eCommerce

By Lee Peterson, wdpartners.com

Across-the-board payroll cuts have rarely delivered margins long-term for retailers. Crude cuts are more than misguided today, but a dangerous strategy for stores in the fight for survival against Amazon.

INDIANAPOLIS — Office supplies and clothing retailers are not the only ones vying for foot traffic during back-to-school season. Students need laptops and other consumer electronics, too, and specialty retailer HH Gregg is jumping into the fray with its list of sales and specials targeted at the tech-savvy crowd.

The Indianapolis-based retailer is marketing lightweight laptops, fully equipped with high-powered processors and storage, and Samsung tablets to schools with computer- and audiovisual-equipped classrooms as well as college-bound students. 

Lewisville, Texas -- Almost six-in-10 (58%) U.S. smartphone owners, representing one-in-three overall shoppers, “showroom” or check for better prices on in-store items using their mobile devices. The Parago Dynamic Pricing Study also shows that Amazon is the number one way U.S. consumers compare prices on smartphones in store.

What’s your favorite department store? The experts at London-based design consultancy Dalziel+Pow have just come out with their top 10 global department store destinations. It’s an interesting list, with some familiar players, and some less so.

Here are the firm’s picks:

ATLANTA — Leading supply chain commerce solutions provider Manhattan Associates reported total revenue of $102.5 million in the second quarter of 2013, compared to $93.6 million in the second quarter of 2012. 

License revenue was $16.1 million in the second quarter of 2013, compared to $15.3 million in the second quarter of 2012. 

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears may not be the first name that springs to mind when one thinks of retailers that leverage technology to reach out to digital-savvy consumers, but it's demonstrating that it can stay current with the latest digital trends. 

New York -- Starwood Capital Group LLC, the investment firm headed by real estate developer Barry Sternlicht, has joined the bidding for Saks Inc., according to a report by the New York Post. Starwood Capital invests in retail, office and residential real estate.

The bid by Starwood is worth about $2.5 billion, or $17-$18 per share, according to the report. The amount is roughly equal to a previously existing bid from Canadian retail conglomerate Hudson’s Bay, which also owns the Lord & Taylor department store chain.

PITTSBURGH — GNC is no stranger to China, with more than 60 store-within-a-store locations in eight different major grocery, convenience and health and wellness chains in China. But two years after entering the market, the retailer is opening its first stand-alone location in Shanghai.

GNC plans on opening an additional 25 locations in China within the next 12 months.