News

Online consignment marketplace Swap.com is expanding into women’s clothing, shoes and accessories.

Executives with Swap.com said the new women’s collection will launch with more than 25,000 items.

“The expansion into women’s apparel is not just about making it easier for our customers to buy and sell their gently loved clothes and handbags,” said Jesse Gonzalez, merchandising manager at Swap.com. “It’s also about offering the fashionable looks that our customers love, at a better deal than you can find in-stores.”

Portland -- Sephora has achieved an eight-times faster growth rate with its digital gifting revenue since deploying a prepaid commerce solution from CashStar. The beauty retailer has also seen a 51% redemption rate within the first month of activation, and a 30% higher initial purchase value compared to plastic gift cards, since implementing CashStar Commerce.

By Hayden Shipp, IBISWorld

Shippers, carriers, longshoremen, businesses and consumers alike can breathe a sigh of relief in light of the tentative deal the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) reached on Feb. 20.

Increased marketing costs failed to deliver fourth quarter same store sales growth at Express and also took a toll on the specialty retailer’s profitability.

Express reported net income of $41.8 million, down 16% from $49.7 million last year. Net sales increased 1% to $725.8 million from $715.9 million. Same-store sales, including e-commerce, dropped 2%. E-commerce sales climbed 4% to $144.3 million.

Bordeaux, France - Bébé 9, a subsidiary of the France Maternité group, has selected Raymark's end-to-end suite of retail enterprise solutions for deployment in its 140 stores. Specifically, Bébé 9 is rolling out Raymark as its partner for an omnichannel technology overhaul aimed at centralizing operations, improving efficiency and cultivating customer relationships across e-commerce, social media and other channels.

Grapevine, Texas - GameStop customers can now sell select gift cards at any GameStop retail location, as well as online. This is part of an expanded offering launched online in 2014 through a partnership with gift card exchange platform Cardpool.

New York -- Yet another online company has entered the physical retail space: Google has opened an in-store shop in Currys PC World, on Tottenham Court Road in London. It is the first time the Internet giant has opened a retail space under its own name, and two additional shops are slated to open later this year, in Currys PC World’s Fulham and Thurrock locations.

Walter J. Salmon, the distinguished Harvard Business School professor who influenced generations of retailers, has died at the age of 84.

Salmon, long one of the world’s leading experts on retailing, retail distribution, and marketing, who for more than 40 years influenced thousands of students, executives and other academics, was the school’s Stanley Roth Sr. Professor of Retailing Emeritus.