Omnichannel

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Kohl’s has appointed Starbucks executive Michelle Gass to the newly created position of chief customer officer. She will report directly to Kohl’s chairman, president and CEO Kevin Mansell.

Gass, who joins Kohl’s on June 17, will have leadership responsibility for Kohl’s branding across all channels. She will oversee all marketing efforts, the company’s high growth e-commerce business on Kohls.com and the customer’s total omnichannel experience.

Minneapolis – Best Buy reported a net loss of almost 10% for first quarter fiscal 2014, seeing its revenue drop from roughly $10.34 billion the prior year to $9.38 billion. Increased price competition and the closure of 49 large-format stores contributed to the electronics retailer’s decline in revenue. A shift in the Super Bowl, which typically drives TV sales, to the prior quarter and reduced non-core sales also impacted revenue.

Lewisville, Texas – Today’s shoppers are more price-conscious and in search of deals than ever before, according to a new study from digital rewards provider Parago.

New York – Saks Incorporated reported a roughly 5% increase in total sales between first quarter 2012 and first quarter 2013, although net income dropped during that same time period. Total sales for the first quarter of this year were $793.2 million, up from $753.6 million in the first quarter of last year. However, net income of $20 million for first quarter 2013 was down close to 40% from $32.7 million for first quarter 2012. Same store sales increased 5.9%.

AUSTIN, Texas — Tabbedout has teamed up with Google to offer Google Wallet as a payment source in the Tabbedout app for Android. Consumers will now have the opportunity to pay from their smartphones, using their Google accounts, at thousands of Tabbedout locations. 

By George Hoffman, [email protected]
 

Minneapolis – Target Corp. is testing a video streaming service with internal employees. Called Target Ticket beta, the service features 15,000 movies and TV shows for digital download.

The service, which is password-protected, presumably is designed to compete with Netflix and Hulu, among other digital video platforms.

Philadelphia – Urban Outfitters, Inc. reported stronger than expected net sales, which drove a 39% increase in net earnings. The specialty retailer reported record total net sales of $648 million during first quarter fiscal 2014, up 14% from $568 million in the same quarter last year. Net earnings for the quarter were $47 million, higher than analyst expectations and up 39% from first quarter fiscal 2013.