News

GameStop has joined a growing list of retailers offering a new incentive for a vast segment of consumers to start thinking about holiday shopping: a comprehensive layaway program.

The company has joined Kmart, Walmart and other retailers in launching an enhanced layaway program in the past few weeks designed to help shoppers access the hottest gifts of the season.

The importance of expense control at Walmart became evident on Friday when the retailer confirmed it planned to eliminate 450 positions as part of a broader restructuring effort.

Newegg is looking to be the destination this holiday season for gamers with a new promotion designed to appeal to tech enthusiasts.

Staples is bucking the Black Thursday trend by making a statement, literally, about closing its stores on Thanksgiving Day in order to allow its customers, employees and their families to enjoy the holiday.

The retailer issued a statement on Thursday saying that despite being open on Thanksgiving Day the past two years, this year it says customers and employees should have the chance to stay home with family and friends. Stores will open at 6 a.m. on Black Friday.

Midwestern discounter Meijer is looking to a former store pharmacist who worked his way up in the company to take over the reins as president.

The company announced that Rick Keyes has been appointed as president of the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer. Keyes, who joined the company 26 years ago as a pharmacist in Columbus, Ohio, takes the reigns of the multi-state Midwestern retailer after this week's announcement that J.K. Symancyk is leaving the company to join a Texas-based retailer.

Eleven new brands are heeding the call from Amazon.com to join the Amazon Dash Replenishment Service (DRS) program. General Electric, Samsung, August, Gmate, Oster, Obe, Petnet, CleverPet, Sutro, Thync, and Sealed Air are now offering devices enabled with DRS. DRS enables connected devices that measure consumable usage to automatically order physical goods from Amazon when supplies are running low, DRS is the same reordering service that supports the Amazon Dash Button.

Retailers who do not offer an option for online or mobile shopping may find their customers opting out. A new survey of U.S. and Canadian consumers from MasterCard, “The Psyche of Shopping,” shows that consumers have purposely chosen not to buy something when a retailer did not have an online payment option (68%), a mobile payment option (19%), or an in-app payment option (14%).

It’s no secret that e-commerce is continuing to grow as a portion of holiday shopping volume. But a newer trend shows that holiday e-commerce growth is shifting away from the desktop channel. According to a new survey from digital promotion platform RetailMeNot Inc., mobile app visits and transactions closed on desktop visits and transactions during the 2014 holiday season. If the trend keeps pace in 2015, mobile visits and transactions will surpass desktop visits and transactions as a holiday e-commerce channel.

Walmart offered a sneak peek of its new fulfillment center in the Atlanta area on Thursday on the heels of announcing that it would bring grocery pickup to the region this month. Walmart says the new facility is dedicated to filling online orders and is the latest addition to the next-generation fulfillment network Walmart is building to support its rapidly growing e-commerce business.

Rite Aid on Wednesday brought back its nationwide annual Vote for Your Favorite Pharmacy Team Member Contest to celebrate American Pharmacist Month. Through the contest, Rite Aid customers have a chance to win $2,500 in Rite Aid gift cards by nominating a favorite member of their Rite Aid pharmacy team.