News

Pure play home furnishings retailer Wayfair is citing one digital channel in particular as serving as a major growth driver.

According to Wayfair, 35% of all orders in third quarter 2015 were placed on mobile devices. In addition, a majority of traffic to Wayfair now occurs on phones and tablets. Phone traffic in particular has been sharply rising throughout 2015 as customers switch from PCs and even tablets.

Walmart and the Walmart Foundation is out with its annual Giving Report, which puts a monetary value on all the ways the retailer and its charitable arm sought to make a difference during the 2015 fiscal year.

From a big picture standpoint, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation donated more than $1.4 billion in cash and in kind donations, primarily food, and Walmart’s 2.2 million employees also contributed more than 1.5 million hours of their time outside of work to volunteer causes.

In the final push to capture last minute sales, Macy’s has resorted to giving away $4.5 million in cash to customers at its stores across the country.

The promotion, which was not offered last year, was announced in a press released distributed at noon on Saturday, Dec. 19. The company said it would distribute $10 gift cards to the first 250 customers at 600 of its stores from Sunday, Dec. 20 through Tuesday, Dec. 22. The cards are only redeemable in store and must be used during the three day promotional window.

I don’t make mobile payments yet. I don’t drink coffee, so I do not frequent Starbucks. However, I have been attempting to get up to speed on the state of the market. As I have a phone running Android, v5.1.1, that’s the best place for me to start, as that’s where my familiarity lies.

According to analytics reports from Adobe and RetailNext, online sales trumped bricks-and-mortar over Black Friday weekend and the trend looks to continue throughout the 2015 holiday season.

Regional supermarket co-op Hy-Vee Inc. is giving customers seamless access to their purchases just in time for the holidays.

J.C. Penney’s efforts to become a world class omnichannel retailer are under the leadership of a new chief information officer with a unique background.

J. C. Penney appointed Therace Risch as executive vice president and chief information officer, effective immediately. Risch joins the retailer from COUNTRY Financial, and succeeds Scott Laverty.

A week after Walmart announced it would launch a mobile payment solution, one of its chief rivals is reported to be working on the same.

Target Corp. is in the early stages of developing its own mobile wallet, according to Reuters, but it has not yet committed to launching the product.

Walmart has recalled marketing executive Tony Rogers from his post in China to lead the retailer’s domestic marketing efforts.

Pinterest is adding a new feature to its Buyable Pins in-app purchase mechanism aimed at price-conscious shoppers.