News

Amazon.com is rolling out a new haggling feature on its website as the company looks to further cement its low-price reputation among consumers.

The new “Make an Offer” feature allows sellers to accept or reject bids on more than 150,000 items across the categories of Sports and Entertainment Collectibles, Collectible Coins and Fine Art.

With 2014 almost over, another holiday shopping season is drawing to a close. The looming question on everyone’s mind, of course, is whether holiday sales managed to live up to the (mostly) positive holiday forecasts from analysts and retail organizations.   

Spokane, Wash. - Over half (57%) of retail respondents have an energy/building management system installed, according to an annual survey by energy and sustainability management  company Ecova.  

New York - A federal judge has ruled that customers suing Target for last year’s data breach may move forward with their claims.   U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson in St. Paul, Minn., dismissed claims by plaintiffs in certain states but largely denied Target's request to toss out the proposed class action lawsuit. Magnuson rejected Target's argument that the consumers lacked standing to sue because they could not establish any injury.  

By James Han, Tyco Retail Solutions  

Franklin, Tenn. - Vendors are leaving billions on the table because they forget to market to the chief marketing officer (CMO) rather than just the CIO and IT department.  According to a new study from IHL Group, “Hidden Treasure – The CMO’s Budget in Retail,” in 2015, the amount of IT purchased through the CMO’s budget will amount to $7.5 billion in North America.  

Wilmington, Del. - The urge to impulse shop during the holidays runs strong among Americans, but even stronger among Millennials. According to the Chase Blueprint Holiday Impulse Purchases Survey, 83% of Millennials admit to having made an impulse purchase in the past.   

Goodlettsville, Tenn. – Dollar General Corp. stated on Dec. 19 that it remains actively engaged in discussions with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the extent of potential divestitures that would be required in connection with an acquisition of Family Dollar Stores Inc. Dollar General does not expect to provide any further update prior to the Family Dollar shareholders meeting currently scheduled for Dec. 23, 2014.   

Mexico City, Mexico - Grupo Financiero Inbursa, a banking firm owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, has reportedly bought the bank division of Wal-Mart de Mexico (Walmex) for $246.94 million, or 1.7 times Walmex’s bank capital.

 

According to Reuters, Walmex has been focusing on selling its non-core assets, such as its restaurant division, in the past year.

Seattle – Amazon.com is partnering with retail shopping app provider Ibotta Inc. to enable Amazon shoppers to receive additional cash back on a range of products purchased directly on Amazon.com.