Data & Analytics

Apple Inc. may be planning an entry into the fledging industry of mobile person-to-person payment.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is in discussions with several banks to develop a service that would let consumers make mobile payments to each other, rather than use cash or personal checks. The service would be in direct competition with the Venmo mobile payment platform from PayPal, which is popular among millennial consumers.

The “digital revolution” has turned the traditional retail marketplace upside down. Consumer expectations continue to rise and the Internet has broken down borders and created a global marketplace, dramatically increasing competition.

Amazon.com has expanded its Prime Now restaurant delivery service to Los Angeles in a move seen as a precursor to expansion of the food ordering capability to all 18 market where the one-hour Prime Now delivery service is offered.

While all the major retailers will be offering deals and discounts on Black Friday weekend, Dick's Sporting Goods plans to woo shoppers with an exciting social media promotion.

American Apparel’s preliminary results for its third quarter are not looking very good.

The beleaguered retailer said it could not meet the deadline to file a quarterly report for the three months ended Sept. 30, noting that efforts related to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in October have taken up a good deal of its time.

But American Apparel released estimates in which net sales for the quarter were down 19.1% to $126 million.

Even with a slight decline this past year, Thanksgiving weekend has upheld its reputation as the most popular shopping weekend of the year. Last year, over 130 million people shopped or planned to shop over the holiday weekend, according to the National Retail Federation. More specifically, a whopping 80 million of those shoppers participated in Black Friday shopping.

J.C. Penney says the company's third quarter results will "exceed expectations" despite a $50 million settlement charge to settle a false advertising class action lawsuit.

The company announced Wednesday that it has reached an agreement to settle a false advertising class action lawsuit brought on behalf of California customers who purchased certain J.C. Penney private or exclusive branded products.

Westside Market, a local New York City grocery retailer, is partnering with Instacart for delivery to the Upper West Side neighborhood.

Instacart customers on the Upper West Side will now have access to an assortment of Westside Market items, all delivered in as soon as one hour. Instacart will deliver from a select Westside Market location to start (110th Street and Broadway), and Instacart prices are the same as Westside Market's in-store prices. Westside Market has five stores in all.