Data & Analytics

Minneapolis – Target Corp. laid off 1,700 mostly headquarters employees on Tuesday and is eliminating 1,400 open positions. According to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, Target notified employees of the workforce reduction in an email.

The cuts are part of a two-year, $2 billion corporate restructuring. Roughly 13% of the jobs in Target’s Minneapolis workforce will be eliminated, the report noted.

Hangzhou, China – Alibaba Holding Group Inc. is reportedly considering a cash investment in Indian e-commerce platform Snapdeal. According to Reuters, Alibaba is in ongoing negotiations with Snapdeal, but no agreement is imminent.

Alibaba does not hold any direct investments in India, although Alibaba subsidiary Ant Financial purchased 25% of Indian payment services provider Paytm in February 2015.

Franklin, Tenn. - Worldwide mobile POS shipments grew by 77.4% in 2014 and this growth rate is maintaining its pace in 2015. According to new research from IHL Group, specialty stores still dominate the use of mobile POS worldwide, receiving 58% of total shipments in 2014.

Bordeaux, France - Bébé 9, a subsidiary of the France Maternité group, has selected Raymark's end-to-end suite of retail enterprise solutions for deployment in its 140 stores. Specifically, Bébé 9 is rolling out Raymark as its partner for an omnichannel technology overhaul aimed at centralizing operations, improving efficiency and cultivating customer relationships across e-commerce, social media and other channels.

Houston – Salata, a custom salad and salad wrap restaurant eatery, will open a 26,000-sq.-ft corporate complex in West Houston. Construction on the facility began in January and completion is estimated for summer 2015.

The headquarters will house offices for the chain's corporate employees, a training restaurant for franchisees and managers and a production facility. It will also feature a 2,500-sq.-ft. restaurant open to the public during regular lunch hours, which will also serve as a test kitchen and training restaurant.

Walter J. Salmon, the distinguished Harvard Business School professor who influenced generations of retailers, has died at the age of 84.

Salmon, long one of the world’s leading experts on retailing, retail distribution, and marketing, who for more than 40 years influenced thousands of students, executives and other academics, was the school’s Stanley Roth Sr. Professor of Retailing Emeritus.

Increased marketing costs failed to deliver fourth quarter same store sales growth at Express and also took a toll on the specialty retailer’s profitability.

Express reported net income of $41.8 million, down 16% from $49.7 million last year. Net sales increased 1% to $725.8 million from $715.9 million. Same-store sales, including e-commerce, dropped 2%. E-commerce sales climbed 4% to $144.3 million.

Increased sales at Famous Footwear and the divestiture of its Shoes.com website helped Brown Shoe increase profits in the fourth quarter.

Brown Shoe Company reported that same store sales increased 4%, while profit was $16.2 million, or 37 cents a share, for the fourth quarter that ended Jan. 31, up from $6.2 million a year earlier. Adjusted earnings totaled $9 million in the quarter, or 20 cents a share, up from $6.2 million a share, or 14 cents a share, a year earlier. Net sales rose 2.6 percent in the quarter to $615.4 million.

Sephora is looking to drive faster digital growth by leveraging a cloud-based prepaid commerce program.

The company is working with CashStar to improve and differentiate its seamless omnichannel commerce strategy.

Online consignment marketplace Swap.com is expanding into women’s clothing, shoes and accessories.

Executives with Swap.com said the new women’s collection will launch with more than 25,000 items.

“The expansion into women’s apparel is not just about making it easier for our customers to buy and sell their gently loved clothes and handbags,” said Jesse Gonzalez, merchandising manager at Swap.com. “It’s also about offering the fashionable looks that our customers love, at a better deal than you can find in-stores.”