eCommerce

New York -- A physical store presence is key to most retailers for their online growth strategy, according to a new report by Moody’s Investor Services. Based on existing data, Moody’s estimate online sales as a percent of total retail sales are just 6% today, and will increase to 7.1% by 2016, and potentially reach a double-digit (mid-teens) share of the total retail sales pie in about five years.

San Jose, Calif. - EBay and U.K. general merchandise retailer Argos have entered an agreement to extend their offering of Click & Collect services via Argos stores. This extension will enable shoppers to select products from a much wider range of EBay sellers for collection from about 650 Argos stores.

Austin, Texas -- Magento, an eBay Enterprise company, has named Bigcommerce, a commerce platform for successful and emerging merchants, as its preferred migration provider for ProStores and Magento Go when the two products are discontinued on February 1, 2015.

Bigcommerce and Magento are committed to the future success of ProStores and Magento Go retailers. Magento is offering migration options that best suit the needs of each client, including migration to its Community and Enterprise Editions, and special migration offers to Bigcommerce.

New York -- Kroger is expanding into new markets and growing its presence in the e-commerce channel with its acquisition of Vitacost.com, a leading online retailer of vitamins and supplements. 

According to the definitive merger agreement, Kroger will purchase all outstanding shares of Vitacost.com for $8 per share in cash, or approximately $280 million.

Salt Lake City – Overstock.com now offers free Club O loyalty program memberships to active police officers, full-time firefighters, paramedics and certified emergency medical technicians. Those who qualify for the program can enroll by visiting the first-responders sign-up section on Overstock.

First responders can have their identity verified through the ID.me digital authentication service and relayed to Overstock to receive their free Club O membership. Once individuals sign up, they enter a user name and password to receive benefits.

Former Amazon operations executive Jeff Helms has joined crowdsourced same-day delivery start-up Deliv as head of delivery operations.

Helms spent three years at Amazon in operations management and productivity improvement roles. Prior to Amazon, he spent four years as a professor of military science at Arkansas State University. The West Point graduate also served in the military.

Plano, Texas – J.C. Penney has filed an appeal of a June 16 ruling by the New York State Supreme Court that it "tortuously" interfered with Macy’s 2006 contract with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia when Penney entered into its own contract with Martha Stewart in 2011. In the ruling, Justice Jeffrey K. Oing said Macy’s failed to prove that it is entitled to punitive damages.