Retail

Supermarket chain Raley's Family of Fine Stores has hired an Austin, Texas-based company to help it launch a new social media rewards program.

Seattle – Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, reportedly had to be flown from the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador on Jan. 1, 2014 for emergency treatment of a kidney stone attack. According to NBC News, the Ecuadorian navy flew Bezos by helicopter from a cruise ship to his private jet, which then took him to the U.S. treatment.

Amazon.com sources indicated that Bezos did not require surgery and is doing well.

 

Zappos is reportedly instituting a radical overhaul of its management structure that will eliminate traditional managers and flatten the corporate hierarchy, even eliminating internal job titles. According to the Washington Post, this management structure is known as a “holacracy.”

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens had December sales of $7.20 billion, an increase of 7.2% from $6.72 billion for the same month in fiscal 2013.

Hhgregg cited poor performance in the consumer electronics and wireless categories for preliminary third quarter results which came in below its expectations. Hhgregg now expects its full fiscal year performance to miss previously stated guidance.

For the third fiscal quarter of 2014, Hhgregg estimates net sales to be approximately $707.1 million, a decrease of approximately 11.6% as compared to net sales of $799.6 million reported for the third fiscal quarter of 2013.

New York – Phone-based retail customer service can prove to be a time-consuming exercise. According to a new infographic from StellaService, during more than 54,000 customer service calls the company placed to retailers during 2013, a total of 17 days were spent on the phone navigating interactive voice response systems and 49 days were spent waiting for a live agent, more than double the 24 days spent waiting in 2012.

Overstock.com is starting 2014 with plans to appeal the tentative ruling of a California trial court prohibiting it from comparison price advertising unless done in conformity with new court-mandated practices which, according to the online retailer, diverge widely from industry standards.

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