News

MINNEAPOLIS — According to Kantar Media’s Marx report, retailer promotion activity continued to grow with a 21.6% increase to more than 11.3 billion pages in the first half of 2013, with Walmart leading in retailer activity.

Following on Walmart’s heels were Walgreens, Target and Family Dollar.

The future of multichannel commerce at Walmart will be detailed next week in the mountains of Colorado where the retailer’s two top digital executives are scheduled to participate in a conference hosted by Fortune.

The exclusive — and sold out — three day event held at the Aspen Institute and will feature Neil Ashe, president and CEO of Walmart Global eCommerce and Karenann Terrell, EVP and chief information officer, discussing the topic of, “How does technology fuel the success of both on-and offline at the world’s largest retailer.”

Sales at Scholastic Corp fell sharply during the company’s fourth quarter ended May 31 and most of the drop was blamed on the waning popularity of the Hunger Games trilogy.

The global children's publishing, education and media company said sales declined to $506.9 million in the fourth quarter compared to $676.6 million last year and earnings per share fell to 76 cents from $1.86 last year.

The Global Market Development Center has appointed Jason Weber as its new member services manager and Joshua Manweiler as its new communications specialist as part of its strategy to enhance membership services. 

There are a wide range of experiments in the marketplace right now, and plenty of angst related to same-day delivery of products and consumer’s desire for more immediate e-commerce gratification. Walmart, Amazon and others appear intent on unlocking what is seen by some as the next big thing in retail, but an interesting piece by Fox Business bring a new perspective to whether shoppers care. Click here to read more. 

More of a mass market future could be in the cards for the Oreck Corporation following acquisition of its assets this week by TTI Group’s Royal Appliance subsidiary, which manufactures well known home improvement and housewares brands.

Oreck filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year and this week the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee approved the sale of its assets to Royal Appliance for a little more than $17 million and the assumption of certain debt obligations.

ATLANTA — Red Book Connect, a global, cloud-based software solutions company serving the broader retail and restaurant industries, has appointed Arnab Sur as SVP of global sales, a previously unfilled position since the formation of the company in January 2013.

CHICAGO — Retail sales and traffic will increase during the back-to-school season, reflecting a recovering economy, according to ShopperTrak, the world’s largest counter and analyzer of retail traffic.

The company found that national retail sales, when compared to the same period last year, will rise 4.3% in August, and retail foot traffic will increase 0.6%.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Kmart is kicking it old school this back-to-school season with its latest viral ad campaign, which features “yo momma” jokes. The campaign follows closely on the heels of the retailer’s similarly irreverent "Ship My Pants" and "Big Gas Savings" campaigns.

LOS ANGELES — Shopzilla, a leading source of sales and consumer feedback for online merchants and retail advertisers, is expanding its footprint with the launch of its new media solutions and audience targeting division Aisle A in Europe, which will offer marketers access to proprietary shopping intent data and evolving premium retail inventory.