News

GameStop’s business unit, the GameStop Technology Institute (GTI), has partnered with AT&T to develop technical capabilities that enable customers to interact seamlessly via their electronic devices with digital product promotional materials located on store shelves and within identified product communication zones.

Port Washington, N.Y. – Spending during the total back-to-school season (nine weeks ending Sept. 6, 2014) on traditional supplies increased 2% from 2013, with e-commerce acting as a key catalyst at more than 20% growth during the same time period. According to new data from The NPD Group Inc., most back-to-school shopping occurs at retail brick-and-mortar stores (88%), but 2014 online sales claimed an estimated $33 million previously held by brick-and-mortar retailers.

American Express has promoted Neal Sample, currently Enterprise Growth’s chief information officer and chief marketing technologist, to president. He will report to American Express CEO Kenneth I. Chenault and will serve as a member of the company's operating committee.

Sample replaces Dan Schulman, formerly group president of Enterprise Growth, who has resigned his position to become CEO of eBay’s spun-off PayPal business.

It’s official. Following a strategic review of the company’s growth strategies and structure, the eBay board has approved a plan to separate the company’s eBay and PayPal businesses into independent publicly traded companies in 2015, subject to customary conditions.

Evansville, Ind. – Shoe Carnival Inc. has partnered with EBay Enterprise to implement a new omnichannel operational foundation based on EBay Enterprise modular solutions, including retail order management, payments, fraud protection, ship-from-store, and customer care. The integrated technology and services will provide a secure engine to accept payments, drive down fraud rates and consolidate inventory across many of Shoe Carnival’s stores to increase product assortment, while lowering fulfillment transit time and expense.

By R.J. Carver, Corporate Development Associate, Plug and Play Tech Center

Johnson & Johnson has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Alios BioPharma, a privately held clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for viral diseases, for approximately $1.8 billion in cash.

The acquisition will include Alios BioPharma's portfolio of potential therapeutics for viral infections including compound AL-8176, an orally administered antiviral therapy currently in Phase 2 studies for the treatment of infants with respiratory syncytial virus.
 

London – The Dynamic Action retail decision intelligence application from OrderDynamics now incorporates offline and online store data to provide a comprehensive omni-channel view of products, customers, channels and marketing. The OrderDynamics commerce suite, with Dynamic Action’s newest capabilities at the core, identifies opportunities for retailers to achieve this type of omni-channel functionality:

• Re-allocation of stock between stores and warehouses.