eCommerce

Walmart pulled a dietary supplement from its Web site this week following a report by USA Today that called into question the product’s safety and the track record of the supplier.
 
The product in question was a pre-workout supplement called Craze from supplier Matt Cahill who USA Today said has a history of putting risky supplements on the market. Walmart spokeswoman Dianna Gee said the product was pulled to, “allow us time to look further into not only the safety of the product, but also the integrity of the supplier.”

SALT LAKE CITY — Overstock.com is extending its limited-time book sale promotion, pricing books at least 10% below Amazon's prices. The online retailer will keep prices at that level one more week.

"This promotion is so successful we've chosen to extend it," said CEO Patrick M. Byrne. "We are already, on average, 9% cheaper than Amazon on other products we carry, so this just seems like the natural next step. It's a great time to be shopping for a book."

New Delhi, India – The Indian government has eased its notoriously difficult restrictions on how foreign retailers must invest and source when doing business in the country. As reported by Reuters, foreign retailers will still have to source 30% of the products they sell locally, but now have five years to initially reach that goal and then have to meet it annually.

New York -- HH Gregg saw a significant improvement in its financial results for the three-month period ended June 30. Despite a net loss of $1.3 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, the specialty retailer narrowed the gap from a net loss of $5.7 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, for the comparable prior-year period.

The decrease in net loss for the three month period ended June 30, 2013 was due, in part, to a comparable-store sales increase of 0.8%, offset by a decrease in gross profit as a percentage of net sales.

Berlin, N.J. — A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts will mark the opening of its new store at The Town Center at St. Lucie West with a week long grand opening celebration starting Aug. 4.

The 21,000-sq.-ft. store carries an arts and crafts merchandise assortment with more than 40,000 items.

A.C. Moore operates about 140 arts and craft stores along the East Coast.
 

NEW YORK — H&M has made a lot of its U.S. customers happy with the launch of its Shop Online store, namely those who prefer the convenience of online shopping over having to go to the retailer’s brick-and-mortar stores. 

The retailer also stands to reach new potential customers who don’t have a store anywhere near them, but are familiar with the brand. 

Walldorf, Germany -- SAP AG and Hybris announced that SAP has completed the acquisition of Hybris, a leader in commerce technology. The two companies said they plan to combine the omni-channel commerce solutions of Hybris with robust enterprise technology and in-memory, cloud and mobile innovations from SAP to help facilitate new levels of customer insight and engagement.

Net sale increases at HSNi’s HSN and Cornerstone operating segments had a favorable impact on the company’s total net sales, which increased 6% to $812.6 million for the second quarter ended June 30 from $767.2 for the same quarter last year.

HSN’s 5% net sales increase to $526.2 million for the quarter, from $502 million for the same quarter last year, was due in part to lower return rates. The average price point decreased 4% while units shipped increased 7% primarily due to an increase in clearance activity.