News

While the Confederate flag has been an increasing source of controversy in recent years, retailers have long sold items featuring its image with no major outcry. But following the tragic shooting in Charleston, consumer sentiment against the “Stars and Bars” intensified to a degree that made selling Confederate flag-themed merchandise unacceptable to a large portion of the public within a few days.

Atlanta -- Giant Tiger, the largest Canadian-owned chain of discount stores in Canada, has increased pick accuracy and decreased short and overage claims since implementing Manhattan Associates’ warehouse management system (WMS).
 

Following a recent open invitation to U.S. retailers from Alibaba’s Jack Ma, everyone from established American brands to smaller mom and pop operations are looking to plug into the China opportunity. But what most American retailers don’t realize is that even with the reduced friction that technology has recently afforded, selling to the Chinese consumer is harder than it looks.

Sears has opened a new connected home flagship store near Silicon Valley and Ryan Ciovacco, president of consumer electronics and connected solutions, spoke with Retailing Today about the major initiative.

In the ongoing battle for market share, brands pour over metrics and tweak strategies to increase customer loyalty. The stakes are high, customer acquisition costs are expensive and most businesses can’t afford to lose sales to competitors. With prices commoditized in many industries, today’s battleground is centered squarely on customer experiences.

New York – Barnes & Noble Inc. beat Wall Street expectations, sharply reducing its loss even as sales fell.

The bookseller reported a net loss of $19.42 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, down from a loss of $36.7 million in the year-ago period. Reductions in selling, general and administrative (SG&A) and interest expenses, as well as lower depreciation and amortization, drove the decline in net loss.

London – U.K. retailers Harrods, Browns, Space NK Apothecary, The Dune Group, Aspinal of London, Trunki, Brand Outlet, Austin Reed, Viyella, CC and Soletrader have all signed up to Borderfree’s global e-commerce platform.

With the advent of social media came an outburst of sharing content, expressing opinions and increasing expectations. And in an industry where brands and fashion houses were once responsible for creating trends, consumers are now taking the reins. They’re turning to social channels to chat with other shoppers and share likes, dislikes and the next best thing – which is often changing as fast as the social conversation.

Union, N.J. – Bed, Bath & Beyond Inc. missed Wall Street expectations for profit and same-store sales during a not-so-comfy first quarter of 2015. Net earnings dropped 18% to $158.5 million from $187.1 million, with increased selling, general and administrative (SG&A) and interest expenses offsetting higher gross profit.

Net sales totaled $2.74 billion, an increase of 3% from $2.66 billion. Same-store sales increased by 2.2%, including the negative impact of Canadian currency fluctuation.

Boston - Asian-inspired grocery chain H Mart is partnering with Instacart to offer Boston area delivery to customers, in as little as one hour. H Mart is bringing products including a selection of ready to eat items, a fresh assortment of meat and produce, and dry goods and ramen products to Instacart.

Customers can also combine orders from other local Instacart partners such as Whole Foods Market and Harvest Co-Op Markets, adding products from H Mart to their regular weekly grocery list.