eCommerce

Evansville, Ind. -- Shoe Carnival Inc. kicked up its heels about its profit in the second quarter, but missed on sales.

Aided by higher merchandise margins and lower advertising expenses, Shoe Carnival reported net earnings of $4.8 million, up 84% from $2.6 million a year earlier. Its results easily beat estimates.

Net sales rose 2% $227.8 million, less than expected, from $222.1 million. Same-store sales rose 0.5%.

Shoe Carnival plans to open 21 new stores and close 15 stores by the end of fiscal 2015.

In the latest example of clicks to bricks, online upscale discounter Gilt.com has launched a new service at its New York office that sounds a lot like what retailers call a “store.”

Chesapeake, Va. -- Dollar Tree swung to a loss in its second quarter on higher integration costs related to its acquisition of a formal rival. But its revenue skyrocketed as a result of the merger.

On July 6, Dollar Tree completed its $9 billion acquisition of Family Dollar Inc.

Amazon.com is reportedly doing some experimental tinkering with the two-day shipping guarantee for its paid Prime loyalty program.

New York -- Teen fave Nasty Gal is deploying cutting-edge LED technology to show off its on-trend fashions.

The online retailer has opened two brick-and-mortar stores (one in Los Angeles and the other in Santa Monica), and both feature LEDs by Solais Lighting, a division of PowerSecure Lighting and part of PowerSecure International.

Seattle – Amazon.com is piloting a program that delivers products from farmers markets to consumer tables (or at least their front doors).   

Partnering with farmers market delivery service Fresh Nation LLC, Amazon is delivering individual orders of farmers market goods, as well as prepared gift baskets of fresh fruits and vegetables, to customers in Los Angeles and Orange and San Diego counties in Southern California.

Los Angeles – Millennial consumers choose retailers based on different criteria than their elders. A survey of more than 13,000 e-commerce shoppers by Bizrate Insights found that millennials are by far the most price-sensitive with low pricing driving their choice of retailer.

Ebags is quickening the pace of its digital innovation by teaming up with Iterate Studio to create two new tech research labs.

Recognized by retailers as an early pioneer of drop-ship (1999), customer product reviews (1999), and A/B split testing (2000), eBags' goal is to pioneer game-changing services by embracing the new digital frontier which includes mobile services and the Internet of Things (IoT).