eCommerce

Home Depot and Dollar General are among a total of 23 national brand name retailers that now accept PayPal as payment in their physical stores.

PayPal announced plans to sign up a total of 20 large national retailers by the end of 2012. They closed the year with 23, which means shoppers will have the option of paying for purchases with PayPal at 18,000 physical stores around the United States.

New York -- Shoppers diversifying the way they shop for and acquire goods, becoming increasingly open to buying both online and in-store depending on their needs at time of purchase. While more than 80% of shoppers chose the store to make their last non-grocery purchase, only half are committed to returning there next time they buy. These are among the findings of a new IBM study of global consumers.

Atlanta – Predictix announced that Crate and Barrel is implementing a broad suite of planning solutions from Predictix, including merchandise financial planning/merchandise financial management, assortment planning and item planning.

The Predictix solutions are being deployed across all Crate and Barrel brands — Crate and Barrel, CB2 and The Land of Nod — and will go live this quarter as part of a strategic plan to optimize the retailer's planning processes.

New York -- Total holiday retail sales increased 3% to $579.8 billion, below the National Retail Federation s projected forecast of 4.1%. Non-store holiday sales grew 11%, below the 12% growth forecast by Shop.org. (The NRF sales figures exclude automobiles, gas stations and restaurants.)

“For over six months, we’ve been saying that the fiscal cliff and economic uncertainty could impact holiday sales. As the number shows, these issues had a visible impact on consumer spending this holiday season,” said Matthew Shay, CEO, NRF.

Paris -- French luxury group PPR’s Tuesday announcement that it has acquired 51% of British fashion brand Christopher Kane means that the luxury designer will soon have branded boutiques. The first is slated to open in London as early as 2014.

According to a report by Reuters, the deal is part of PPR's strategy to add to its luxury portfolio with small brands that have growth potential.

"We think it can become a sizeable business," Alexis Babeau, managing director of PPR's luxury division, told Reuters on Tuesday.

NEW YORK — The National Retail Federation has elected Saks chairman and CEO Stephen I. Sadove to chairman of the NRF board of directors and chairman of its executive committee. Sadove succeeds NRF’s chairman, Terry J. Lundgren, who is chairman, president and CEO of Macy’s.
 

ATLANTA — Cloud-solutions developer Predictix has named John Simon as its new CEO.

Simon will be charged with helping accelerate growth as Predictix continues developing and delivering solutions to retail companies. The move comes on the heels of the partnership announced between Predictix and analytics-based consumer chain solutions developer Yomari.

NEW YORK — Online retailers are focused on retaining existing shoppers by giving them a better online shopping experience.

As shoppers become increasingly connected, online retailers are developing strategies to increase web conversion and loyalty.

According to the 2013 Shop.org/Forrester Research Inc. State of Retailing Online survey, 51% of retailers surveyed say their top priority for 2013 is site optimization, including checkout optimization, alternative payments, user experience, testing and product detail page enhancements.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — The National Stationery Show has joined forces with the Craft & Hobby Association to provide those in the social stationery and crafts, and creative hobby industries with new resources.

Fort Worth, Texas -- RadioShack Corp. announced that it is ending its relationship with Target, where it helps operate Target Mobile in 1,500 Target stores, effective April 8.

The RadioShack and Target partnership provided RadioShack access to manage Target's post-paid mobility business. But RadioShack did not manage the prepaid mobility business or the wider range of accessories offered in Target stores.