News

Sacramento, Calif. – Wal-Mart supercenters in California benefit communities by supporting additional job creation, small business growth and more robust sales tax revenues. According to a new economic impact report conducted by economist Lon Hatamiya of the Hatamiya Group, on average, California communities with Wal-Mart supercenters fared far better on taxable retail sales than those communities without Wal-Mart supercenters.
 

Portland, Ore. – Fifty-seven percent of consumers purchased digital gift cards in December 2013 and 43% purchased physical cards. Data from prepaid product and transaction services company InComm also shows that 80% of consumers purchased digital cards in the six days leading up to Christmas and 20% of consumers purchased physical cards in the six days leading up to Christmas

Houston -- Susser Holdings Corporation and Susser Petroleum Partners LP have closed their previously announced acquisition of the convenience store assets and fuel distribution contracts of Sac-n-Pac Stores, Inc. and 3W Warren Fuels, Ltd.

Littleton, Mass. -- Preliminary unaudited revenues for Dover Saddlery during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 exceeded revenues in the fourth quarter of 2012 by 13.8%, increasing to approximately $30.3 million. Revenues from the retail channel increased 22.6% to approximately $13.1 million and revenues from the direct channel increased 7.8% to approximately $17.2 million.

Montreal, Quebec – LightSpeed has unveiled LightSpeed Web Store for Cloud, giving retailers a single web-based system for managing sales, inventory and customers both in-store and online. The inventory-centric solution empowers brick-and-mortar retailers to manage their business across all channels, from any device.

Princeton, N.J. -- Heartland Payment Systems has filed a federal lawsuit against Mercury Payment Systems, charging the company with false advertising, unfair competition, intentional interference with contractual relations, and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, alleges that Mercury is illegally competing against Heartland with deceptive trade practices.

Chicago -- Shoppers seek out time-saving tools where both technology and innovation are embraced to better serve the consumer. According to the 16th annual Mystery Shopping Study from The E-tailing Group, efficiency most often accompanies search where retailers almost universally (89%) have in place navigational dropdowns for a quick read of the assortment, while 90% of those retailers embellish these locations with favorite products or pre-defined offers.

Amsterdam, Netherlands -- Mobile payments accounted for 19.5% of all transactions worldwide in December 2013, a growth of 55% year-over-year, up from 12.6% the previous December. The third Adyen Mobile Payments Index, covering the period September to December 2013, also shows that mobile transaction volume in retail has risen by a third, up to 23%.

New York – Almost eight-in-10 (77%) of consumers report that having a poor or unsatisfying experience while trying to use a website on their tablet will affect their willingness to purchase from that brand. Other tablet research from omni-channel commerce technology provider Useablenet shows that 70% of consumers say that the quality of photography and design of a tablet site influences their decision on whether to purchase

North Plainfield, N.J. – A majority of store managers (57.3%) said holiday sales met or exceeded their expectations during the 2013 holiday season. However, according to the post-holiday "Retail Sentiments Survey" from retail real estate services firm Levin Management, mid-December was the busiest time according to 26.9% of store manager respondents, followed by the weekend before Christmas with 24.4%.