eCommerce

New York -- Amazon.com narrowed its loss in the third quarter and posted a better-than-expected 25% increase in sales. The online giant reported a net loss of $41 million, down from $274 million in the year-ago period, in line with expectations.

Amazon reported revenue of $17.1 billion, beating expectations by about 2% on strong sales growth, particularly in the U.S. market.

Less than two weeks after announcing plans to reduce overall international capital expenditures, top Walmart executives were telling a different story in China this week.

At a press event in Beijing, Walmart CEO Mike Duke and Walmart China CEO Greg Foran said the company planned to opening as many as 110 new facilities during the next three years including stores in China’s smaller cities while also closing up to 9% of its 397 units and remodeling 165 stores.

Chico, Calif. – Online home improvement retailer Build.com has successfully deployed 360price, 360pi’s exact match solution, to monitor pricing for more than a billion permutations and combinations of products, categories and competitors. Build.com seeks to leverage real-time price intelligence to drive conversions, revenues and margins.
 

Sidney, Neb. -- Cabela’s Inc. announced  plans to enter three new markets – Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada; Garner, N.C.; and Sun Prairie, Wis.

Construction on Cabela’s 100,000-sq. ft. Garner store – its first North Carolina location – is scheduled to begin next summer. The store is expected to open in spring of 2015.

New York -- The Millennial generation is expected to outspend Baby Boomers by 2017, yet retailers underestimate the size and purchasing power of this consumer, according to a new study by Berglass + Associates and Women’s Wear Daily.

The study, “What Happens When Millennials Get the Wallet,” found that retailers do not fully understand the needs of Millennials and are employing business strategies and tactics that do not apply to this customer.
 

Beauty retailer Sephora has appointed former Sears Canada and Loblaws executive Calvin McDonald as president and CEO of Sephora Americas, effective Jan. 1, 2014.

McDonald succeeds David Suliteanu, who has led Sephora since July 2000. Suliteanu is becoming the CEO of Kendo Brands, a separate LVMH entity, which creates new beauty brands, as well as acquires brands. The Kendo portfolio today includes brands, such as Ole Henriksen, Kat von D, Formula X and Marc Jacobs Beauty, with others in development.

Despite the challenging economic landscape and a decrease in firearms sales, Cabela’s comparable store sales for the third quarter ended Sept. 28 increased 3.9% — the company’s eighth consecutive quarter of comp store sales increases. Excluding firearms, comparable store sales increased 5.3%.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. is making a big online push for the holidays, including expanding its in-store pick-up program for products ordered online to all of its U.S. stores by Nov. 1 (the service is now available in about half of the chain’s locations). And for the first time, Target will promote the concept of Cyber Week, with an ad campaign Dec. 1 through Dec. 3 that focuses on Cyber Week deals including Cyber Monday.