eCommerce

Indianapolis -- Finish Line Inc. reported Friday a loss of $107,000 for the quarter ended Dec. 1, compared with a profit of $5.55 million in the year-ago period. The unexpected swing, said the company, was due in part to a lukewarm response to Finish Line’s new online store.
 
Sales in the quarter climbed 5.2% to $296.6 million, missing Wall Street’s expected $296 million in revenue, and same-store sales rose 3.6%.

Paris -- A Friday report by Reuters said that Virgin Megastore’s French division will declare insolvent next week, slated to unveil a plan to file for payments suspension on Jan. 7.

The French operation is the latest victim of the slump in CD and DVD sales.
 
Virgin France is owned by private equity firm Butler Capital Partners, and operates 26 Virgin-branded stores in France.

Reston, Va. -- A report released Friday by comScore showed that holiday online spending grew 14% year-over-year to $42.3 billion, as individual shopping days reached record spending levels.

Total results, however, fell slightly short of early-season predictions, as softer-than-expected buying occurred during the early to mid weeks of the period.

SAN FRANCISCO — Gap has added one more brand to its existing portfolio, purchasing Intermix Holdco for approximately $130 million in cash.

Intermix is a New York-based multi-brand specialty retailer of luxury and contemporary women’s apparel and accessories. It operates 32 boutiques across North America, along with an e-commerce site, offering a mix of luxury brands, including up-and-coming designers. Gap intends to expand Intermix’s network of stores, as well as add significant visibility and enhancements to its online site.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — Former Disney executive Andy Mooney has been appointed as president and CEO of Quiksilver. He succeeds Quiksilver’s co-founder Bob McKnight, who has been named executive chairman. Mooney will also join the board of directors.

The changes in leadership will become effective January 11.

An annual holiday e-retail satisfaction report produced by analytic's firm ForeSee showed a slight deterioration in Walmart’s satisfaction score during the holidays.

Amazon.com, LLBean.com and QVC.com were the top three retailers on ForeSee’s Annual Holiday E-Retail Satisfaction survey while Walmart.com fell in the middle of the pack.

BRISBANE, Calif. — Steve Birkhold was named CEO at Bebe on the same day that the company reported a worse than expected second quarter loss and a 10.5% comp decline.

Birkhold, who previously served as president and CEO at Lacoste, will be tasked with leading a turnaround at the struggling specialty retailer.

In what turned out to be one of the stranger holiday seasons in recent memory retailers fought through a range of unconventional headwinds to deliver an uneven performance.

Online holiday season sales grew 14% to $42.3 billion, a little short of comScore’s pre-season forecast.

The online measurement firm originally projected that online sales during the November and December period would increase 16% to $43.4 billion. However, after a strong start online sales fizzled a bit in early December and never quite regained enough momentum to achieve the firm’s earlier target.

Purchase, N.Y. -- Spending in key categories experienced a slight year-over-year gain of 0.7% during the 2012 holiday period, with the season slowed down by a combination of factors, according to a SpendingPulse report released by MasterCard Advisors, the professional services arm of MasterCard. Sub-sectors measured in the SpendingPulse Holiday Index report are apparel, electronics, online, luxury, jewelry and furnishings. (SpendingPulse data estimates retail sales across all payment forms.)