News

Online shoppers will do anything to quality for free shipping-even spend more money.

Sixty percent of holiday shoppers say they have increased their online spending in the past to qualify for free shipping, according to the 2015 Holiday Shopping Survey from Pitney Bowes. 

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is reportedly making a significant investment to support e-commerce operations.

According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Walmart is spending $200 million on a new distribution facility in Polk County, Florida that will be dedicated to fulfilling e-commerce orders.

Levi Strauss & Co. knows that the most valuable service store associates can provide is serving customers.

The specialty apparel retailer is working with Intel on a pilot concept at one of its store in San Francisco to give associates near-real-time visibility into store inventory, reducing the time they spend managing inventory.

Champs Sports is joining the rapidly expanding ranks of retailers with a consumer-facing mobile app. The Champs Sports app allows customers to find upcoming sneaker launches, launch dates, and locations in which the hottest sneakers can be purchased, as well as browse and buy items from the online Champs store.

A complete release calendar allows customers to keep up with future shoe launches and be the first to know about hot, new releases. Users can also select a specific sneaker release and seamlessly add it to their iCalendar or Google Calendar.

When it comes to e-commerce, consumers aren’t afraid to do a little homework.

According to the 2015 Digital Consumer Preferences Survey from digital commerce solution provider BrandShop, 96% of consumers feel research is a crucial step in making an e-commerce purchase.

Almost six in 10 (58%) respondents start their product search on Google, and 22% go directly a brand’s website. Third-party retailers such as Amazon came in third with 14% usage.

Walmart has figured out how to tap into its shoppers’ offline habits to drive more engagement online, according to a new report from Quartz.

Walmart has managed to do something very few retailers have accomplished: Convince millions of people its mobile app is useful enough to snag a prime spot on their phones’ home screen.

Read more about Walmart's strategy by clicking here.

A group of pharmacy workers within Target Corp's store in Brooklyn, N.Y., have won a vote to form a micro-union, making it the first unionized store at the retailer since its inception in 1902, according to Reuters.

A group of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians won an initial ballot, 7-2, to form the union, according to a filing on the National Labor Relations Board website and union officials, the report said.

Crocs Inc. has promoted one of its marketing directors to be the company's next chief marketing officer,

The company announced that Terence Reilly was promoted to SVP and CMO. In this new role, Reilly will lead the global marketing team in Niwot, Colo., providing strategic direction and support to the company's regional and country marketing teams across the globe.  He will continue to oversee all aspects of Crocs' marketing, including the company's brand, advertising, consumer and social media campaigns.

Vancouver-based specialty online footwear retailer Shoes.com is sprinting toward new levels of fast delivery.

Shoes.com is offering home and office delivery in two hours or less on select items on its Canadian website.

The service costs $19.95 per order and launches Thursday, Sept. 17 in Vancouver and Toronto and surrounding municipalities, with plans to expand to Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Ottawa by the end of 2015.

Shoes.com will use a network of local fulfillment centers that have access to the retailer’s technology, operations and marketing.

Seattle — Amazon.com is heating up its selection of consumer devices and digital content. The online retailer is releasing several new Amazon Fire tablet and TV devices, and also introducing a new free digital content service called Amazon Underground.

A week after Apple announced its Apple TV live video streaming set-top box device, Amazon is introducing Apple Fire, a similar live video streaming device that will cost $99 ($50 less than the $149 starting price for Apple TV) and offer similar features such as voice-enable remote control.