eCommerce

Saks chairman and CEO Stephen Sadove has been named to the board of directors at J.C. Penney to fill a position being vacated by Geraldine Laybourne.

Sadove will be leaving his position at Saks soon as the upscale department store chain was recently sold to Hudson’s Bay Company. Sadove joined Saks in 2002 as vice chairman and assumed the additional post of chief operating officer in 2004. He became CEO in 2006 and the following year was named chairman.

Amazon has introduced a new service that streamlines how customers transact with online merchants. Login and Pay with Amazon allows customers of participating companies to go from browsing to buying in just a few clicks using their Amazon account information.

New York -- A report by Wall Street Journal revealed that private equity investor Tower Three Partners will sell its final 3.9 million shares in Restoration Hardware Holdings, marking an exit for the buyout firms that acquired the home furnishings retailer in 2008.

Restoration Hardware’s private-equity backers have been cashing out amid a 90% rally in the stock this year, according to the report.

By Michael Zea, president and CEO, U.S., Aimia
 
Amid weaker-than-expected August retail sales, leading retailers are kick-starting their holiday shopping season by wooing existing shoppers through their customer loyalty programs. Retailers are increasing their investment in the traditional transaction-based loyalty efforts because of the proven success of rewarding customers for their purchases.
 

Shopper activity decreased this September, in line with ShopperTrak’s predictions. Total retail store shopper traffic for the month decreased 20.2% compared to August. In a year-over-year comparison, shopper traffic for September 2013 decreased 6.9% compared to the same month last year.

Back-to-school shopping activity that peaked in August slowed as school came back in session. The early Labor Day (Sept. 2) compounded the reduction in September’s shopper activity by combining two normally distinct shopping opportunities into just one.

Chino Hills, Calif. — The Shoppes at Chino Hills, a 380,000-sq.-ft. community and lifestyle center in Chino Hills, Calif., has announced leases with five new retailers.

DB Shoes has opened its first Inland Empire store in a 6,100-sq.-ft. space next to Aeropostale.

Another Inland Empire first is The Kickin’ Crab, set to open in the spring of 2014.

Originally an online business, Kid’s Wonderland recently opened its first brick-and-mortar retail location at Chino Hills.

New York -- E-commerce solution-provider Borderfree said it has partnered with The Container Store to expand the chain’s international e-commerce reach in time for the holidays.

Previously only accessible to consumers in the U.S., and Canada, The Container Store’s online product offerings are now available to consumers in Australia, India, Mexico, Germany, France, Japan, Switzerland, Russia, and the U.K.

Dallas – The e-commerce model is still actively evolving in response to changes in the consumer marketplace and technology. David Llamas, former CIO of British department store Harrod’s and an independent executive advisor, described how e-commerce has changed and is still changing during a session at the SAP Retail Forum on Oct. 8.

“In 2007, new e-commerce models like private sales, deals, and mobile commerce emerged,” said Llamas. “They have five times faster growth than traditional e-commerce models.”