eCommerce

Portland will be the proving ground this fall for a new mobile commerce initiative from Starbucks called Mobile Order and Pay that is part of the company’s broader effort to radically transform the retail experience.

Mississauga, Ont. -- Target Canada is opening three new stores Oct. 17, located in Ottawa, Ont; Sheridan Centre in Mississauga, Ont. and Polo Park in Winnipeg, Man. The opening of the three new stores marks the final stores scheduled to open in 2014 and brings the total number of Target Canada stores open across the country to 133.

 

Las Vegas -- Today’s convenience stores face growing pressure to evolve amid the ramped-up expectations of global consumers, according to remarks made by Joseph Bona, president of branded environments at brand agency and retail design consultancy CBX, and Dan Munford, managing firector of U.K.-based Insight, convenience and petroleum retail strategy specialists, at the National Association of Convenience Stores’ annual convention in Las Vegas.  

Indianapolis –- Simon malls will feature the Ziploop mobile shopping app during the 2014 holiday season. The app stores paper, cards, coupons and certificates and stores them on a mobile device, tablet or desktop.

 

Washington, D.C. -- September retail sales, excluding automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants, decreased 0.1% seasonally adjusted month-to-month yet increased 4.6% unadjusted year-over-year. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), seasonal factors played a role, but the drop-off from August was worse than expected.  

Karen Katz, president and CEO of Neiman Marcus Group, has been appointed to the board of directors of Under Armour Inc.

Dublin, Calif. –- Ross Stores opened 20 new Ross Dress for Less and eight new DD’s Discounts stores across 14 different states in September and October.     These new locations are part of the off-price retailer’s plans to add a total of approximately 75 Ross and 20 DD’s Discounts stores during 2014.  

Amazon’s 50 fulfillments centers and 15 sortation centers are looking to hire 80,000 seasonal works to cope with an anticipated surge in U.S. holiday sales.

Amazon, like other retailers, touts the seasonal positions as an opportunity to get in on the ground floor with the company and establish a foundation for a career. Last year, Amazon said it converted thousands of seasonal employees into regular, full-time roles after the holidays, and expects to do the same this year.