News

Lower gas prices not helping retailers
Lower gas prices are not significantly altering consumer behavior, according to the latest Consumer Fuels Survey results released by the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS).

Although drivers report that the national median gas price fell 25 cents per gallon in the past month and 60 cents per gallon since July, only 22% of consumers say that they will drive more over the coming month and only 15% say that they will spend more on other non-fuels items in the coming month.
Study: Contactless mobile payment set to grow
NFC-enabled contactless mobile payments, such as those enabled by smartphone-based digital wallet services like Apple Pay and Android Pay, currently make up a tiny fraction of card transactions. However, a new study from Indian mobile solutions provider Mahindra Comviva suggests contactless mobile payments are set to grow quickly.

Multimedia: Rebecca Minkoff, Los Angeles; Starbucks, Panama City, Panama

On-trend apparel brand Rebecca Minkoff has opened a 4,600-sq.-ft. tech-savvy flagship — its largest space to date — on Melrose Avenue.

Starbucks Coffee Company's first store in Panama is located in Panama City, in the Street Mall shopping center.

Click here to see slideshows of Rebecca Minkoff's "store of the future" concept in Los Angeles and Starbucks' new Panama City location.
Nicole Miller meets buy impulse across channels

Effectively meeting the customer’s impulse to buy the moment it occurs is a crucial part of retail success.

Specialty fashion retailer Nicole Miller is meeting that impulse not only when it occurs, but where it occurs.

Nicole Miller is using the PowaTag mobile platform to allow customers to make digital purchases directly from social media and email promotions, as well as from its e-commerce site.
Strong cost cutting, weak sales at Toys"R"Us

Toys”R”Us says a planned decrease in promotions led the retailer to report a drop in same store sales in the second quarter.

The retailer singled out declines in the baby, entertainment and seasonal categories as contributing to the comp drop as well.However new CEO Dave Brandon sounded a positive tone regarding the company’s profit potential.
Target faces class action suit

It’s official – Target Corp. will face a class action lawsuit related to its November 2013 data breach.

A federal judge in Minnesota has granted class action status to a suit brought by five financial institutions – Umpqua Bank, Mutual Bank, Village Bank, CSE Federal Credit Union and First Federal Savings of Lorain.
Target joins the Instacart bandwagon

Target is entering the grocery delivery fray by offering its customers same-day delivery of groceries and other items through Instacart as a way to challenge Amazon and other retailers.

Target announced Tuesday it would begin testing an on-demand grocery delivery service via Instacart that initially will only be available in parts of Minneapolis, where Target is headquartered. But the retailer noted in a release on its blog A Bullseye View that the two companies are already exploring plans to expand the service into additional areas and markets in the future.
Sephora offers colorful store services

Sephora is offering some colorful store services. The specialty beauty retailer is unveiling two new features of its Color IQ foundation service, which it operates in partnership with Pantone, in all U.S. stores.

These two new complimentary in-store services let customers filter through Pantone’s SkinTone library and determine their most flattering colors from more than 3,500 lipstick shades and more than 400 concealer shades.
Gymboree takes happiness omnichannel
Report: PayPal takes a gamble

According to CNBC, PayPal has quietly begun partnering with online gambling sites to accept PayPal funds for payment.

Although PayPal has been consistently accepted by some foreign gambling sites, it has not been used by any U.S. gambling sites since its 2003 acquisition by eBay Inc. Now that PayPal is operating as a separate company, it has apparently started working with U.S. gambling sites again.