eCommerce

Reston, Va. - comScore reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 40 days of the November – December 2010 holiday season at more than $21.95 billion, up 12%  versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week (week ending Dec. 10) reached $5.15 billion in spending, an increase of 11% versus the corresponding week last year, as two individual days each surpassed $900 million.

New York - Fast Retailing, Asia’s biggest clothing chain and the parent of Uniqlo, is lookjing to open at least 200 Uniqlo stores in the United States  by 2020 as it seeks to raise sales sixfold in a decade, according to a Bloomberg report. 

"The United States is one of the most important markets for us,” Shin Odake, CEO of Uniqlo’s U.S. unit, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. 

NEW YORK - Pop music phenomenon Justin Bieber has launched a new line of headphones called "Justbeats by Dr. Dre" exclusively at Best Buy stores in the United States and on BestBuy.com. According to Best Buy the headphones come in Bieber's favorite purple color and are priced at SRP $199.95 for the Justbeats by Dr. Dre Solo Headphone and SRP $119.95 for the iBeats by Dr. Dre Justbeats Edition. Both versions feature ControlTalk, a technology which lets users answer a phone call while listening to music.

Bentonville, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is closing its Moscow office but said it is still interested in the Russian market.

The retailer said Monday that it has been looking to enter the Russian market through an acquisition, but has not found a near-term opportunity so it does not need the Moscow office at this time.

Cincinnati - Macy’s announced it plans to build a major new fulfillment center near Martinsburg in Berkeley County, W.V., to support the continued growth of its online business. The site is located about 80 miles northwest of Washington, D.C. 

Construction on the 1.3 million-square-foot facility is expected to begin in spring 2011, with operations beginning in April 2012 and order shipments beginning in summer 2012. 

AUSTIN, Texas - Whole Foods Market announced that it is offering free overseas shipping of its holiday gift boxes to APO, FPO and DPO addresses.

Available only at www.wholefoodsmarket.com/giftbox, Whole Foods Market offers five different gift boxes that range from $40 to $60 each. 

WAYNE, N.J. - Toys“R”Us reported that net sales for the third quarter were $2.7 billion, an increase of 1.9% compared with prior year, due to new locations including Toys“R”Us Express stores as well as comparable-store net sales growth of 2.3% in the domestic segment and a foreign currency translation benefit of $17 million. These increases were partially offset by a decline of 2.9% in comparable-store net sales in the international segment.

New York - Crate and Barrel has joined shopkick, allowing it to deliver location-based shopping rewards simply for visiting stores. By early 2011, rewards will be delivered at all U.S. Crate and Barrel stores.