eCommerce

Location: Kansas City, Missouri

Size: Nine city blocks, 600,000 sq. ft.

Owner: The Cordish Companies

Key Tenants: Jos. A. Bank, Zafar Salon, Spa & Boutique, Envolve Boutique, The Garment District KC, Cosentino’s Downtown Market, Yard House, Alamo Drafthouse, Howl at the Moon and more

In its 11th year, the Top Redevelopers survey remains relevant as more shopping center companies redevelop than build anew – although the redevelop vs. develop scales are more in balance now than they were five years ago.

Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) is launching a wide-ranging cost-cutting initiative and corporate realignment strategy, with omnichannel technology at the center.

The realignment will include a reduction of about 265 corporate employees, expected to result in an annual savings of $75-million a year. The cuts are mostly in the company’s U.S. corporate offices in New York.

A strong dollar and tumbling gas prices made Costco’s fourth quarter sales results seem weak. They weren’t and now the company plans to open 12 more clubs before year end.

More retailers going from clicks to bricks

The emphasis on omnichannel commerce has largely laid to rest (at least for now) the debate of online versus offline. Indeed, A.T. Kearney put it best in the title of a recent study, “On Solid Ground: Brick and Mortar is the Foundation of Omnichannel Retailing.”

Specialty apparel retailer True Religion has found something to connect the physical to the virtual. The Manhattan Beach, California-based chain, which operates about 900 stores globally, has launched an e-commerce site that links its customer experience across channels.

The online giant is launching an Uber-like program, called Flex, that uses on-demand independent contractors to deliver Amazon packages.  The service is now available only in Seattle (and only to members of Amazon’s Prime Now same-day delivery service), but the company  expects to  roll it out  to other cities where Prime Now is offered, including Manhattan, Baltimore, Miami, Dallas, and Chicago.

Retailers wondering how much of an issue e-commerce returns are may not like the answer.

According to a new infographic from returns management software provider TrueShip, E-commerce returns are both prevalent and frequently the fault of the retailer.

TrueShip data shows that about one-third of all products purchased online are returned by consumers. Of these returns, almost one-quarter (23%) are due to the wrong item being shipped. Another 22% of e-commerce returns results from a product looking and appearing different when it arrives than it did online.