Supply Chain & Merchandising

Seattle – Amazon.com continues its evolution into a full-service technology platform with three services essentially designed to help retailers do everything. These services include support for start-ups, expansion of the Amazon Aurora database engine, and a hosted fulfillment/logistics platform.

City of Commerce, Calif. - 99 Cents Only Stores LLC has named Jack L. Sinclair as chief merchandising officer. Sinclair will be responsible for merchandising and marketing functions.

Los Angeles – Cart abandonment is a problem that continues to plague online retailers, but some answers may have been uncovered. A site abandonment survey of more than 60,000 e-commerce shoppers by Bizrate Insights, a division of retail marketing solutions firm Connexity http://connexity.com/ (formerly Shopzilla), found that retailers can reduce abandonment by targeting customers who visited with the intent to buy, but didn’t complete a purchase (“true abandoners”).

Toronto -- Lowe's Canada announced the appointment of Gregor Stuart to the new position of VP, supply chain, effective July 27.

Gregor joins Lowe's Canada with over 25 years of supply chain and logistics experience in the retail industry. He has held various senior roles with prominent Canadian retailers including Loblaw Companies Limited, The Bargain! Shop, Hudson's Bay Company, Canadian Tire Corporation LTD and National Grocers Co.

Twenty-five food makers across Texas have a shot at getting their products on H-E-B shelves as part of the grocer’s innovative Primo Picks Quest for Texas Best contest.

A month after the launch of the Apple watch, Best Buy will become the first national retailer to stock the new wearable.

The watch will be available in more than 100 Best Buy stores and on BestBuy.com. By the time holiday season arrives, an additional 200 stores will feature the watch.

“The Apple Watch is a big addition to our stores and website, and we know our customers want it,” said Jason Bonfig, senior category officer at Best Buy. “We are excited to bring the Apple Watch to more consumers, especially with the holidays coming up.”

Scottsdale, Ariz. - JDA Software Group Inc. has created a new single-user software solution called JDA Planogram Generator Client, or myPG, which automatically creates large numbers of optimized, store-specific planograms for individual users. The planograms take into account user-defined merchandising instructions, fixtures, assortments and performance data.

In a single batch effort, high volumes of planograms can be quickly produced and distributed. myPG is built on the capabilities of JDA Planogram Generator.
 

New York -- Walmart has joined an elite group of corporate titans in taking a pledge to fight climate change. Among other things, the retail giant will double its solar commitment.

Walmart on Monday signed a pledge to take measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase low-carbon investments and invest in clean energy as part of a new White House climate change initiative, the “American Business Act on Climate Pledge.”