News

Japanese eyewear brand to open its first U.S. store
San Francisco -- One of the largest eyewear brands in Japan is entering the United States. Tokyo-based Jins, a pioneer of “smart” eyewear, will open a flagship in San Francisco, and launch a U.S. e-commerce site this spring.
Accenture: Consumers switch brands more than ever before
New York - U.S. companies are struggling to keep pace with their customers’ “always on” nature and greater use of digital channels. According to new research from Accenture, 56% of consumers report that the number of brands they consider has increased significantly in the past 10 years, and 46% believe they are more likely to switch providers compared to 10 years ago.

Bauer Hockey selects Epicor for in-store personalization

Exter, N.H. – Ice hockey equipment manufacturer Bauer Hockey has selected Epicor Retail solutions to power its first-ever retail stores. The stores , the first of which is set to open in the Boston suburb of Burlington, Massachusetts, in summer 2015 , will showcase the full Bauer product line, offer in-depth product education and will feature an ice rink where customers can test Bauer skates and gear.
SAS aids European retailers in CRM, logistics, marketing

Cary, N.C. – SAS Institute Inc. has recently completed rollouts of CRM, logistics and marketing solutions at several European retailers. For example, Milan, Italy-based online wine retailer Wineverse chose SAS Visual Analytics to increase customer insights and reduce supply chain costs that result in greater customer satisfaction.
Amazon shuts digital wallet

Seattle -- Amazon.com’s Amazon Wallet will never get the chance to make it out of beta. Multiple press reports indicate Amazon is shutting down its beta release of the mobile wallet application, which launched in July 2014.
Walmart makes more exec moves, creates new titles

The restructuring of Walmart’s senior executive ranks continues with the latest round of appointments involving some familiar leaders in new roles with curious titles as well as some key resignations.
Famous Footwear gains profitable new footing

Improved conversion and customer service at Brown Shoe’s Famous Footwear stores are the anticipated benefits of a new merchandise allocation and replenishment solution the company has deployed.

The 1,041 unit Famous Footwear division of Brown Shoe recently announced it had deployed the Q Allocation and Replenishment solution from Minneapolis-based Quantum Retail Technology. The Quantum solution works in conjunction with Famous Footwear’s legacy JDA solution, according to the company, to produce a wide range of benefits.
Lowe's to hire 30K workers for spring

It may not feel like it in many parts of the country, but spring, the busiest time of the year for home improvement stores, is just around the corner. And Lowe’s is wasting no time in getting ready.

The retailer said it plans to hire 30,000 employees at its stores in the United States during spring.

Home Depot is sure to follow the move by Lowe's with its own hiring spree in the next few weeks, especially considering it hired as many as 80,000 seasonal employees in winter/spring 2014.
Target hires bloggers to push plus-size line

Target may have ruffled some feathers in the past with what some considered a lack of plus-size offerings. But the retailer seems to be making up for it now.

Target says it is launching a brand new plus-size line, Ava & Viv, which will be sold both online and in stores starting on Feb. 22.
PetSmart gives $450K to Children's Health

PetSmart is teaming up with Children’s Health to help fund its pet therapy program, which will provide thousands of patients with access to canine comfort teams.

PetSmart Paws for Hope at Children’s Health is starting off with a commitment of$425,000 from PetSmart over five years.
Most toy retailers had Merry Christmas

The popularity of Disney’s Frozen license and a final surge of spending allowed most U.S. toy retailers to grow sales this past holiday season, according to new data from NPD.
Winning with e-commerce in 2015

We often forget that we are only about 15 years into the life of e-commerce.