eCommerce

Pier 1 Imports Inc. has retracted its profit guidance for the fourth quarter and replaced its chief financial officer after what the company's CEO said was a miscalculated financial forecast.

CEO Alex W. Smith said the retailer’s same store sales growth in January was 5.7%, well below a forecast that "overestimated the recapture of lost sales from last year’s storms.”

Denver – Smartphone use continues to rise, with 71% of all consumers and 85% of Millennials owning a smartphone. However, Placeable recently surveyed 1,000 U.S. consumers and found that 42% have never purchased anything on their mobile phones, and more than nine out of 10 consumers don’t use mobile payments when they’re available.

Mississauga, Canada – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is reportedly expanding its Canadian operation, even as chief rival Target is exiting the country after spending $4 billion in an effort to open stores there. According to the Wall Street Journal, Wal-Mart plans to spend $270 million on building 29 new Canadian supercenters and an expanded distribution network to support them.

Bentonville, Ark. – Phoenix area consumers have a new option for online grocery shopping, at least for now. According to the Phoenix Business Journal, Wal-Mart is piloting an online grocery service in and around Phoenix.

Fort Worth, Texas – Pier 1 Imports Inc. has named senior VP of planning Laura A. Coffey, 48, as interim CFO. The move comes as Pier 1 reduces its guidance for fiscal 2015 and Charles “Cary” Turner retires as senior executive VP and CFO.

Livermore, Calif. -- Simon announced that its Bay Area outlet shopping center, Livermore Premium Outlets, will be rebranded and named San Francisco Premium Outlets in conjunction with a major expansion.

The 512,000-sq.-ft. center is located in the affluent East Bay area of northern California and features 130 designer and name brand outlet stores, including Armani, Barneys New York, Bloomingdale's Outlet, Burberry, Cole Haan, DKNY, Elie Tahari, Kate Spade New York, Last Call by Neiman Marcus, Polo Ralph Lauren, Prada and Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. is closing its Target Ticket online video rental service on March 7. Any unwatched movies customers have already rented must be viewed by that date, or they will no longer be available through the service on any customer device.

Best Buy is finally joining the growing online gift registry market by offering wedding registry services.   More than 1.5 million couples register for wedding gifts each year. Options for these couples soon will improve with the Feb. 16 launch of the Best Buy Wedding Registry, enabling couples everywhere to register for their most-wanted tech essentials:  from wireless speakers to cameras and from Ultra HD TVs to ever-popular kitchen gadgets.