eCommerce

Bentonville, Ark. –- Wal-Mart is reportedly testing a price-matching program it may use for the upcoming holiday season. According to the Wall Street Journal, Wal-Mart is currently piloting price-matching with local competitors in brick-and-mortar stores but may expand the program nationally and include online competitors like Amazon.com.  

Montreal, Canada – Retail real estate firm Simon, private Canadian developer SmartCentres and Calloway REIT are celebrating the opening of Premium Outlets Montreal Thursday, Oct. 30. Featuring designer and lifestyle brands, the new centre has more than 80 outlet stores offering savings of 25 to 65% every day.    Many of these new outlet stores are unique to the Montreal metro area, including Michael Kors, Max Mara, The Hudson Bay Outlet, Desigual, Vans and many more.

Digital retailer QVC is adding new in-app features that allow customers to make easy and quick purchases with just a touch of their finger. 

Using Apple’s fingerprint sensor technology, Touch ID, the QVC for iPhone app now gives customers the option to log in to their QVC accounts on all iOS 8-enabled iPhone 5S, 6 and 6+ mobile devices using only their fingertip for authentication.   

New York –- Online retailer Gilt has added the Alipay EPass payment option to its checkout, making it easier for consumers in China to shop using its e-commerce platform. The partnership provides a more seamless experience for Chinese Gilt members, allowing them to pay through their existing Alipay accounts directly on the Gilt website.  

New York –- Holiday spending among U.S. consumers is expected to rise 1.9% in 2014 compared to the prior year. According to the 2014 Nielsen Holiday Retail Sales Forecast, which surveyed more than 25,000 demographically representative American households in September, 25% of respondents had already started holiday shopping in September.

San Mateo, Calif. –- Last year, Black Friday was the top date for “card present” (CP) fraud, where a payment card is presented in a store for unauthorized usage. Data science company Feedzai analyzed data representing $750 billion in payment volume and more than 17.5 billion transactions in both card present (CP) and card not present (unauthorized online card purchases, or CNP) environments.  

San Jose, Calif. –- EBay Inc. will offer Visa Qiwi Wallet as a payment option on EBay in Russia. Starting Nov. 5, all Russian EBay customers will be able to pay for their purchases with Visa Qiwi Wallet.   

New York –- Independent real estate firm RKF has arranged a 9,100-sq.-ft. lease for True Religion, a retailer of denim and denim-related sportswear, in the SoHo neighborhood of New York. Acting on behalf of the landlord, 513 Broadway LLC, RKF executive VP Ariel Schuster negotiated the transaction, offering 2,900 sq. ft. on the ground floor, plus two levels below totaling 6,200 sq. ft.