News

Lowe's to pay $1 million in overcharging settlement
The New York attorney general's office has reached a settlement with Lowe's to refund up to 10% of flooring installation fees paid by more than 16,000 customers. The Associated Press reports that Lowe’s, with 64 New York stores, overcharged the customers with a deceptive sales practice that it has since agreed to halt. The retailer had offered installation of carpeting, tile, wood and laminate flooring by third-party contractors at square-foot rates that were applied to materials bought, not those actually installed.
2015 Elections: Status quo remains; voters reject minimum wage increases
Tuesday’s election continued a trend we have witnessed over the past few years — Republicans dominated statewide contests while Democrats locked down Mayoral seats in key major metropolitan markets.

One year ago, Republicans won by historic margins at the state level, installing 31 Republican governors and winning control of 67 of the 98 state legislative chambers. On Tuesday, Republicans not only defended those advances, but added to that margin by winning decisively in Kentucky.

Study: Holiday shoppers not ready to mobilize

Mobile commerce is getting a lot of attention, but may not play much of a role in the 2015 holiday shopping season.

According to a new survey of more than 1,500 U.S. consumers from Accenture, only 2% of holiday shoppers are planning to do the majority of their holiday shopping on mobile devices, with most (43%) citing privacy and security issues as a major reason.
Costco logs a 4% increase in same-store sales

October was a good month for Costco, which reported growth in same-store and total sales.

The club retailer posted a 4% increase in U.S. same-store sales for October, excluding gasoline price deflation and currency fluctuation. sThe comp increase was 5% for the whole company.

For the month, the company saw $8.78 billion in net sales and $19.53 billion over the four weeks. Though Costco’s U.S. sales saw a slight increase, its Canadian stores saw an 8% decrease in same-store sales for the month and a 9% decline over four weeks.
RetailNext: Hot weather cools off store performance in October

Store performance disappointed almost across the board during October, and circumstances beyond retailers’ control may have had a lot to do with it.
Shopping button competition heats up for Amazon

Amazon.com just picked up an improved rival in the burgeoning home shopping button market, which it provided mainstream attention with the launch of its Dash remote ordering device earlier this year.

San Jose-based technology vendor Hiku just launched version 2 of its eponymous shopping button tool. Ironically, Hiku actually released version 1 of the button shortly before Amazon launched its Dash button, but was overshadowed.
100 Best Retailers to Work With
Saks Off 5th to co-anchor new Chicago development

Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th will open a store at Newcity, the newly opened mixed-use development located in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.

The 40,000-sq.-ft. store, which will be the seventh Off 5th location in Chicago, is scheduled to open in May 2016. The off-price retailer recently announced another spring 2016 store opening in Chicago, on State Street at the corner of State and Madison.
Survey: Online consumers want the gift of convenience

Holiday shoppers have high expectations of their online customer experience this year.

According to the new JDA 2015 Consumer Survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers, 50% 0f respondents indicate that they will be unforgiving of retailers who provide less than satisfactory online home delivery experiences.
Walgreens increases convenience of Apple Pay

In what could be an important step for mobile payment, Walgreens is expanding the Apple Pay functionality it provides customers.

Members of Walgreens’ Balance Rewards program can now seamlessly use their account through Apple Pay, without separately scanning a Balance Rewards card or barcode. Members will have the ability to earn and redeem loyalty points via Apple Pay by adding the Balance Rewards digital card to the Wallet app in iOS 9 and using it at checkout.