Omnichannel

St. Petersburg, Fla. -- Multichannel retailer HSN Inc. reported Wednesday that net income for the third quarter dropped 27.2% to $17.7 million, from $24.3 million in the year-ago period. Results still beat Wall Street projections.

Revenue rose 7.1% to $778.8 million, beating analysts’ estimated $747.1 million in revenue.

The company has now seen profit fall in two consecutive quarters, but it has beaten Wall Street estimates for three quarters in a row.

Leading payment processor Vantiv said it signed an agreement to acquire Litle & Co., a leading mobile payment processor in a deal valued at $361 million.

According to Vantiv president and CEO, Charles Drucker, the deal makes sense because e-commerce is one of the fastest growing segments of payments.

By Peter Burgoyne, [email protected]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Baker & Taylor, a distributor of digital and physical books and entertainment products, announced that it has enhanced its popular Axis 360 digital media platform by releasing a mobile version. The mobile version of Axis 360 is designed to leverage the functionality of native Web browsers built into multi-function devices, smartphones and tablets running on the iOS, Android and BlackBerry operating systems.

Chicago -- Survey results released Tuesday by Technomic found that restaurant goers are increasingly open to trying new technologies in the dining environment.

According to the survey, a majority of consumers expect to use technology to order food at restaurants more often in the coming year, and very few (just 3%) expect to use it less than they currently do.

Consumers expressed the most interest in tableside touchscreen devices that enable them to self-order and pay, iPad/tablet menus and digital rewards tied to loyalty programs.  

Toronto -- Sears Canada said Tuesday it has debuted a permanent shoppable iPad application for its Wish Book catalog after a temporary launch for the 2011 holiday shopping season.

The app will contain various content throughout any given year, the first of which appears Tuesday in the form of the 60th anniversary Wish Book.

London -- Barnes & Noble said Monday that its subsidiary Nook Media will partner with U.K.’s largest supermarket chain Asda to sell the Nook reader in 300 Asda stores across the U.K.

Barnes & Noble said it plans to expand the expected number of U.K. retail outlets to over 2,500 and include various online retail platforms as well. Terms of its deal with Asda weren’t disclosed.

As we continue to witness the battle of brick-and-mortar versus online shopping, it’s interesting to see Walmart’s latest ploy to “one-up” their online competition. Their new Walmart To Go service is offering customers same-day delivery of online orders for just $10. While the initial test period is expected to last only through the holidays, the possibility that this could stick makes me think that Walmart To Go might ultimately have some huge implications for brick-and-mortar retail. The big question, of course, is will it work? Can Walmart pull it off?