eCommerce

SAN BRUNO, Calif.- It was a very busy Monday—Cyber Monday to be more specific— for Walmart. The discounter said  that Cyber Monday 2014 (Dec. 1) was the biggest online day in its history for orders. Customers viewed more than 1.5 billion pages on Walmart.com between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.

San Jose, Calif. - Total online sales for Cyber Monday came in at $2.65 billion, up 16% compared to 2013. According to data from Adobe Systems, the top 25 retailers, who each generated $30 million or more on Cyber Monday, saw online sales increase by 25%, capturing nearly $1.8 billion.
Smaller retailers, those generating $2 million or less, grew sales by 5%. Consumers saw the highest discounts of 23% in the early morning hours and more than half (54%) of online sales occurred outside of normal working hours.

In a move to showcase its advanced shipping capabilities to holiday shoppers Amazon.com is touting the finer points of its eighth generation fulfillment centers.

The online giant said its eighth generation fulfillment centers embody two decades worth of software and mechanical innovations including extensive robotics technology from Kiva Systems, a company Amazon acquired several years ago.

Armonk, N.Y. – Mobile traffic and sales trends indicate that Cyber Monday is increasingly becoming an event consumers take with them wherever they go. According to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark data, Cyber Monday mobile traffic accounted for 41.2% of all online traffic, up 30.1% from 2013.  

Despite increasing competition from Amazon Local and Google Shopping, Groupon announced Tuesday that its holiday weekend sales set a new record.

For the full Black Friday through Cyber Monday weekend, the e-commerce site’s North American sales climbed over 25 percent from last year, the company reported. This year's Black Friday and Cyber Monday were the two biggest days in Groupon's North American history, the firm said.

New York – If you were looking for quality call center service from an online retailer during Black Friday or Cyber Monday, then you wanted to shop at L.L. Bean. According to data from analysis firm StellaService, L.L. Bean led in customer service call response time on Black Friday (10 seconds), Cyber Monday (six seconds) and Cyber Weekend (nine seconds).

L.L. Bean actually improved its call center response time compared to its month-to-date average. Other notable findings included:

Mahwah, New Jersey - Ascena Retail Group’s first quarter profit topped estimates as strong online growth helped make up for falling same-store sales. The company, which operates the Lane Bryant, Cacique, Maurices, Dressbarn, Catherines, Justice and Brothers brands, reported net income of $53.5 million, compared to $52.6 million in the year-ago period.

Net sales of $1.2 billion for the first quarter were flat compared to the year-ago period. Same-store sales fell 4% while online sales surged 16%.

Framingham, Mass. – Staples Inc. aims to make shipping both cheaper and easier for frazzled shoppers this holiday season. Staples is offering 20% off shipping services through Dec. 23 with coupon, and an expanded selection of packaging and shipping supplies.