Supply Chain & Merchandising

Office Depot is kicking off its latest back-to-school campaign — Gotta Get It! — which includes more than 1,000 items for $5 or less in stores and online. The company is also offering a new price-match policy to shoppers year-round to drive traffic to Office Depot and OfficeMax locations.

New York -- A physical store presence is key to most retailers for their online growth strategy, according to a new report by Moody’s Investor Services. Based on existing data, Moody’s estimate online sales as a percent of total retail sales are just 6% today, and will increase to 7.1% by 2016, and potentially reach a double-digit (mid-teens) share of the total retail sales pie in about five years.

The nation’s largest pet specialty retailer could be in for a long summer now that activist investor Jana Partners is pressing for a review of strategic alternatives after acquiring a 9.9% stake in the company.

San Jose, Calif. - EBay and U.K. general merchandise retailer Argos have entered an agreement to extend their offering of Click & Collect services via Argos stores. This extension will enable shoppers to select products from a much wider range of EBay sellers for collection from about 650 Argos stores.

Dublin, Calif. - Ross Dress for Less will open three new stores in Indiana on July 19. The stores include Waterford Park South Shopping Center in Clarksville, Shops on Main in Schererville, and Erskine Village in South Bend.  
    
These new openings are part of the retailer’s 2014 expansion program, totaling approximately 75 new locations during the year.

Following a successful test last fall, eBay and U.K. retailer Argos have expanded a click and collect program which addresses a key deficiency of many online-only retailers’ fulfillment strategy.

June was a good month for two of the nation’s largest drugstore operators. Walgreens reported sales of $6.3 billion for the month, an increase of 8.9% as compared to the same month in fiscal 2013, while Rite Aid realized a 3.9% same-store sales increase for the four weeks ended June 28.

Total front-end sales at Walgreens increased 1.8% in June compared with the same month in fiscal 2013, while comparable store front-end sales increased 1.3%. Customer traffic in comparable stores decreased 2% while basket size increased 3.3%.