Omnichannel

IBM and Apple announced a strategic partnership earlier this year that promises to transform enterprise mobility through a new class of business apps. The companies plan to leverage their respective strengths in technology, business intelligence and user experience to create solutions that address some of the retail industry’s most pressing challenges. To better understand what that means, Retailing Today spoke with Jill Puleri, VP and global retail industry leader for IBM Global Business Services.

Anheuser-Busch has teamed up with Gratafy to launch a mobile gifting pilot on Facebook designed to enable real-time connections between the beer brand and its customers.

A series of Anheuser-Busch campaigns will target consumers nationwide in their Facebook News Feeds, giving them the ability to send friends a Budweiser (budweiser.com/budsforbuds) or Bud Light (budlight.com/birthday) in select cities, beginning with Chicago and Denver.

New York – Foot Locker Inc. is partnering with crowdsourced delivery service Deliv to offer shoppers on its Footlocker.com website the option to have their purchases delivered same-day. Leveraging Deliv's Application Programming Interface (API), which connects directly into the Footlocker.com website, shoppers can now select same-day or next day delivery for $5.

Foot Locker has enlisted crowdsourced delivery service Deliv so it can offer online customers same-day delivery.

Deliv's Application Programming Interface (API) connects directly to Footlocker’s website, allowing shoppers to select same-day or next day delivery for $5.

Corte Madera, Calif. – Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. beat consensus analyst estimates by swinging from a net loss to profit in the second quarter of fiscal 2014, but had smaller-than-expected sales growth.

The upscale home furnishings retailer reported net income of $27.3 million, compared to net loss of $17.8 million during the same period a year earlier.

Walmart unveiled new details regarding the digital strategy for its Asda division in the United Kingdom that could have implications for how the retailer serves the U.S. market.

U.K. shoppers love the internet and Walmart’s Asda unit is responding with growth of order online, pick up in store capabilities known as Click and Collect, dedicated facilities and the consolidation of Web sites.

New York — Chico’s FAS Inc. has partnered with Borderfree to expand its e-commerce capabilities globally. Through this partnership, Chico’s FAS will now be able to transact with shoppers in more than 100 countries and territories worldwide in more than 60 global currencies.

Overstock has updated its checkout system for international customers so they can pay with Bitcoin. Early this year, Overstock became one of the first online shopping sites to accept the cryptocurrency.