News

ST. LOUIS — Aisle411, a mobile retail navigation service, has expanded its mobile shopping and searchable store maps smartphone app’s e-footprint. Consumers can now use the app at more than 12,000 retail stores nationwide. 

FREMONT, Calif. — Men’s Wearhouse has launched a revamped version of its e-commerce site which features upgrades and personalized features that improve the overall online shopping experience, from browsing to buying.

OAKLAND, Calif. — Global footwear company Deckers Outdoor Corporation, known for its Ugg and Teva brands, has selected the GT Nexus platform to improve supply chain collaboration and visibility. 

The cloud-based platform eliminates manual processes, paper and spreadsheets to streamline supply management processes. It also allows Deckers to monitor the movement of products and payments from order through delivery and settlement.

NEW YORK — Olivier Goudet, partner and CEO of the Joh. A. Benckiser Group and former CFO of Mars Inc., has been appointed global beauty brand Coty’s board of directors. Goudet replaces Bernd Beetz, who stepped down from Coty's board to pursue other interests.  

JAB is a privately held group that owns and invests in premium brands; it is also Coty's majority shareholder.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart has announced plans to conduct in-depth safety inspections at every single factory in Bangladesh that produces goods for the retailer. The company says it aims to complete all reviews within six months and publicly release the names and inspection information on all 279 factories.  

Westboro, Mass. -- MICROS-Retail, a division of Micros Systems, announced BJ's Wholesale's successful launch of Micros-Retail's next generation loss prevention and business analytics solution, XBR Ingenium.
   
As an existing user of MICROS-Retail's XBR, BJ's launched a pilot of XBR Ingenium.  After a successful program, BJ's is now deploying Micros-Retail XBR Ingenium company-wide, seeking to increase the investigative capabilities and productivity of its asset protection team.

By Rafi Musher, [email protected]

New York – In what could be bad news for retailers, “mass affluent” consumers (those with $50,000 to $250,000 in investable assets) and Gen Y (age 18-34) are cutting back on spending to save for retirement. According to the Spring 2013 Merrill Edge Report, the average mass affluent investor expects to save $860,000 for retirement but has only saved $150,000. If given an extra $1,000 per month, 50% of mass affluent consumers would put it toward savings or paying down debt.

Duluth, Ga. – Shake Shack has implemented the NCR Pulse Real-Time smartphone application. The app provides real-time, segmented performance metrics and notifications to employee smartphones, generated by a SaaS-based mobile analytics engine and can be integrated with NCR POS platforms.

“NCR Pulse Real-Time is a great tool,” said Giancarlo Fiorarancio, director of information systems, Shake Shack. “It gives you information that you can use right now to improve your results for the rest of the day.”

Washington, D.C. -- Total retail sales increased 0.1% in April from March, according to figures released Monday by the U.S. Commerce Department. The increase, an improvement from a 0.5% decline in March, beat the 0.3% drop economists had predicted in a Bloomberg survey.  

Excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, sales  increased 0.6% seasonally adjusted from last month and increased 3.9% unadjusted year-over-year, according to the National Retail Federation.