eCommerce

Mountain View, Calif. – In a new report, “The Four Mobile Traps,” usability testing service firm UserTesting.com identifies four common mistakes retailers make when attempting to perform mobile commerce. Following is a brief summary of each “trap:”

SAN FRANCISCO — The Gymboree Corporation has appointed former Levi Strauss & Co. executive Joelle Maher as the company's new COO.  

At Levi Strauss & Co., Maher was most recently EVP, president global retail, and prior to that SVP of Americas multi-channel retail, and VP, planning, allocation, stores, store operations and outlet. She also held executive leadership positions at Lucky Brand Jeans, Old Navy and Macy's East.

Amazon.com and Walmart.com both sell products online, but that’s where the similarities end despite frequent efforts to compare the two.

With an ongoing investigation into alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the last thing Walmart would want to do is enter a market like Russia. Nevertheless, a Bloomberg report this week linked the company to a retailer few Americans have ever hear of.

San Francisco -- The trend to shop on smartphones is growing, with 71% of smartphones owners saying they shop using their mobile device, according to a report by Scava, a provider of mobile, tablet and in-store technologies. However, mobile shopping experiences fail to meet consumer satisfaction, as 88% of those who shop on their smartphone have experienced negative issues.

When asked about their biggest pain points when shopping on mobile, mobile shoppers responded:

Denver -- Multichannel specialty apparel Pampered Passions Fine Lingerie is turning to Facebook to find its next new models. Pampered Passions is launching a contest where women can post photos of themselves on its Facebook page. Every month, the customer with the photo receiving the most likes will receive a dedicated page with their pictures on the Pampered Passions e-commerce site and also get a one-year free membership in the retailer’s “Lingerie of the Month” club.

Virginia Beach, Va. -- Divaris Real Estate has arranged five retail leases for space in Chesapeake, Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

T-Mobile signed three leases for 4,225 sq. ft. The company will move into 1,600 sq. ft. in Kempsriver Crossing in Virginia Beach, 1,500 sq. ft. in Southern Shopping Center in Norfolk and 1,125 sq. ft. in Indian River Shoppes in Chesapeake.

Original Mattress Factory is relocating to a larger space in Sam’s Circle in Chesapeake. The new space is 2,400 sq. ft.

Irvine, Calif. – European private label fashion brand is entering the U.S. e-commerce arena with the launch of a new office and website in the U.S. The site will offer leather goods, handbags and accessories at up to an 80% discount.

Eastside specializes in having fashion and design professionals analyze the market and then select materials and trends to create private-label goods and accessories.

FREEPORT, Maine — Outdoor gear and apparel multichannel merchant L.L.Bean is revving up its Bootmobile and hitting the road as part of the company’s 2013 Outdoor Discovery Tour, which encourages people to enjoy the outdoors.  

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Tocata, a technology innovator in mobile e-commerce, is launching a front-end mobile platform for retailers which allows them to build immersive, revenue-driving mobile shopping experiences that can be deployed on tablets or smartphones, whether as apps or as HTML5.