Mass Merchant

Tuesday, July 12 marks the return of Amazon Prime Day.   Based on last year’s results, Amazon will grab a sizable chunk of all online sales that day. Special “countdown deals” starting July 5 will also help funnel more e-commerce traffic than normal in Amazon’s direction. Walmart is countering with its own July online sales event built around its ShippingPass free shipping program.  

Walmart did not reach its stated goal of rolling out the Walmart Pay digital payment service to every store by the end of June, but it certainly made a lot of headway.  

Wal-Mart Stores, which filed suit against Visa in May over debit card authorization, is getting taste of its own medicine.  

Parents are increasing their back-to-school budgets, although overall spending is stagnant compared to recent years.   According to a new survey of 1,830 U.S. parents of elementary through college students by Mintel, 52% of respondents plan to spend more on back-to-school (BTS) shopping than in 2015. Only 4% plan to spend less, with 44% planning to spend the same. However, overall planned BTS spending dropped to $68 billion in 2015 after ranging from $73 - $76 billion annually from 2010-2014.  

Online retailers who want to offer physical pickup of their goods have a new option.   Partnering with various retailers including 7-Eleven, UPS is expanding its “smart locker” program from nine locations in Chicago to 300 locations nationwide. UPS is adding 300 new Access Point locations nationwide. The lockers are usually outside and accessible 24 hours a day at convenience stores and other sites.  

Everyone knew Amazon Prime Day was coming, now we know when and how.   Amazon will host its second annual summer sales blitz, known as Prime Day, on July 12. The online giant created the mega-shopping event, aimed at members of its Prime loyalty program, last year. It was held on July 15 and marked the retailer's 20th anniversary. Amazon said the event broke sales records that it previously set during Black Friday 2014.  

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering new regulations that could it make it difficult for smaller stores to accept food stamps.  

New Century Commons, a shopping center in Delray Beach, Florida, has been purchased by Menin Development for $33 million, according to a report in the Sun Sentinel.

Seller of the 84,551-sq.-ft. center was Linton 510 LLC, which faced uncertainty over the future of one of its anchors, Sports Authority, which filed for bankruptcy in March. Questions about cash flow going forward complicated the closing of the sale, though a Menin spokesman told the South Florida newspaper that several retailers have inquired about the Sports Authority space.