eCommerce

Lands' End is looking to further its position as a lifestyle brand by entering the body care category with the launch of its Coastal Living Body Care Collection.   

The body care collection includes lavender and honey blossom scented body lotion, hand cream and body wash, and is available at landsend.com.

The retail and consumer packaged goods industry fared poorly in a recent global ranking of corporate sustainability leaders with the handful of standouts being Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Staples and Campbell Soup Company.

The ranking of 100 companies compiled by Corporate Knights, a media, research and investment advisory company, included only17 U.S. companies and only two retailers. Sweden’s H&M was ranked 64th and Staples was ranked 72nd.

Kozy Shack, a 50-year-old pudding brand, is hiring a spokes-grandma to represent the brand nationally in online, broadcast and print advertisements.

The call for applications has been put out coast-to-coast: Pudding-loving grandmas can submit their applications at KozyShack.me/Grandma now through Jan. 31. More information can be found in job postings on Monster, Careerbuilder and LinkedIn.

New York -- The fragrance division of Marc Jacobs will open a pop-up in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood that will trade in social currency instead of money. The Daisy Marc Jacobs Tweet Shop will be open during New York Fashion Week, from Feb. 7 to 9.

According to reports, all transactions at the pop-up will be carried out based on customers’ use of the hashtag #MJDaisyChain across Twitter and other social media platforms. Shoppers will be able to exchange each tweet, Instagram post, or Facebook update for a single item.

New York -- Chico's FAS will launch its namesake brand in Mexico, through an exclusive franchise with El Puerto de Liverpool, S.A.B. de C. V. ("Liverpool"), starting with a stand-alone boutique at Perisur Mall, Mexico City, in spring 2014.

Plans for the Chico's expansion in Mexico include the opening of stand-alone stores as well as branded shop-in-shops in Liverpool department stores. The second stand-alone boutique will open in Villahermosa, Tabasco.

Edison, N.J. -- Dotcom Distribution, a provider of fulfillment and logistics solutions, is adding a photography and creative services branch, Dotcom Photo Studio. The studio produces e-commerce imagery for retail brands, including lingerie retailer Adore Me.

Colorado Springs, Colo. -- Accellos, Inc. has released multiple updates to Mile.com, a website dedicated the transportation industry and Prophesy Transportation Solutions. The new website features enhanced content including industry white papers, case studies and videos.

In addition, the new site includes the free commercial mileage tool, Prophesy webMiler.

Irvine, Calif. — Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors closed out 2013 with 10 retail property sales totaling nearly $61 million in December. For the year, Hanley logged sales of more than $315 million. Among the December sales were:

Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas — The Woodmont Company plans to break ground in February on a new building at its Streetsboro Commons development in Streetsboro, Ohio. The new building, located on a pad, is already about 80% pre-leased to three national tenants: Starbucks, Jimmy John’s and Midwest Mobility Services/AT&T dealer.

By Rodney Mason, CMO, Parago

When the 2013 holiday shopping season ended, it resulted in sluggish results for U.S. retailers.  Price-match policies worked to fend off some showrooming, but these discounts also ate up margins at a very unhealthy rate.

A recent national shopper behavior study by Parago found that:

• The majority of smartphone owners showroom and regularly make purchases on their phones while in-store;