Omnichannel

A retailer noted for consistently strong online customer service has received top ranking once again.

For the second consecutive quarter, L.L Bean is the top-ranked company in Stella Benchmarks from StellaService. During the third quarter of fiscal 2015, L.L .Bean ranked within the top 10 for four of five service areas in Stella Benchmarks, including phone (No. 5), email (No. 3), chat (No. 7) and returns (No. 4). In shipping, L.L. Bean ranked outside the top 25.

More robust omnichannel capabilities have Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly confident about his company’s ability to execute during the holidays, but his views on overall demand for consumer electronics are another matter.

Best Buy said it expects weak demand for consumer electronics in the fourth quarter and forecast flat same-store sales at domestic locations following a 0.5% third quarter comp increase that was aided by an 18% online increase.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday may still be cool, after all.

A new study on the holiday shopping habits of almost 7,000 millennials by product discovery platform Influenster shows that 93% of respondents plan on shopping Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday this year.

Retailers looking to satisfy customers this holiday season need to be sure all channels are aligned and working properly.

Leading mall-based denim retailer The Buckle said its third quarter profits fell after strengthening online sales couldn’t overcome in store weakness.

Profits at the operator of 469 stores, billed as a denim destination, declined to $35.9 million, or 74 cents a share, during the third quarter ended Oct. 31, compared to $40.6 million, or 84 cents a share, during the third quarter the prior year. The profit decline was expected as The Buckle had previously reported that same-store sales had declined 5.2% and total sales had declined 4.1% to $280.2 million.

Digital gift cards are less risky than retailers think, and that’s not the only common piece of online fraud “wisdom” that is false.

The Technology Fraud Lab at eBay Enterprise has released a list of five online fraud myths. These include:

• Myth #1: Digital gift cards are too risky to sell.

More customers in more parts of the country now have access to more goods available for online order, with delivery the next or even same day.

Google and Amazon.com are trading blows in their battle to offer online delivery of a variety of goods, for a fee.

A steep profit decline and deteriorating sales at two of Gap Inc.’s three flagship formats in the third quarter have CEO Art Peck looking ahead to what he expects to be better times.