News

Staples adds interesting new board members
Regardless of the final outcome of its acquisition of Office Depot, Staples just nominated three individuals to its board of directors with unique perspectives on growth.

Curtis Feeny, managing director of Voyager Capital, Deb Henretta, former group president of global e-commerce at Procter & Gamble and John Lundgren, chairman and CEO of Stanley Black & Decker, have been nominated by the Staples board of directors for election at the company’s 2016 annual meeting.
Duluth Trading makes omnichannel move
Duluth Holdings just put a key element of its growth strategy in place, choosing cloud commerce solutions provider Demandware to integrate its physical and digital presence.

Going to market under the banner of Duluth Trading Company, the retailer said it selected Demandware to optimize is digital and omnichannel growth strategies.

Party retailer celebrates unified commerce capability

Shindigz specializes in selling party supplies across mobile, desktop and mobile app channels, and is inviting digital commerce provider Mozu to make the festivities more manageable.
Survey: Millennials want same things in stores as they do online

When it comes to shopping in stores, “digital natives” want the same technological conveniences they have come to expect online.

According to a new research report from Euclid Analytics, “Bringing Digital Engagement In-store,” 67% of millennial adults age 18-34 would be very or somewhat likely to use in-store WiFi for faster checkout via an exclusive VIP line. This compares to 60% of Gen Xers 35-54 and only 38% of baby boomers age 55 and older.
Startups Spotlight: Technologies On the Rise

From hyperlocal social media intelligence to mobile survey creation, this month’s crop of startups is filling niche spaces that can have a big impact on a retailer’s business. Learn about an augmented reality platform that’s elevating the online experience, a social referral startup that makes it easy to spread rewarding word-of-mouth recommendations and an analytics company that helps retailers and CPG companies get the most out of their online and transaction-level customer data.

SurveyMe
Study: Consumers prefer different channels for browsing, purchasing

Digital retailing is growing in popularity, but the brick-and-mortar channel remains dominant for at least one crucial consumer activity.

According to research firm Toluna, an equal percentage of consumers browse before purchasing online or via mobile (76%) as browse in-store (also 76%). However, when it comes time to make a purchase, 82% will do so in-store while only 65% purchase items online or via mobile.
Wal-Mart shaking up, shrinking its board

Wal-Mart Stores on Thursday announced changes to its board of director of directors that it said were designed to make to make it more nimble and able to respond quicker to today’s fast-changing market.

As part of the changes, four current board members — Aida Alvarez, Roger Corbett, Mike Duke and Jim Walton — will retire and not stand for re-election. In addition, the retailer is shrinking its board by three members to 12, a move that brings it more in line with the size of most U.S. corporation boards.
Study: Data thieves follow common patterns

A look at cybercrime, data breach and security threat trends from 2015 demonstrates that criminals are indeed creatures of habit.

According to the Trustwave 2016 Global Security Report, which analyzes results of Trustwave security investigations during 2015, retail was the most targeted industry for data breaches. Twenty-three percent of Trustwave data breach investigations involved retailers. North America was the most popular geographic location for cyberattacks, with 35% of all Trustwave investigations occurring on the continent.
Unusual underground marketplace opens in NYC subway station

A major Manhattan subway station concourse that had been closed since 2009 has been transformed into a lively shopping and dining destination.

TurnStyle, an underground marketplace inside the Columbus Circle 59th Street subway, is now open to the public.

Financing for the project was provided by Goldman Sachs, through its Urban Investment Group.
Amazon dominates online retail traffic in March

Amazon.com has found another way to demonstrate its commanding lead in e-commerce – monthly unique visitors.

According to the comScore March 2016 rankings of the top 50 multi-platform (desktop and mobile) properties by unique U.S. work and home visits, Amazon sites received 180.97 million unique visitors. This ranked first among all predominantly retail web properties and fifth overall.