News

Kohl's launches yoga wear line from Gaiam
The new focus on health and wellness merchandise at Kohl’s gets a big boost this week with the addition of an exclusive Gaiam women’s apparel collection.

The retailer has been greatly expanding its assortment of active lifestyle and wellness offerings through brand launches, partnerships and unique social integrations that further the company’s commitment to active and well lifestyles promoted under the Make Your Move initiative launched earlier this year.
A better start for Cabela's in 2015
Volatile demand for firearms seems to be easing at Cabela’s, which reported a profit rise of 6.9% in the first quarter despite a drop in same store sales.

Founder of TJX Cos. to retire from board

The TJX Cos. Inc. announced Wednesday that Chairman Bernard Cammarata will retire following the company’s annual shareholder meeting scheduled for June 11.
The one report every Walmart supplier should read

Suppliers to Walmart are always looking for ways to align themselves with the retailer and develop strategies that drive sales. Nothing could be more instructive on that front than 2015 version of a Global Responsibility Report, which reveals the company’s extensive social and environmental commitments and accomplishments.

The eighth annual edition of the document was released this week in conjunction with other material related to the company June 5 shareholders meeting.
Publix pharmacy marks major milestone
Victoria's Secret creates a new holiday for women

Victoria's Secret has recruited a couple of Angels to help the retailer launch a new holiday for women: International Bombshells Day.

To be held on the first Saturday of May, the brand will be encouraging women to embrace their inner bombshell and spoil themselves all day with their girlfriends. Plus, they will receive exclusive and limited-time offers at Victoria's Secret Stores and on VictoriasSecret.com.
Exec pay at Walmart not as high as it could have been

Walmart increased hourly pay for employees earlier this year but top executives didn’t earn as much as they could have after the company came up short on key metrics.
Amazon.com product sales slow, but not services

Amazon.com’s sales growth in the first quarter continued to outpace the overall e-commerce growth rate, especially Web services, but expenses related to interest and currency exchange caused the online leader to report a $57 million net loss.

Total sales for the quarter ended March 31 increased 15% to $22.72 billion but a strengthening of the U.S. Dollar caused a $1.3 billion currency exchange headwind. On a constant currency basis, which is how global retailers like to analyze their business, sales increased 22%.
eBay beats Street with Q1 results

San Jose, Calif. – eBay Inc. topped Wall Street expectations for both profit and revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2015. Growth in transactions and efforts to control expenses helped produce net income of $626 million, compared to a net loss of $2.33 billion the same quarter a year earlier.
Study: Online retailers expect to increase revenue 17%

King of Prussia, Pa. - Retailers anticipate accelerated growth for 2015. According to a study from eBay Enterprise, an eBay Inc. company, 72% of more than 1,000 online retailers surveyed anticipate online revenue to increase by 17% in 2015.

Confidence in commerce infrastructure is also high, with 95% of respondents stating they are very or somewhat confident their e-commerce experience meets consumers’ needs and expectations.
Chili’s selects NoWait to ease waiting in line

Dallas – Waiting in line is probably the least appetizing part of the dining out experience. That is why Chili’s Grill &Bar has selected the NoWait mobile network to power its new mobile waitlisting app.

Rolling out nationwide in summer 2015, NoWait enables guests to search local Chili's restaurants, understand the wait time to be seated and add their names remotely to a restaurant's real-time seating list. Customers will also be able to track their place in line and show up when their table is scheduled to be ready.
Magento expands capabilities

King of Prussia, Pa. - eBay Enterprise, an eBay Inc. company, is releasing Magento Enterprise Edition 1.14.2. Magento’s new solutions include new automated product category sorting capabilities, integration of Google Tag Manager, and access to new automated functional tests.

In addition, the Magento Mobile Software Development Kit (SDK) enables retailers to create custom iOS applications, as well as provides a sample app that merchants can customize to accelerate their development.