Omnichannel

At a time when the Chinese currency is being devalued and Macy’s financial results are disappointing investors, the company is forming an exclusive partnership with Alibaba.

Credit card fraud is in the United States is at epidemic levels. Last year, the U.S. accounted for more fraud than the rest of the world combined. And the fraud rates are accelerating. EMV technology, which has shown to greatly reduce in-store fraud in the Europe, is finally being rolled out in the United States with an impending deadline in October 2015 when retailers will be liable for in-store fraud for cards that have chips on them.

Oakland, Calif. -- Cost Plus Worldwide Market is opening its first-ever Manhattan outpost — and also showing off a new format.

The value-priced home furnishings and lifestyle specialty retailer will open a store on Thursday, August 20, in the city’s Chelsea neighborhood. At 5,000-sq.-ft., it is Cost Plus’ first small-scale store.

Sports Authority is looking to advance its omnichannel strategy by continuing to partner with personalization solutions provider Certona for the fifth year in a row.

Macy’s may be counting on key growth initiatives to generate sales during the holidays after reporting another disappointing quarter of financial results.

The company says same store sales declined 2.1% in the second quarter ended Aug. 1. Profit fell to $217 million, or 64 cents a share, from $292 million, or 80 cents a share, a year earlier. Total sales fell 2.6% to $6.1 billion, missing analysts’ estimates for $6.23 billion. Gross margin narrowed to 40.9% from 41.4% a year earlier.

Austin, Texas -- Smartphones are quickly becoming the first screen for consumers — even in retail stores. But while consumers overwhelmingly prefer to access the Internet on their mobile devices, only 30% use retailer applications to purchase products.

Those are two of the key takeaways of a study RetailMeNot, which commissioned Forrester Consulting to look at how smartphones and apps are changing the retail landscape and how retailers should respond to engage shoppers.

San Diego, Calif. -- Sports Authority is making good on its promise to make its online site more robust and engaging.

The retailer announced it is renewing its relationship with personalization solutions provider Certona for the fifth consecutive year. By creating rich online experiences for customers, Certona has been a critical component of Sports Authority’s personalization strategy since 2010.

REI has grown to 140 stores in 33 states with a sizable e-commerce operation. Imagine what the company will be able to do now that it has finally named a chief information officer and gotten aggressive about recruiting technology talent.

The national outdoor specialty retailer elevated Julie Averill to the role of CIO after the 25 year technology veteran joined the company last year as senior vice president of information technology. She joined REI from Nordstrom where she served as the department store retailer’s vice president of technology.