News

Ikea changes the rules on high-tech furnishings
For those shoppers who are sick of lugging phone chargers from room to room, Ikea has a solution: The Swedish retailer is launching a new line of home furnishings with wireless chargers.

As smartphones have become an essential part of consumers’ lives, Ikea decided to make the charging function a natural part of the home.
CVS campaign urges shoppers to fill their bags
CVS wants customers to fill their bags, so the drugstore chain is kicking off a "Fill Your Bag" promotional event in all of its 7,800 stores.

To participate, members of the ExtraCare program can scan their cards at the ExtraCare Coupon Center from April 26 to May 23 to receive a 30% off coupon each week, with a limit of one coupon per week. Customers who participate in store will receive a reusable shopping bag that is free with purchase.

Publix fishing for more sustainable seafood

With more than 1,000 stores in the Southeast, Publix Super Markets celebrated Earth Day with a $160,000 effort to make shrimp aquaculture more sustainable.

The grocery chain says it is focused on improving the conditions associated with shrimp aquaculture. The donation to the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership will fund research to improve fisheries and help shrimp aquaculture in southeast Asia become more sustainable.
Macy's gets intimate with Heidi Klum

Macy’s Inc. is teaming up with a former Victoria’s Secret Angel to develop a new line of contemporary bras and panties designed to appeal to women who are looking for the "perfect fit and shape."
IRI Summit 2015 shakes up Austin

The IRI Summit 2015 conference this week in Austin is helping senior manufacturers and retailers find growth in CPG manufacturing, retail and health care.

The program highlights strategies for finding growth opportunities with shoppers via cutting-edge content and analytics, technologies and retail best practices.
EBay plans to spin off Paypal in third quarter

EBay painted a mixed financial picture for the first quarter, with lower revenue from its marketplaces division and higher revenue from its Paypal division, which the company said it plans to spin off later this year.
Stepping into the Retail Store of Tomorrow

By Mark Kirstein, Zebra Technologies
NPD: Online, smaller metro markets driving apparel sales

New York -- New York and Los Angeles may be the largest U.S. markets in terms of apparel sales, but online and smaller markets such as Orlando, Florida, and Washington, D.C., are the top markets driving both growth rate and dollar volume increases for the industry, according to global information company The NPD Group.

Both Orlando and Washington had strong performance across in-store and online channels.
Target responds to Lilly Pulitzer frenzy and angry customers

New York -- Target Corp. is responding to customers frustrated by their inability to buy items from the chain’s Lilly Pulitzer collection. The limited-edition line went live in the stores and online Sunday morning, with most of the items selling out within minutes.
Tech Bytes: Three Steps to Omnichannel Retailer from eBay Seller

Hard to believe, eBay has now been in existence as an e-commerce platform for 20 years. Since its launch in September 1995, countless individuals and companies have sold and purchased goods via eBay. In addition, many full-fledged omnichannel retailers have evolved from small-scale efforts to sell merchandise on eBay.
Simply Fashion files Chapter 11

New York -- Simply Fashion Stores Ltd. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and announced plans to liquidate nearly all of its assets. In its filing, it noted that the “exact plan” for the future of the company is still being refined.

The Birmingham, Alabama-based urban fashion retailer, which caters mostly to African-American women, operates some 250 stores in 25 states.
Roche Bros. deploying NCR solution to strengthen payment security

Duluth, Ga. -- NCR Corp. announced supermarket chain Roche Bros. has implemented NCR’s Connected Payments to help with its payments security. Massachusetts-based Roche Bros. is using the cloud-based payment solution to manage all of its daily operations related to payments across its network of stores.