eCommerce

Waban, Mass. – Amazon.com was the top-ranked company across 19 industries in the 2013 Web Experience Ratings from Temkin Group. Amazon.com had a score of 77%, almost 21 percentage points higher than the retail industry average.

Other retailers in the top 10 included eBay, tied for fifth place at 70%, and QVC, tied for eighth place at 69%. Taco Bell and Kmart earned ratings that were at least 15 points below the retail industry average. Old Navy was the only retailer to have a double-digit score increase from last year.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Judge Charles R. Breyer of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has ruled against a request by plaintiffs in a gender discrimination suit against Wal-Mart who were seeking certification of a class-action suit against the mass merchandise giant. Referring to a 2012 Supreme Court decision about limitations on class-action suits, Breyer ruled that the individual situations of the plaintiffs are too different to be grouped into a single class-action suit.

Charlotte, N.C. – Belk is teaming up with social, mobile and digital engagement platform ePrize, as well as Pinterest and Instagram marketing analytics suite provider Curalate to launch a Pinterest campaign aimed at brides called “Pin to Win.” At a high level, during the promotion consumers will visit a sweepstakes microsite where they can "pin" a pre-populated pin board image based on their bridal type or select an image of their own for a chance to win a $5,000 Belk gift card.

Broomfield, Colo. -- TCBY Yogurt and Mrs. Fields Cookies parent Famous Brands International said it has appointed Michael Chao as CFO, effective immediately.  

Chao was previously VP finance, treasury and investor relations for Vail Resorts.

Famous Brands also announced the reappointment of David Barr to its board of directors. Barr, who is currently chairman of the board for Rita Restaurants and Australian jewelry company The Jewellery Group, was CFO and CEO of the Great American Cookie Co., which was sold to Mrs. Fields in 1998.

Facebook is taking another step toward monetizing its vast audience of plugged-in consumers with the planned introduction of paid video ads. As reported in numerous media outlets, Facebook intends to launch 15-second video ads that will play in a user’s newsfeed three times per day for as much $2.5 million per spot.

Framingham, Mass. – Discount retailers TJ Maxx and Saks Off Fifth outlets are reportedly planning to enter the online sales arena this year. According to Reuters, TJ Maxx parent company TJX Cos. will be making its second attempt at launching a TJ Maxx e-commerce site after a failed attempt in 2005 that cost the company $15 million.

Dallas — During July, SRS Real Estate Partners executed a host of transactions in major cities across the country:

Deerfield, Ill. - Walgreens same-store sales increased by 6.3% in July, the retailer reported this morning. Calendar day shifts positively impacted total same-store sales by 1.4 percentage points, while generic drug introductions in the last 12 months negatively impacted total same-store sales by 1.8 percentage points.

Total front-end sales increased 3.6% compared with the same month in fiscal 2012, while same-store front-end sales increased 2.3%. Customer traffic in stores open at least one year decreased 1.2% while basket size increased 3.5%.