily available. Until now.    

For the retail industry, the storefront has taken on an entirely new meaning. The brick-and-mortar store is no longer the end-all-be-all in retailing, but the hub or pivotal point for a much larger movement – omnichannel retailing. Currently, traditional retailers compete for everything from having enough shelf-space, to engaging customers and bringing them into their physical store to make the final sale.

Amazon is lending its considerable logistics expertise to a major food bank in New Jersey.

The Internet giant sent three logistics experts to tour the Community FoodBank’s 285,000-sq.-ft. warehouse in Hillside, New Jersey, and suggested ways the agency can run more efficiently, NJ Advance Media reported.

Aéropostale has received final approval for $160 million in debtor in-possession financing provided by Crystal Financial LLC.

Despite all the hype surrounding mobile commerce, good old-fashioned desktops and laptops are still in style when it comes to making digital purchases.   According to the 2016 Digital Commerce Survey of more than 1,000 adult U.S. consumers from digital commerce strategy firm Sumo Heavy, 72% of respondents prefer using a laptop or desktop PC to shop online. Only 28% prefer using tablets or smartphones. Furthermore, 42% of respondents have never used a tablet to shop online, while 32% have never used a smartphone.