eCommerce

When U.S. retailers launch global e-commerce efforts, they often start with countries that have a long-standing trade history with America. Shipments to Canada are soon followed by expansion into the United Kingdom, Australia or other English-speaking areas.

Some organizations stick with this strategy — where few barriers to entry, cultural similarities and overall market understanding provide for a “safe” selling environment.

A decade after Staples made the phrase, “that was easy,” part of the American lexicon, the company is changing how it communicates with consumers and revising its brand logo.

OnlyLeggings.com is borrowing a page from the playbook of Costco and Amazon to create a membership-based program to appeal to those who regularly purchase leg wear.

New research from NPD conducted during the 2013 holiday season suggests shoppers believe better deals are to be had online than in stores.

That not good news for retailers under relentless pressure to generate store traffic with all manner of urgency oriented promotions such as the ubiquitous one-day sale or other types of limited duration activities.

Private equity firm Bain Capital concluded 2013 with the acquisition of Bob’s Discount Furniture, an operator of 47 stores in the Northeast that is intent on expansion.

Bain acquired a majority ownership position in the Manchester, Conn.-based company and said senior management will continue to own a significant stake. Current CEO Ted English will continue to lead the company whose first order of business for 2014 is entry into the Philadelphia market.

An IPO from payment processor Square and the widespread reality of same day delivery are a few of the technology-oriented predictions, offered by Fortune’s San Francisco-based writer JP Mangalindan.

Razor USA said it set holiday sales records this year due to the surging popularity of a $399 ride-on product called the Crazy Cart that YouTube helped make a hit.
 

Amazon announced a record-setting holiday season for its annual membership program Amazon Prime. More than 1 million customers around the world became new Prime members in the third week of December.

On Amazon’s peak shipping day, more Prime items were shipped worldwide than ever before. The entire 2013 holiday season was the best ever for Amazon, with more than 36.8 million items ordered worldwide on Cyber Monday, which is a record-breaking 426 items per second, and millions of customers unwrapped Kindle e-readers and Kindle Fire tablets this holiday season.