eCommerce

New York -- Staples named former Walmart.com CEO Raul Vazquez to serve on its the board of directors.

Vazquez currently serves as CEO and a director of Progreso Financiero, financial services firm focused on serving the needs of "under-banked" Hispanic customers. The election of directors at Staples will take place at the company’s annual meeting on June 3.

Burlington, Mass. -- Demandware said Wednesday that Avenue Stores has selected the Demandware Commerce platform to support its omni-channel vision.  

Avenue Stores signed with Demandware in first quarter 2013.

Avenue needed a scalable and comprehensive digital commerce platform to realize its omni-channel vision, and will also utilize Demandware’s web design capabilities to optimize its sites for mobile and tablet commerce, as well as explore opportunities to integrate digital into its brick-and-mortar stores.  

Los Angeles -- Survey results released Wednesday by PriceGrabber found that 54% of consumers expect to receive a tax refund this year. And, the majority plans to use the money for purchases.

According to PriceGrabber’s poll of 5,655 U.S. online shopping consumers, 24% anticipate a bigger refund than last year and 26% expect about the same amount. Thirty-two percent anticipate receiving less compared to 2012, and 18% aren't sure how much money they will receive.

New York -- In its annual report filed Tuesday, Abercrombie & Fitch revealed that it plans to open Abercrombie & Fitch flagship stores in Seoul and Shanghai in 2013, as well as 20 international Hollister stores. The news sent the teen retailer’s shares rising on Wednesday.

The company also said in the report that it is maintaining its focus on boosting profitability by simplifying processes, eliminating less-profitable parts of its business, shoring up efficiencies and cutting expenses.

Cambridge, Mass. -- Destination XL Group, the largest multichannel specialty retailer of big and tall men’s apparel, will leverage CQuotient’s advanced machine learning and predictive algorithms to create email campaigns tailored to individual shoppers at its Destination XL (“DXL”) stores and e-commerce sites.

Here’s an interesting take on pop-up stores by Felicity Pogson, associate design director, interiors, Dalziel & Pow, London:

Evansville, Ind. -- Shoe Carnival reported Monday that net earnings for the quarter ended Jan. 28 slipped to $3.2 million, compared with $3.3 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 13.1% to $205.7 million from $181.9 million, and same-store sales edged up 0.5%.

For the full year, profit rose to $29.3 million from $26.4 million, sales increased 12.1% to $855 million, and same-store sales advanced 4.5%.

San Francisco -- Google made a quiet announcement on Friday that it is officially launching the pilot of its Google Shopping Express program, which features online delivery initially in the San Francisco Bay area.

In a notice on the company’s website, Google Shopping Express product management director Tom Fallows described the program as a “new experiment,” one that offers “a local delivery service that we hope will make it possible for you to get the items you order online the same day, and at a low cost."