News

U.S. consumers are willing to use mobile devices during the shopping process, but not so much at the end.

According to a new study of 23,000 global consumers (including U.S. shoppers) from PwC, “Total Retail 2016,” only 22% of U.S. consumers make a mobile purchase at least monthly and only 26% say mobile will become a main purchasing tool for them in the future. Deloitte cites the lack of widespread tools to make mobile purchasing easier, such as buy buttons, currently available in the U.S.

Target Corp. is tapping into the startup community in San Francisco and the Silicon Valley to gain a merchandising edge.

The retailer is launching a series of “Demo Days” aimed at discovering interesting new “smart” products from startup companies. The program kicked off on Feb. 23, with Target inviting 12 startups to its office near Silicon Valley to pitch “smart baby” products. Each company had 20 minutes to showcase its products and receive real-time feedback from Target.

They are not mythological monsters, but a real phenomenon retailers say is limiting their ability to take advantage of emerging technologies.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) is officially calling on Congress to pass patent reform legislation that would put an end to “shakedown settlements” forced on retailers by “patent trolls.” Patent trolls are companies that purchase often-obscure patents for technology they did not invent, then demand licensing fees from retailers and other businesses that may not realize the technology is patented.

Most people do not get a paid holiday for “Leap Day,” Feb. 29.

Then again, most people do not work for online footwear and apparel retailer Zappos. Known for doing things a little differently, such as replacing the traditional bureaucratic management structure with decentralized “holacracy,” Zappos is taking a novel approach to Leap Day.

An emerging consumer demographic is showing strong support for an emerging trend in transactions.

A new GfK study of 1,000 U.S. consumers shows that Generation Z (ages 18 to 24) is twice as likely to make a mobile payment as the total population. Smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices account for just 3% of all transactions in the U.S. – but 7% among Gen Z.

Boston-based online home furnishings retailer Wayfair Inc. managed to shrink its net loss in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 while other financial results soared.

Wayfair reported net loss of $15.49 million, down from $72.55 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Growth in cost of goods sold, operating expenses and other costs did not match the rate of revenue growth. Net revenue increased 81% to $739.79 million, from $408.62 million.

Build-A-Bear is adding two new board members whose backgrounds should serve the company well as it moves forward with its transformation plan.

Build-A-Bear announced that Tim Kilpin and Sarah Personette have been appointed to the company’s board of directors.

Kilpin, 55, will serve as a member of the Audit Committee and as a member of the Compensation and Development Committee. Personette, 36, will serve as a member of the Compensation and Development Committee and as a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.