eCommerce

Orem, Utah – Checking the Yellow Pages for various types of information is a time-honored tradition, but now consumers can use the mobile version to find products. App developer Avantar is releasing a feature in the Yellow Pages app that lets shoppers pinpoint locations of products.  

By Molly Glover Gallatin, Gigwalk   According to Forrester Research, U.S. e-retail sales are expected to grow from $263 billion in 2013 to $414 billion in 2018, a compound annual growth rate of 9.5%. While a fuss has been made about the increase in online spending, statistics show that more than three quarters of retail transactions are still made in-store.    

Office Depot has been awarded two contracts valued in excess of $400 million.

The retailer will be partnering with Region 4 Education Service Center and TCPN, which offers cooperative contract solutions to K-12 schools, local governments, colleges and universities. The new agreements with Office Depot include office and school supplies, furniture, technology products and copy and print services provided at significant discounts and savings to eligible public agency customers.

Calvin Klein is aggressively expanding its e-commerce capabilities in an effort to directly sell the brand in more than 20 countries by the end of 2016, the company announced.

Amazon.com is rolling out a new haggling feature on its website as the company looks to further cement its low-price reputation among consumers.

The new “Make an Offer” feature allows sellers to accept or reject bids on more than 150,000 items across the categories of Sports and Entertainment Collectibles, Collectible Coins and Fine Art.

San Jose, Calif. – The New Year is looking very happy for EBay CEO John Donahoe and CFO Bob Swan. In a securities filing, EBay said that Donahoe will get a severance package worth $23 million and Swan will get a severance package worth $12 million when the company spins off its PayPal unit in 2015. Both men said they would leave their positions after the split occurs when EBay first announced the spinoff plan in September.  

Wilmington, Del. - The urge to impulse shop during the holidays runs strong among Americans, but even stronger among Millennials. According to the Chase Blueprint Holiday Impulse Purchases Survey, 83% of Millennials admit to having made an impulse purchase in the past.   

Gainesville, Florida - Celebration Pointe, a 125-acre mixed-used development in the heart of Gainesville, has secured a $12 million State Infrastructure Bank (SIB) loan and $34 million in Community Development District (CDD) bonds. Celebration Pointe partner Ralph Conti made the announcement.