Sales & Marketing

New York - Nine West Group has integrated the LiveEngage customer service platform from LivePerson into its Demandware Commerce platform. The LiveEngage platform has helped Nine West improve customer-reported satisfaction and incremental revenue while reducing support costs.

The Walmart Foundation has kicked off a summer-long initiative to help children and families gain access to nutritious meals and learn healthy-eating habits. Walmart is also collaborating with Chef Lorena Garcia, chef and author with TV appearances on Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters” and NBC’s “Biggest Loser,” to launch the Eat Healthy Together Challenge on Twitter.

San Jose, Calif. – Despite an 8.1% year-over-year drop in traffic and decline of one full conversion point, sales on Father’s Day (June 16) remained essentially flat. According to data from in-store analytics provider RetailNext, a 15.4% increase in average transaction value (ATV) helped sales grow 0.1%.

For the week leading up to Father’s Day, sales declined every day compared to the equivalent day a year earlier. Daily decreases ranged from a high of 10.3% on June 13 to a low of 4% on June 9.

Triscuit and Martha Stewart have entered into an exclusive partnership with the launch of the Triscuit Summer Snackoff, a series of four recipe challenges.  

Every other week, from now until Aug. 24, Stewart will debut a new recipe featuring a different seasonal ingredient on www.triscuitsummersnackoff.com, encouraging fans to develop and submit their own Triscuit creations using Martha Stewart's seasonally inspired selection.

Paris - Most retailers (65%) struggle with getting omnichannel commerce right and cite underperforming technology, changing IT trends and the complex organizational infrastructure as the primary reasons. According to a recent survey from Ipanema Technologies, retailers see the customer-centric experience as including excellent customer service (58%), fast transactions (55%) and interchangeable purchase channels (49%), but only 35% of respondents describe their customer experience as excellent.

Online retailer Gilt has added Adrianne Shapira to the company's board of directors.

Shapira has served as the CFO of David Yurman, a fine jewelry luxury brand, since 2012. She is a member of the executive committee that looks to build upon David Yurman's successes by capitalizing on future channel, category and geographic growth.  

New York -- TPG Architecture has promoted Nicole Varadi from senior designer to design director, retail studio.

Varadi, who joined TPG in 2011, will now take on a greater degree of leadership within the retail studio while continuing to work actively on projects. Recently, she helped lead the design of The Red Door, the award winning day spa and beauty boutique in Union Square. She is currently working with brands such as Sundance and Rent the Runway, and is playing an active role in acquiring new business for the firm.

Grand Rapids, Mich. -- Meijer on Monday broke ground on a supercenter in Detroit, on the site of a former high school on the city’s west side. The groundbreaking ceremony comes less than a year after Meijer opened a supercenter at the historical Michigan State Fairgrounds in the Motor City.