Sales & Marketing

By Mike Moriarty, A.T. Kearney

Well, well, well. Amazon is opening a store.  Isn’t that nice!

Now, does that make the company an enormous on-line retailer with “a store”, or does it make Amazon a small to mid-sized retailer with an enormous online presence?

It almost doesn’t make any difference — and that in itself makes a difference. Welcome to planet Earth, Amazon!

Armonk, N.Y. – IBM is introducing new partners developing apps based on its Watson artificial intelligence platform and world headquarters for its Watson Group, as well as new cognitive services that will be available on IBM Bluemix, IBM's cloud-based platform for mobile and Web app development.

Genesco’s Lids division has acquired Jersey City Canada, a licensed sports apparel, headwear and novelty company operating 28 retail stores across four Canadian Provinces.  

The acquisition includes nine headwear only Capz stores, and two websites operating under www.jerseycity.ca and www.CFLshop.ca. Partnering with the CFL, Lids will become the online provider of the Canadian Football League officially licensed merchandise. With this acquisition, Lids will now operate more than 150 locations across Canada, an increase of roughly 35%.

The recently released 2014 Food, Drink, and Consumer Goods Outlook Survey from audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG is highlighting some key initiatives that consumer goods executives are focusing on to transform their businesses. The goals range from updating operational efficiencies and technology to making a push for product innovation, according to survey results.
 

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in September 2013 versus September 2014 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains. In the aftermath of back-to-school season, Walmart and Staples appear to be trying to clear out all remaining school and office supplies. Staples accomplished this by improving its previous offer of $5 off with purchase of $30 to $10 off and also cut backpack prices by 50%. Walmart shifted the focus from school to office, with a “Run Your Business for Less” promotion.

Just in time for the holiday season, Amazon is going brick-and-mortar with its first-ever physical store, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The store, which will be located across from the Empire State Building in Midtown Manhattan, will serve as a mini-warehouse, with limited inventory for same-day delivery within New York City, product returns and exchanges and pickups of online orders, according to the report.
 

Moki, a leading mobile software platform, has appointed Chander Chawla VP of marketing and product strategy. With Chawla on board, Moki said it plans to open an office in Palo Alto, California, to better serve its growing customer base.

Chawla, who has been in the mobile industry for 15 years, has been credited with leading the growth of public Wi-Fi and wearable devices at T-Mobile and National Semiconductor.