Supply Chain & Merchandising

Dallas — Speed Commerce Inc., a vertically integrated, omni-channel platform of e-commerce services, has launched Sara X, a pre-configured, feature-rich accelerator for Oracle Commerce.

Toys “R” Us reported a 4% same store sales increase during the first quarter, a surprisingly strong figure given the weather related challenges cited by other retailers who experienced weak sales.

Cincinnati — Kroger Co. is reportedly planning to build a $250 million distribution center in the suburban Atlanta area. According to the Cincinnati Business Courier, Kroger will open the 1 million-sq.-ft. facility in the suburb of Forest Park, on the site of the former Fort Gillem army base by September 2015.

The distribution center will open with 700 to 900 skilled workers, and eventually employ about 1,500 people. Kroger declined to comment on the report.

When it comes to powerful retail CEOs, the names Dave Dillon at Kroger, Frank Blake at Home Depot, Craig Jelinek at Costco and Doug McMillon at Walmart come to mind. But they’ve got nothing on Greg Penner.

A study conducted by DHL e-commerce that compares consumer behavior across 20 markets has created a detailed look into how people shop around the world.

The “Shop the World” survey, which uses data from some 11,000 respondents, shows the growing prominence and earning potential of ecommerce and distance selling operations in different countries.

Atlanta — Online shoppers want retailers to make it easier to purchase their goods and services, and also want websites and stores to work better together. For now, according to a new survey of 5,800 consumers from UPS and comScore Inc., they also prefer to evaluate and purchase products from their desktops rather than their mobile devices, and when it comes to shipping and returns, "free" is a driving factor to complete the sale.
 

Outdoor retailer Sportsman’s Warehouse is off to a rough start as a newly minted public company, reporting an 18.1% decline in first quarter same store sales as firearms and ammunition sales evaporated.

Irvine, Calif. — PriceSpider, an online retail marketing service provider, is rolling out a re-pricing engine that enables manufacturers and resellers to automatically adjust pricing based on preset or on-the-fly criteria as it pertains to competitive market activity. The PriceSpider re-pricing engine provides the actionable data needed to set rules, manage strategy and optimize pricing activity with visibility into the market.