Omnichannel

Speakers at the recent Momentum 2014 conference held by Manhattan Associates in Hollywood, Florida, discussed a wide variety of supply chain topics. However, one theme that ran through many sessions was the expanded range of competition retailers face from a multitude of sources and channels. Properly meeting this competition requires a rethinking and broadening of supply chain strategy.

Virtual Piggy, provider of Oink, a payment technology for families and teens, is expanding its Channel Partner Program by teaming up with commerce solutions provider Gorilla Group.

Gorilla’s clients include Franklin, Bonobos, Riot Games, Zynga and Movado. The company is aligned to help leading B2B and direct-to-consumer brands succeed online.

New York -- DSW has closed on its acquisition of Town Shoes Limited, the largest footwear and accessories retailer in Canada, for $68.7 million in cash. DSW acquired a 49.2% interest in Town Shoes from certain clients of Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) and other minority shareholders.

DSW's initial stake provides 50% voting control and board representation equal to the primary remaining shareholder, Callisto Capital. Peter J. Solomon Company served as financial advisor to DSW Inc.

New York -- Internet scrapbooking cite Pinterest Inc. is expanding its efforts to allow advertisers pay to more prominently display their pins, the San Francisco-based company announced in a blog past on Monday.

The company said it is working with a small group of brands to roll out a paid test in its search and category feeds. The group includes Target, Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Lululemon Athletica.
 

Armonk, N.Y. - SiteMinis, a mobile Web technology and services provider, has adopted IBM Cloud services including SoftLayer infrastructure, enabling dynamic mobile applications and Websites that offer consumers an enhanced mobile shopping experience while cutting cloud hosting costs by 35%.

Everyone loves pop-ups right? They’re exciting, they’re new, they’re fun and you have to hurry and get there while the getting’s good. Especially during the holidays. It’s the cool new merchandising trend.

But pop-ups are becoming, and will continue to become, more than just a trend. They are increasingly an important element of the marketing mix. I define the next phase of pop-up shops as focused physical presentations that integrate e-commerce. Here’s what’s coming next.

Customer acquisition

By Jim Darragh, CEO, Ipanema Technologies

Citi is now offering its checking account customers the ability to use reward points to pay their bills. Citi ThankYou Rewards members can earn ThankYou points across their Citi banking and credit card relationship and use these points to pay virtually any bill online including phone, cable and electricity.