eCommerce

Walmart and Target should see an influx of parents in the coming months, as both retailers topped the list of where consumers plan to do most of their back-to-school shopping this year, according to The NPD Group.

NPD asked the the open-end question:  “Where do you plan to do most of the back to school shopping for your child(ren)?" Out of 1,760 mentions of retailers where parents plan to do back to school shopping on behalf of their kids, Walmart secured 36% of them, followed by Target at 20%.

SAN FRANCISCO — Williams-Sonoma has promoted Julie Whalen, SVP, acting CFO, has been appointed EVP, CFO.

HAMILTON, BERMUDA — Specialty retail jeweler, Signet Jewelers, has named a Procter & Gamble executive to its board of directors.

Virginia Drosos, group president global beauty, skin, cosmetics and personal care for Procter & Gamble, who will retire from this position effective Sept. 1, joined the Signet board on July 25.

Chicago -- A Thursday report compiled by Reuters and published in the Chicago Tribune said that U.S. authorities are weighing whether or not to launch a wide-scale investigation of the retail industry for bribery violations.

The news comes after Wal-Mart de Mexico came under scrutiny for potentially violating an anti-foreign bribery law, allegedly orchestrating bribes of $24 million to facilitate its growth in the region.     

ARMONK, N.Y. — IBM's fifth annual Online Retail Holiday Readiness report has uncovered that 2012 may just be the year of mobile.

Based on data from more than 500 U.S. retailers, the report found that online mobile sales increased 88.8% in second quarter 2012, compared with year-ago period.

What's more, IBM is forecasting that mobile sales will reach 20% of total online holiday sales this holiday season, and that mobile traffic will close in on 25%.

Toronto -- Canadian retailer Hudson's Bay Co. said Thursday it will shutter most of the remaining 64 Zellers stores that aren’t being converted to Target locations.

The Zellers parent sold the majority of the leases to Target Corp. last year. Many of the remaining 64 stores are expected to close by March 2013. Those that aren’t closed could potentially open under another retail banner, said Hudson’s Bay.
 

Profits at Amazon.com declined 96% to $7 million, or a penny a share, even though sales advanced 29% to $12.8 billion.

The ongoing build out of Amazon.com’s supply chain infrastructure hurt the company’s overall profitability, but positioned the company to deliver an even better shopper experience in the future. Amazon.com expects to open approximately 18 new warehouses this year.

Shoppers aren’t stupid. With momentum gathering around e-fairness, it’s only a matter of time before the online giant is required to collect sales tax. And when shoppers get wind of the looming change, watch out!

Amazon.com’s sales will surge in the quarter before the e-fairness legislation kicks in and the retailer is required to collect sales tax on behalf of jurisdictions nationwide. It will mark the end of a golden era for shoppers who will rush to make purchases, especially big ticket items, in advance of the legislation’s effective date.