eCommerce

Leading payment processor Vantiv said it signed an agreement to acquire Litle & Co., a leading mobile payment processor in a deal valued at $361 million.

According to Vantiv president and CEO, Charles Drucker, the deal makes sense because e-commerce is one of the fastest growing segments of payments.

New York -- In a surprise announcement on Tuesday, Apple Inc. said its retail senior VP John Browett abruptly left the company on Monday. Another senior-ranking staffer iOS software senior VP Scott Forstall, will exit next year.

New York -- While it may be days, even weeks, before the full extent of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy is known, economists are forecasting that retail sales will be impacted in October and November but that the economy overall will experience an uptick.

Chicago -- Claire's Stores Inc. said Tuesday that it has opened its first stores in Venezuela and Panama; the Venezuelan store opened on Oct. 12 in Sambil Paraguna Mall in Punto Fijo and the Panama store opened Oct. 27 at Metro Mall.

Claire's has partnered with locally headquartered Grupo David Enterprises as the single franchisee across 16 countries in Latin America. Over time, Claire's said it expects these countries to present a minimum 100 stores market opportunity.

 

Toronto -- Sears Canada said Tuesday it has debuted a permanent shoppable iPad application for its Wish Book catalog after a temporary launch for the 2011 holiday shopping season.

The app will contain various content throughout any given year, the first of which appears Tuesday in the form of the 60th anniversary Wish Book.

London -- Barnes & Noble said Monday that its subsidiary Nook Media will partner with U.K.’s largest supermarket chain Asda to sell the Nook reader in 300 Asda stores across the U.K.

Barnes & Noble said it plans to expand the expected number of U.K. retail outlets to over 2,500 and include various online retail platforms as well. Terms of its deal with Asda weren’t disclosed.

Toronto -- Canadian luxury fashion retailer Holt Renfrew & Co. said Monday it will launch a new discount chain called hr2, with a first store in March in Quebec, followed by planned locations across the country by 2015.

It said the stores will range in size from 25,000 sq. ft. to 35,000 sq. ft., smaller than Holt Renfrew’s nine department stores, and targeting women age 25 and up.

As we continue to witness the battle of brick-and-mortar versus online shopping, it’s interesting to see Walmart’s latest ploy to “one-up” their online competition. Their new Walmart To Go service is offering customers same-day delivery of online orders for just $10. While the initial test period is expected to last only through the holidays, the possibility that this could stick makes me think that Walmart To Go might ultimately have some huge implications for brick-and-mortar retail. The big question, of course, is will it work? Can Walmart pull it off?