Omnichannel

New York -- Epicor Software Corp. said Monday that The Jones Group Inc. is rolling out its Epicor Retail Store offering which is fully mobile-enabled for deployment and use on Apple iPad, iPod and Windows mobile devices, and brings information directly to sales associates’ fingertips.

New York -- PayPay announced Monday that a total of 23 national retailers are now signed up to accept PayPal in their stores, making the payment solution accepted in more than 18,000 physical retail locations. PayPay also announced that Jamba Juice is testing an order-ahead feature that allows customers to place an order, select a time for pick-up, and pay in advance via the PayPal App – so when they arrive, they can save time and skip the line, grab their food and be on their way.

NEW YORK — Online retailers are focused on retaining existing shoppers by giving them a better online shopping experience.

As shoppers become increasingly connected, online retailers are developing strategies to increase web conversion and loyalty.

According to the 2013 Shop.org/Forrester Research Inc. State of Retailing Online survey, 51% of retailers surveyed say their top priority for 2013 is site optimization, including checkout optimization, alternative payments, user experience, testing and product detail page enhancements.

By Jill Puler, [email protected]

For retailers, brands and marketers, the millennials have created quite the conundrum. This segment makes up a large part of the consuming world — around 95 million consumers in the U.S. alone. And with $1.7 billion in spending muscle to flex, their influence is only going to increase as the years roll by. By 2030, they will outnumber the vaunted baby boomers by more than 20 million.

ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. — Lowe’s is teaming up with American Water Heaters to offer homeowners the ability to remotely control their water heaters from their smart phones or tablets.

Iris is Lowe's exclusive smart home solution allows homeowners to monitor and control virtually everything in the home, including Energy Smart electric water heaters, which will feature Iris-compatible control modules. Homeowners can use the controls to set water temperatures and select operating modes, including the "Vacation" mode.

By Ken Nische, [email protected]

There are many trends — practical, psychographic and attitudinal — that are incubating during the retail “reboot” that’s taking place in the U.S. economy. This reboot is affecting all types and sizes of retail, brick-and-mortar and online. The key is putting these trends to work for you.

Philadelphia -- Urban Outfitters Inc.  said Thursday its same-stores sales for the holiday season rose 9%, including its direct-to-consumer business. Excluding that unit, same-store sales fell 1%.

Total company net sales for November and December increased 15% to $666 million.

Among Urban Outfitters’ brands, comparable sales increased 33% at Free People, 10% at Urban Outfitters and 5% at Anthropologie. Direct-to-consumer net sales increased by 38% for the period and wholesale segment net sales increased 21%.

NEW YORK and ALISO VIEJO, Calif. — Leading global e-commerce marketplace Rakuten Inc. has rebranded Buy.com, which it acquired May 2010, to Rakuten.com Shopping.

Between now and January 30, merchants and consumers will still be able to go to Buy.com to access Rakuten’s U.S. subsidiary. Starting January 31, however, the site url will change to Rakuten.com. Anyone going to Buy.com will be redirected to the new url.