Omnichannel

E-commerce solutions provider Digital River Inc. has named a Groupon executive as its next CFO.

Digital River has announced that Hoke Horne has joined the company as chief financial officer. In this role, Horne, who has more than 20 years of financial experience, will be responsible for the company’s accounting, finance, tax, corporate development and enterprise operations activities.

New York -- Dutch supermarket giant Ahold has agreed to buy Belgian rival Delhaize, creating the sixth largest food retailer in the United States. Keith Anderson, VP of strategy & insights for Profitero, and formerly a retail analyst with RetailNet Group, offers his thoughts on what led to the merger, and what it may bring.  

With the advent of social media came an outburst of sharing content, expressing opinions and increasing expectations. And in an industry where brands and fashion houses were once responsible for creating trends, consumers are now taking the reins. They’re turning to social channels to chat with other shoppers and share likes, dislikes and the next best thing – which is often changing as fast as the social conversation.

Sears has opened a new connected home flagship store near Silicon Valley and Ryan Ciovacco, president of consumer electronics and connected solutions, spoke with Retailing Today about the major initiative.

Bridgehampton, N.Y. -- Garnet Hill, the online and catalog retailer, is inching closer to brick-and-mortar.

The 39-year-old company is set to open its first physical store, a pop-up location in the tony Long Island town of Bridgehampton, New York. The store is designed to give customer a "touch and feel" experience for Garnet Hill’s merchandise.

Amazon.com has come up with another new and exciting way to keep its brand out in front of potential customers.

The e-commerce giant has put a so-called Treasure Truck on the streets of Seattle. Each day the “Treasure Truck cruises to different neighborhoods loaded to the gills with one amazing item you won’t want to miss,” the company says. Photos on social media show the truck has a sign that says, "What's on the truck today?"

New York – Online jewelry retailer BaubleBar is making the leap to brick-and-mortar.

Launched in 2011 by two former investment bankers with Harvard MBAs, the retailer will open its first-ever, permanent brick-and-mortar location, a 1,200-sq.-ft. shop at Roosevelt Field Mall, in Garden City, New York. The mall is one of the nation’s largest shopping centers.

In the ongoing battle for market share, brands pour over metrics and tweak strategies to increase customer loyalty. The stakes are high, customer acquisition costs are expensive and most businesses can’t afford to lose sales to competitors. With prices commoditized in many industries, today’s battleground is centered squarely on customer experiences.