eCommerce

Staples and Office Depot have agreed to a Federal Trade Commission decision to extend the review period for a possible $6.3 billion merger of the two companies.

The companies announced Monday that the FTC has agreed to issue its decision regarding this transaction by Dec. 8.

The retail revolution may not be televised, but it will be digitized.

The new Q3 E-commerce Pulse from predictive analytics platform provider Custora shows that e-commerce revenue grew a healthy 11.8% year-over-year in third quarter 2015. E-commerce transactions rose an almost identical 11.6%.

Mobile continued to grow in significance as a channel for e-commerce in the quarter. Phones and tablets made up a combined 28.7% of e-commerce transactions, up from 23.1% of orders during the same time the prior year.

Ross Dress for Less will open a new store in West Pembroke Pines, Florida, on Oct. 10.

The 26,000-sq.-ft. store is located in Westfork Plaza.

With this new location, Ross will operate 153 stores in Florida. The opening is part of the retailer’s 2015 expansion program, totaling approximately 70 new locations during the year.

French home décor and lifestyle retailer Madura expands its global presence with a flagship in New York City’s Flatiron neighborhood.

The three-story, 3,000-sq.-ft. store features two 20-ft. walls that display the company’s signature decorative pillows, which come in a host of colors, designs and fabrications. Shoppers can browse through available pillow covers at an interactive station, the “pillow bar,” on the first floor.

Physical credit cards may be going the way of DVDs and floppy disks.

According to new analysis from Bankrate.com cited by PayPal, 63% of millennials do not have a credit card. However, that does not mean they are abandoning credit-based purchases.

Millennials are now the fastest growing segment of PayPal Credit shoppers, rising to 33% of the total in 2015 up from 28% in 2013. Rather than shunning credit altogether, this influential group is turning to alternative credit services to help manage their finances.

Photo: Steve Bratspies

Online fashion retailer ModCloth removed the “plus size” section from its site, opting to mix the items in with its regularly-sized items for a more “inclusive” shopping experience, Today.com reported. Company co-founder Susan Gregg Koger said, “as we think about a potentially permanent shop, we know we're not going to have a separate plus-size section.”

After more than two decades in top finance roles at Walmart, Charles Holley, 59, is stepping down as CFO at the world’s largest retailer.

Succeeding Holley will be Brett Biggs, a well-rounded finance executive who joined Walmart in 2000 and has held key roles in each of the retailer’s divisions.