eCommerce

Former Accenture CFO Pamela Craig has joined the Walmart board and will serve on the retailer’s audit committee involved in a two year old investigation related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Boston – A vast majority of shoppers say meaning is the most important factor in choosing a holiday gift to purchase. According to a new survey from online marketplace CustomMade, more than 90% of buyers surveyed said that the most important factor in choosing a gift this holiday season was its meaning to the recipient, while only 18% of respondents found an item’s low price to be highly important to their purchase decision.

Despite the growing popularity of online shopping, millions of consumers will flock to the stores this Black Friday. According to a recent study from WD Partners, "Amazon Can't Do That: Consumer Desire & the Store of the Future,” 79% of consumers rank instant ownership as a top factor in influencing how they shop.

Other store-friendly top influencers include sensory experience and product immersion (75%), emotional experience of interacting with live human beings, community, and personal service.

Columbus, Ohio -- Despite the growing popularity of online shopping, millions of consumers will flock to the stores this Black Friday. According to a recent study from WD Partners, "Amazon Can't Do That: Consumer Desire & the Store of the Future,” 79% of consumers rank instant ownership as a top factor in influencing how they shop.

Other store-friendly top influencers include sensory experience and product immersion (75%), emotional experience of interacting with live human beings, community, and personal service.

Ottawa, Ontario – Toys ‘R’ Us, which carries about 425 of the same video games as Amazon.com, is on average 37% higher priced than Amazon as of Nov 21. The latest Amazon Holiday Pricing Insights report from pricing solutions provider 360pi also found that the toy retailer has been keeping prices high during the last month and even increasing them during the week of Nov. 21, which may point to a deep discount strategy the week of Nov. 28.

Some other findings include:

New York -- China takes the top spot in online retail market opportunity, followed by Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Korea, according to a new global e-commerce study by A.T. Kearney. (Kearney’s “2013 Global Retail E-Commerce Index” is comprised of 30 developed and developing markets.)

Minneapolis -- Target Corp.'s third-quarter net income fell 47%, hurt by costs related to its Canadian expansion. Its adjusted profit beat analysts' estimates, but sales fell short. The retailer lowered its full-year adjusted earnings forecast.

For the three months ended Nov. 2, Target earned $341 million, or 54 cents per share, down from $637 million in the year ago period. Removing Canada-related expansion costs and other items, earnings were 84 cents per share.

The electronic currency known as bitcoin allows small- and medium-size companies to reach more customers by opening new markets that were previously unreachable, the co-founder of a company that allows businesses to use bitcoins said in testimony this week before two Senate subcommittees. And it appears that federal authorities are open to its development.