Supply Chain & Merchandising

Target’s online traffic continues to grow at double-digit rates, with mobile sales growing more than 100% for the holiday period.

Austin, Texas - A majority of consumers (79%) plan to shop the end-of-year sales after the holidays are over. In addition, a new survey from RetailMeNot and The Omnibus Company shows that nearly half of consumers (42%) report that they typically end up returning at least some gifts they receive for the holidays.

North Plainfield, N.J. — The Shops at 5 in Plymouth, Mass., has named Levin Management its exclusive managing agent.

The 420,000-sq. ft. open-air shopping center takes its name from its location off Route 3 at Exit 5 on Long Pond Road. Anchor tenants include BJ’s Wholesale Club, TJ Maxx/HomeGoods and Kohl’s. Other national names include The Sports Authority, PetSmart, Pier 1 Imports, Panera Bread and IHOP.

Store growth is the ultimate goal of most chain retailers. The more locations you have, the more revenues you (generally) bring in. But sometimes adding new stores creates its own new challenges.

When San Francisco-based Philz Coffee determined about four or five years ago that it wanted to start adding to its base of five coffee shops in the Bay Area, first with more stores in California and eventually hundreds of locations throughout the U.S,, the retailer knew its existing enterprise systems would not support that type of aggressive growth strategy.

New York -- Whole Foods Market sees the potential to expand to 1,200 stores throughout the United States, which is nearly three times the number of locations it currently operates worldwide, the company’s co-chief executives co-CEOs John Mackey and Walter Robb said in an interview on CNBC on Tuesday.

Austin, Texas -- Merchandise optimization solution-provider Revionics said that it has entered into a multi-year agreement with DIXY Group, one of Russia’s largest national retail operators in the food retail market, to provide Revionics price optimization solution to the company’s DIXY Neighborhood Stores, which includes 1,580 retail stores.

Amazon is touting its Prime program again this holiday season, reminding members that they can order gifts as late as midnight EST Sunday, Dec. 22, and still get free delivery before Christmas.

The online retailer is leveraging the shorter shopping period this year, which is one week shorter than last year’s, to drive sales by emphasizing the convenience that online shopping can afford — a surefire way to draw shoppers who want to avoid the imminent crowds this weekend.

Toronto, Canada -- Staples Canada has announced its sustainability achievements for the third quarter of 2013, meeting its recycling and energy efficiency program goals.