News

By Bill Leber, Swisslog

E-commerce is fundamentally changing the nature of the retail supply chain. As online shopping continues to compete with and, in many instances, overtake brick-and-mortar retail, traditional retailers are looking for more and more ways to expand their multichannel operations.

By Ben Anderson and Luge Pravda  

With an estimated 20 new TLDs (Top Level Domains, which is the suffix to the right of the dot) being launched on a weekly basis from August 2013, it’s time for retail brand owners to stop and think about their domain strategy once again.

Cincinnati -- The Kroger Company reported better-than-expected net income of $481 million during the first quarter of this year, up nearly 10% from $439 million in the first quarter of 2012. The company also raised its forecast for annual earnings.

Total sales increased 3.4% from $29.1 billion to $30 billion and a 3.3% increase in same-store sales beat analyst projections of a 2.8% increase.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl’s is easing the continuous integration (CI) process for its omni-channel initiatives with the implementation of the Qubell Adaptive PaaS solution. Available as a hosted platform, Adaptive PaaS provides Kohl’s with continuous application deployment, continuous testing and environment management. Specific tasks Kohl’s has executed using Adaptive PaaS include automating the front end of its development process, integrating with various technology stacks and providing developers with near-real-time feedback on their work.

Mountain View, Calif. – In a new report, “The Four Mobile Traps,” usability testing service firm UserTesting.com identifies four common mistakes retailers make when attempting to perform mobile commerce. Following is a brief summary of each “trap:”

Norwoood, Mass., and Dover, Del., are home to two next generation Staples stores reflective of the company’s latest thinking when it comes to serving shoppers in a digital world.

Kroger trounced first quarter sales and profit forecasts, posting a 3.3% gain in identical store sales that drove a 92 cent a share profit.

Total sales increased 3.4% to $30 billion and the 3.3% gain in identical store sales was well ahead of analysts’ forecast of 2.8% growth. It was the company’s 38th consecutive quarter of positive identical store sales growth. Net income increased 9.6% to $481 million which translated to per share profit of 92 cents that was four cents better than the 88 cents analysts’ forecast.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid reported profits for the third consecutive quarter, as it launched the largest extension to date to its loyalty card program and continued growing the latest iteration of its new store format.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Gymboree Corporation has appointed former Levi Strauss & Co. executive Joelle Maher as the company's new COO.  

At Levi Strauss & Co., Maher was most recently EVP, president global retail, and prior to that SVP of Americas multi-channel retail, and VP, planning, allocation, stores, store operations and outlet. She also held executive leadership positions at Lucky Brand Jeans, Old Navy and Macy's East.

Grants worth $14 million to five nonprofit groups will provide nutritional education and help feed 1.7 million hungry kids this summer and next.