Omnichannel

New York -- Google. Inc. may be close to signing a lease for its first-ever freestanding retail store in the United States, according to Crain’s New York Business. The site is located in New York City’s SoHo area, at 131 Greene Street, and is just a block away from an Apple store. The search giant reportedly wants to open brick-and-mortar stores to showcase its various gadgets, ranging from the Nexus line of smartphones and tablets to the Chromebook Pixel laptop. The company is also getting ready to go public with its Google Glass eyewear and smartwatches.

New York – Ann Inc., owner of Ann Taylor and Loft, on Friday reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit but forecast a lower-than-expected outlook for the year. The retailer also announced a strategic realignment that includes integrating stores and e-commerce and will result in the loss of about 100 corporate jobs.

By Tom Caporaso, CEO of Clarus Marketing Amazon Prime’s recent decision to raise its annual membership fee probably didn’t come as a surprise to anyone within the online retail or subscription e-commerce industries. The company had been talking about increasing its subscription fees by $20 to $40 since at least January, so the biggest news might have been the price point Amazon chose.

By Melanie Nuce, VP. Apparel/General Merchandise, GS1 US On a Saturday late in December, days away from Christmas, Saturday Night Live’s resident Weekend Update host offered an insightful quip about the state of retail. Toys “R” Us announced this week that its stores will remain open for 87 straight hours leading up to Christmas. Not to be outdone, the Internet announced that it will be open all the time, always and forever,” he read, followed by roars of laughter from the live audience.

Armonk, N.Y. -- With consumers engaging more directly with businesses through mobile and social media, more than 60% of CIOs will focus more heavily on improving the customer experience and getting closer to customers, according to a new report released by IBM.

The report, entitled "Moving from the Back Office to the Front Lines — CIO Insights from the Global C-suite Study” is based on face-to-face conversations with more than 1,600 CIOs from 70 countries and 20 industries worldwide.

Despite continued adverse weather conditions throughout February and into March, Kirkland's president and CEO Robert Alderson said that early first-quarter sales and margin trends have been positive and encouraging.

San Francisco -- Sephora has launched a new social shopping platform, called Beauty Board, to engage customers through beauty images and allow them to post, share, browse and shop the company’s photo gallery directly on its web site, mobile site, iPhone and Android apps. Shoppers will be able to upload photos, tag the products they use, and give helpful tips on how they achieved the look.

Vancouver, Canada -- PayWith Inc. has launched a new smartphone app called the mCard that simply and securely enables in-store transactions with mobile devices. PayWith has signed a North American license agreement with a global payment network that allows PayWith to provide merchants and consumers with a secure and convenient smartphone-based payment, loyalty rewards, and commission sales solution.