Omnichannel

MONTREAL, Canada — LightSpeed, a leading software company that develops tools for retailers to better manage operations and sales across all channels, has launched StoreMaster, a command center that affords retailers complete control over their business. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Executives from Walmart, Facebook and Groupon are among the keynote speakers slated for the Mobile Commerce World three-day conference and expo in June. 

Mobile Commerce World touts itself as the only event of its kind designed to help retail and enterprise executives create the most effective mobile commerce strategies. It will be held June 24-26, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. 

The keynote lineup includes:

Fort Worth, Texas -- RadioShack Corp. on Tuesday reported a bigger-than-expected first quarter loss on weak sales of wireless phone contracts. The company also reported that it is updating its brand and will begin remodeling select locations with a new look and feel over the next few weeks.

Joseph C. Magnacca, a former Walgreens executive who became CEO of RadioShack in February, remarked on the initial priorities and initiatives underway. Last week, he named a new chief marketing officer and a new SVP store concepts.

CHICAGO — Groupon has unveiled new versions of the iPhone and Android apps that helped make it a global e-commerce leader. 

Search is a critical part of Groupon’s product strategy. Most Groupon merchants make their deals available on an ongoing basis, and search allows customers to find only the deals most relevant to them in this expanded marketplace. In iPhone v.2.5 search is prominent with a clickable icon that allows customers to navigate from anywhere in the app.

Toronto -- Express Inc. announced that its move to parity pricing is now complete. The retailer said it has been working to make cross-border shopping a thing of the past since entering the Canadian market.
 
The company's at-par pricing ensures that consumers across North America can enjoy the same shopping experience and value, regardless of geographical location.

Online shoppers can also take advantage of the parities, including an $8 shipping fee, as well as free shipping on all orders over $125.

By Leslie Hand, research director, IDC Retail Insights

Ron Johnson's highly publicized short tenure at J.C. Penney, or JCP, as it was rebranded, will certainly make it into the textbooks and graduate theses on what to do and what not to do when undertaking a significant retail business transformation. The primary failure was not putting customer needs first in what promised to be an excellent long term strategy. Oops — forget the customer in an omni-channel customer strategy?

What a colossal mistake!

Dallas -- Survey results released Monday by Alliance Data Retail Services found that many mothers are tapping into their mobile phones’ capabilities to help with their hectic lives, whether via text, tag or talk.

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid Corp. said Monday it has redesigned Riteaid.com to a more personalized and engaging version.

Rite Aid worked with digital and healthcare communications firm Razorfish Healthware on the project.

“Today’s customer expects more from their online experience than ever before, so it’s critical that our website not only meets but exceeds their expectations,” said Ken Martindale, COO, Rite Aid.