Sales & Marketing

Sam’s Club and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation are investing in an innovative program to help spawn the next generation of entrepreneurs.

E-commerce sales surged at Pier 1 Imports during the second quarter, but the retailers overall sales grew less than expected and the company lowered its full year outlook.

Total sales increased 2.7% to $430 million and same-store sales increased 2.5%. Excluding the effects of the stronger U.S. dollar, total sales increased 4% and same-store sales increased 3.8%.

Express is making payment and participation in its loyalty program easier to accomplish from a mobile device. The specialty apparel retailer is launching a new mobile app that includes full integration with its Express Next loyalty program and cardless payment functionality.

Retailers always take a gamble when targeting promotions, and The Limited is doing its best to improve the odds. The specialty apparel retailer is using the First Insight InsightTargeting predictive analytics solution to determine which products and prices will appeal most among specific customer segments.

InsightTargeting combines data from First Insight's real-time consumer engagements with behavioral data from CRM and social media platforms.

Another digital-native retailer is going the mall route. And this one is aimed at shoppers who love to play with makeup.

NYX Professional Makeup on Oct. 2 will open its first-ever physical store, at the Westfield Santa Anita Mall, Arcadia, California. The Los Angeles-based brand, which was acquired by L'Oreal in June 2014, says it plans to roll out additional stores nationwide and globally in select urban centers throughout 2016.

IBM aims to increase the solutions and services it offers the retail industry with two new centers. On Sept. 24, IBM opened a new global headquarters for IBM Commerce and new hub for its Watson artificial intelligence platform in San Francisco.

In addition, IBM is partnering with The Fung Group on a new large-scale laboratory for rapid experimentation with omnichannel retail technologies, which opened in Shanghai, China on Sept. 24.

Foot Locker’s newest promotion with NBA superstar James Harden serves as reminder to retail marketers that imagination is their only constraint when it comes to leveraging social media to connect with consumers.

Delivery.com may be coming to an office near you. The online delivery and ordering service has unveiled a partnership with WeWork, a provider of workspace, community, and services in 16 global cities.

The integration, based on Delivery.com's open API technology, allows WeWork's 30,000-plus members to order food on demand through the same portal they use for business functions like booking conference rooms.