eCommerce

Jacksonville, Fla. -- Stein Mart’s board of directors has appointed D. Hunt Hawkins and Brian R. Morrow to share the newly created office of the president. Both men will continue to report to CEO Jay Stein.

Digital interactions influence 36 cents of every dollar spent in the retail store, or approximately $1.1 trillion, according to the latest study from Deloitte Digital. The study also found that by the end of 2014, that number will climb to 50%, or $1.5 trillion of total store sales.

The study, "The New Digital Divide," quantifies the extent to which consumers' use of desktop and laptop computers, tablets and smartphones influences brick-and-mortar store sales.

Petco has named Larry Rutkowski as EVP and CFO.

"Larry is a highly accomplished executive with a proven track record of successful financial leadership for both public and privately-held companies," said CEO Jim Myers. "His unique skillset and experience in a diverse array of industries will serve us well as we continue to advance Petco's leadership position in pet specialty. We're thrilled to add Larry to our executive team."

Grapevine, Texas -- GameStop Corp. will close 120-130 of its 6,457 stores worldwide in 2014 and add 300 to 400 new tech stores under three different banners: Spring Mobile, Cricket and Simply Mac. The closures and openings are part of the company’s new “GameStop3.0” repositioning. The new strategy emphasizes mobile-gaming.

“The opportunities that have presented themselves we see as unique,” said GameStop CEO Paul Raines during an investor meeting last week.

IBM and digital commerce firm Fluid are collaborating on Fluid Expert Shopper (XPS), an app made with the IBM Watson artificial intelligence platform. Fluid XPS lets consumers ask highly specific questions, as they would a sales associate in a store, and receive personalized advice. The app will take advantage of Watson’s abilities to understand and learn from natural language, meaning it will engage in human-like conversations and provide product recommendations that take the context of customer questions into account.

Stein Mart’s board of directors has appointed D. Hunt Hawkins and Brian R. Morrow to share the newly created office of the president. Both men will continue to report to CEO Jay Stein.

"Hunt and Brian have made significant contributions in the success of the company," said Stein. "Their promotions are a testament to their leadership that has built a team that has produced seven consecutive quarters of comp store gains, a dramatic departure from the achievements of past management, and reflect the confidence the board and I have in them."

New York - Digital interactions influence 36 cents of every dollar spent in the retail store, or approximately $1.1 trillion. According to the latest study from Deloitte Digital, by the end of 2014, that number will climb to 50%, or $1.5 trillion of total store sales.

Philadelphia — Century 21 has signed into The Gallery in Center City Philadelphia. It is the iconic fashion retailer’s first location outside of the New York market, according to the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, the owner and manager of The Gallery.