News

Walmart is hoping to increase the cash in in-store shoppers’ wallets this year by offering a new tax refund service.

Direct2Cash is a way for customers to collect their tax refunds in cash at stores this tax season. The service is an alternative for taxpayers who otherwise might get refunds via check or direct deposit.

Walmart is hoping to increase the cash in in-store shoppers’ wallets this year by offering a new tax refund service.

Direct2Cash is a way for customers to collect their tax refunds in cash at stores this tax season. The service is an alternative for taxpayers who otherwise might get refunds via check or direct deposit.

Sportsman’s Warehouse will honor those serving in the U.S. military and public safety occupations with a special promotion.

On Military and Public Safety Appreciation Day, Jan. 24, 2015, the stores will offer discounts of up to 20%. Firearms, ammunition, optics and electronics will be offered with a 10% discount.

Retailers at NRF’s Big Show are hearing a lot about “machine learning.” But what is it and how does it help retailers grow sales?

Machine learning, in which supercomputers learn from mining masses of data on the cloud without human intervention, unlocks insights into consumer demand.

Retailers interested in fine-tuning their digital pricing strategies may want to look at a new index called the Price Perception Index.

The index, created by e-commerce startup Bommerang Commerce, measures how retailers optimize prices to attract buyers, compete with other retailers and build their business on a mix of profit margins and volume.

The first Price Perception Index looks at the complex competition between Amazon.com and Walmart.com.

New York -- Consumers are feeling bullish, buoyed by low gas prices and an improving job market. The University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment index for January rose to an 11-year high of 98.2, from a final reading of 93.6 for December.

New York -- Chinese online giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is testing a mobile messaging app designed to combine social networking with business.

The app, called DingTalk, is still in beta testing.

Capable of carrying conference calls and group messaging, DingTalk targets small- and medium-sized enterprises, many of which are already Alibaba's customers, according to Reuters.

Fort Worth, Texas – RadioShack Corp. is reportedly negotiating with Sprint to sell some of its store leases to the wireless carrier. According to Bloomberg, Sprint executives said the company is planning to expand its store count through acquisitions at an investor conference last week.

Milwaukee – Roundy’s Inc. expects to open five new stores in fiscal 2015, including one in the first quarter. However, the grocery chain also said it expects earnings per diluted share from continuing operations of flat to -$0.05 in the first quarter and a net loss of $0.07 to $0.18 per share in the fiscal year.