News

New York -- Shrinkage levels average 1.27% of sales, which translates to a $57 billion loss to the industry, according to the U.S. Retail Fraud Survey, which is based on research into the systems and strategies used by 100 leading North American retailers.

Overstock.com is offering free Club O loyalty program memberships to active police officers, full-time firefighters, paramedics and certified emergency medical technicians.

As a result of its definitive agreement to acquire CytoSport Holdings, maker of Muscle Milk products, Hormel Foods has promoted three of its executives to leadership roles with CytoSport, based in Benicia, California.

Wilmington, Mass. - Taxware, a global provider of indirect tax software, managed services, and regulatory content is merging with Convey Compliance Systems, a private third-party filer of 1099 forms. With the backing of Vista Equity Partners, the two companies will leverage their complementary tax compliance solutions to create a capability for addressing wide-ranging client needs for tax technology and services.

Less than a month after former Walmart.com CEO  Joel Anderson joined Five Below as president, the discount retailer’s EVP of merchandising Jeffrey Moore has resigned.

Five Below, which bills itself as the leading retailer of trend-right, high-quality, extreme-value merchandise for pre-teens, teens and beyond, spoke highly of Moore who is leaving to spend time with his family.

Austin, Texas - Retailers have barely reached the halfway mark in their journey to omnichannel maturity. According to the results of a new report from Starmount and Retail Systems Research (RSR) that asked retailers to rate themselves on six dimensions of omnichannel maturity, the lowest overall rankings (an average score of 2.7 on a six-point scale) were in omnichannel order and fulfillment capabilities.

In addition, 67% of retailers were “inefficient” or worse at integrating in-store and digital experiences. Other findings include:

Walmart is sponsoring the translation of an industry leading food fraud prevention course into Mandarin as part of a larger effort designed to position  the retailer as a leader in product quality, authenticity and safety.

Philadelphia – U.K. specialty maternity retailer Mothercare Plc has rejected two non-binding written merger proposals from Destination Maternity Corp. In a press release, Destination Maternity said its second proposal, delivered June 1 2014, would combine the two companies under a new U.K. holding company which would be listed in the U.S., for a total payment of $453 million to Mothercare shareholders.