News

Hong Kong – Chinese e-commerce platform provider Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is reportedly planning a U.S. initial public offering (IPO). According to Bloomberg, Alibaba has received approval from Hong Kong regulators for its proposed governance structure.

To celebrate the start of the men’s and women’s college basketball tournament, appliance and electronics retailer Hhgregg is kicking off its March into Hhgregg event,”which will award more than $50,000 in prizes from LG Electronics.

From now through April 7, Hhgregg shoppers can enter daily online, via smartphone, on Facebook and in-store. Winners will be selected instantly, weekly, and one grand prize winner will be selected on April 8.

New York -- Rwanda, Nigeria, Namibia, Tanzania and Gabon occupied the top five places of the first-ever A.T. Kearney African Retail Development Index (ARDI), a new study designed to help large, organized retailers determine where and how to best enter Sub-Saharan Africa's rapidly growing retail market. The ARDI not only identifies the markets in Africa most attractive for retail expansion today, but those that offer the most potential in the future.

Dutch physicist Niels Bohr wasn’t talking about the retail industry when he said, “prediction is very difficult, especially about the future,” but the comment couldn’t be more relevant given the volatility facing the retail industry.

The idea of customer purchases being limited to brick-and-mortar stores faded long ago. Digital technologies, such as the Internet and mobile devices, and evolving shopping channels have made it difficult to distinguish what is and is not a “store.”

Foodland Super Market, Hawaii's largest locally owned and operated grocery retailer, recently launched a mobile app for both iPhone and Android. The app, built in partnership with mobile commerce provider DoubleBeam, was rolled out Jan. 29 and has seen a tremendous customer response with more than 19,000 downloads in the first three weeks.

When preventing the type of data breaches that have recently gotten the names of several major retailers in the news for all the wrong reasons comes up, the discussion focuses almost exclusively on what type of technology should be employed to prevent them. IT is certainly a cornerstone of any retailer’s data security defense, but as explained in a Tech Boot Camp session at Chain Store Age’s 50th annual SPECS conference, a dose of common sense also goes a long way toward preventing unwanted visitors from entering your company’s network.

Retailers are not giving shoppers the omnichannel experience they desire, according to new research from Accenture and Hybris, creating a huge opportunity for those able to successfully execute against elevated digital expectations.

Milwaukee – Roundy’s Supermarkets has selected Symphony EYC Customer Insights behavioral insights platform and expertise to enable customer-centric business processes. With Symphony EYC, Roundy's will gain and leverage consumer insights to optimize product selection, customer communication and other critical functions across all Roundy's grocery stores and pharmacies throughout the Midwest.