News

U.K. supermarket giant expands self-scanning service
Tesco wants to help its customers check out faster. The retailer has expanded its “Scan as you Shop” self-scanning program to 20 new locations — a move that makes the service available in a total of 350 stores.
PayPal in deal with MasterCard for store payments
PayPal Holdings has expanded its growing foothold in physical retail. The payments services company has entered into a partnership with MasterCard that will allow shoppers to use PayPal’s services in stores. In July, PayPal signed a similar agreement with Visa.

Bankrupt shipping giant trying to ease cargo chaos fears

Hanjin Shipping Co., the world’s seventh-largest container shipper, is working to ease the potential cargo chaos caused by its bankruptcy filing last week. The filing rose concerns among some of the nation’s biggest retailers that some merchandise may not arrive in time for the crucial holiday season, blooomberg.com reported.
Don’t Ignore These Holiday Security Issues

In the lead-up to this year’s holiday season, retailers across the country are already making important preparations in the hopes of increasing sales, improving customer service, and preventing data breaches. This last concern carries with it a heavy price tag; according to a survey from the Ponemon Institute, the average cost of holiday season cyber attacks is $8,000 per minute or nearly half-a-million dollars per hour.
Walmart, MoneyGram partner on new online money transfer platform

MoneyGram and Walmart on Tuesday announced the launch of a new state-of-the-art online money transfer platform that offers customers new features and a streamlined experience when sending money through <a href="http://walmart.moneygram.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; max-height: 100000px; color: rgb(0, 83, 160); text-decoration: none; border: 0px; outline: none; font-family: open_sansregular, Arial, Helvetica, sans
Iconic accessories brand to open first New York City store

Vera Bradley in entering the New York City market, opening a digitally-savvy flagship in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. Scheduled to open in September, the two-level, 2,700-sq.-ft. store will carry the complete Vera Bradley collection, ranging from handbags and travel items to eyewear and jewelry, and debut the brand's newly redesigned logo and store concept.
Amazon expands its growing Chicago-based fulfillment services

To uphold its reputation of providing the fastest possible delivery to its shoppers, Amazon is preparing to open a new fulfillment center in Monee, Ill. This is the third warehouse planned for the suburbs of Chicago. The 850,000-plus-sq.-ft. facility will facilitate the picking, packing and shipping of small items, such as books, electronics and consumer goods.
The Buckle sales continue to slip in August

Following a revenue miss in the second quarter, sales continue to slide at The Buckle. For August, same-store sales fell 14.8%, a decrease exceeding the company’s 10.9% same-store loss in July, and a 10.8% drop in the second quarter. Net sales for August also dipped 14.0% to $87.2 million for the four-week period ended August 27, 2016, compared to $101.4 million for the same fiscal month last year, ended August 29, 2015.
Sales rise at Dollarama, beating expectations

While some specialty chains struggle to meet earnings predictions, Dollarama reported better-than-expected second quarter results. The Montreal-based discount chain’s net income was $106.4 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2017, ended July 31, 2016 — up 11.4% from $95.5 million for the same period last year.
Walmart cutting 7,000 jobs

Walmart is eliminating about 7,000 back-office positions at its U.S. stores, with the majority of the cuts in the accounting and invoicing areas. The move, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, follows a test earlier this summer at 500 stores in the West to cut three administrative accounting and invoicing jobs at each store.