eCommerce

Despite the short holiday season, December was still the biggest shopping month of the year.

Shopper traffic up more than one-third over November

Groupon has named Tamer Tamar as SVP of international operations and Sri Subramaniam as VP of engineering for smart deals.

“We’re thrilled to have Tamer and Sri join Groupon and bring their incredible talent to our expanding bench of senior executives,” said CEO Eric Lefkofsky. “Tamer and Sri will accelerate Groupon’s plans to grow our international operations and deliver more and more relevant deals to our customers throughout the world.”

With the new year come resolutions and Sears is looking to capitalize with the FitStudio.com “Points for Progress” program — a fitness rewards program that incentivizes members to incorporate movement into their daily lives to get and stay fit — with the help of pro football analyst and former Steeler Hines Ward.

Soft sales at leading home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond led to a puny comp increase of 1.3%, lower than expected third quarter profits and a downward revision to fourth quarter expectations.

Macy’s rocked the retail world late Wednesday announcing record holiday sales while simultaneously cutting 2,500 jobs and detailing plans to close five stores.

Seattle -- Nordstrom announced today plans to open a Nordstrom Rack at The Shops at SkyView Center in Queens, N.Y., and another at Lake Brandson Plaza, Brandon, Fla. Both stores are scheduled to open in fall 2014.

Nordstrom Rack is set to open its first Brooklyn, N.Y., location on Fulton Street in spring 2014 followed by a second location at the Gateway Center in Brooklyn, in the fall. When it opens, The Shops at SkyView Center Nordstrom Rack will be the company's first Queens location.

Destination Maternity Corp. is thinking big. The world’s largest retailer of maternity apparel is bullish on its superstore format, with new locations in Paramus, N.J., and Virginia Beach, Va. The Philadelphia-based company has an estimated 35% to 45% share of the U.S. maternity market.

The two new stores vary in size and have different layouts, as well as some merchandising variations. But both are designed as customer-centric, one-stop shopping resources. And both share a common vision.

The convergence of a number of leading-edge technologies is launching a revolution in the customer experience. Mobile devices, social media, 24/7 connectivity and a blurring of the lines between formerly separate customer service “channels” have upended the rules of retail, forever disrupting the notion of business as usual. It’s a brave new world — and one that Chain Store Age will explore at its first-ever Customer Disruption event, May 7-9, 2014, at Sofitel Hotel in Redwood Shores, Calif., the Gateway to the Silicon Valley.

Japan’s biggest e-commerce player uses third-party marketplace model to expand

Most U.S. consumers, and many retailers for that matter, have probably never heard of Rakuten. But if Japan’s largest e-commerce marketplace has its way, that will soon change: The company has set its sights on becoming a household name in the United States. An even loftier goal: outpacing e-commerce giant Amazon.com.

Major retailers have successfully faced down emerging e-tailers and their aggressive pricing tactics by upgrading their e-commerce platforms and readjusting their pricing to strengthen their hold on shoppers. To fully complete their turnaround, however, they must judiciously apply bricks and mortar to their competitive advantage.

According to Cognizant’s fourth annual survey, “2013 Shopper Experience Study: Rise of the Individual Shopper,” consumers still value the in-store experience, but have exceedingly higher expectations.