News

New York -- The gap in prices between Amazon and Walmart.com’s grocery basket has widened in the past two months, according to a report by 360pi. The company conducted a two-month study, comparing a basket of grocery pantry/household items spanning a number of CPG brands with a non-grocery basket (such as toys, electronics and tools) basket shopped on Amazon.com and Walmart.com.

Medina, Minn. - Rockler Woodworking and Hardware has improved store workflow by implementing the ReflexisPlus and StoreWalk for ReflexisPlus task management and retail store auditing solutions. Rockler, which provides woodworking and do-it-yourself supplies, tools, and media implemented the Reflexis store execution and compliance solutions in three weeks in its 29 stores located across the U.S.

Online pricing intelligence provider 360pi compared Amazon.com and Walmart.com prices earlier this year in a dynamic pricing study and discovered Walmart changed its prices more often than Amazon.

The company looked at Amazon.com and Walmart.com prices comparing a basket of grocery pantry/household items spanning a number of CPG brands with a non-grocery basket (such as toys, electronics and tools) shopped on Amazon.com and Walmart.com between April 9 and June 9, 2015.

Three key finding from the report were:

Union, N.J. – Bed, Bath & Beyond Inc. missed Wall Street expectations for profit and same-store sales during a not-so-comfy first quarter of 2015. Net earnings dropped 18% to $158.5 million from $187.1 million, with increased selling, general and administrative (SG&A) and interest expenses offsetting higher gross profit.

Net sales totaled $2.74 billion, an increase of 3% from $2.66 billion. Same-store sales increased by 2.2%, including the negative impact of Canadian currency fluctuation.

Barnes & Noble Inc. posted another disappointing quarter of financial results as the retailer continues to struggle against Amazon.com and declining Nook sales.

New York – Barnes & Noble Inc. beat Wall Street expectations, sharply reducing its loss even as sales fell.

The bookseller reported a net loss of $19.42 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, down from a loss of $36.7 million in the year-ago period. Reductions in selling, general and administrative (SG&A) and interest expenses, as well as lower depreciation and amortization, drove the decline in net loss.

The woman who put the “T” in Tarjay is stepping down from her role as chief merchandising officer and adding some uncertainty about the retailer’s direction under the leadership of chairman and CEO Brian Cornell.

Following a recent open invitation to U.S. retailers from Alibaba’s Jack Ma, everyone from established American brands to smaller mom and pop operations are looking to plug into the China opportunity. But what most American retailers don’t realize is that even with the reduced friction that technology has recently afforded, selling to the Chinese consumer is harder than it looks.