News

Specialty ink and toner retailer Cartridge World has a limited product offering, but that isn’t stopping it from thinking big or getting creative.   The McHenry, Illinois-based chain currently has more than 400 North American and 1,000 international stores, and intends to have more than 3,000 total stores by 2019. To help boost sales beyond its existing assortment and store base, Cartridge World is launching a mobile application called PrintWorld.  

Amazon is lending its considerable logistics expertise to a major food bank in New Jersey.

The Internet giant sent three logistics experts to tour the Community FoodBank’s 285,000-sq.-ft. warehouse in Hillside, New Jersey, and suggested ways the agency can run more efficiently, NJ Advance Media reported.

Retailers often treat millennials like some sort of marketing Holy Grail, but there may be some simple ways to boost revenues from this emerging consumer generation.

According to a new study from online marketing platform provider Cue Commerce, “Consumer Moments of Truth,” the 80-plus-million shoppers who are part of the millennial generation can be categorized into the following five broad shopping personas.

Blue Nile jumped into the physical space last summer with a store at Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City, New York, but it’s not stopping there.   The online jeweler has opened two additional locations, at Tysons Corner Center mall in Fairfax County, Virginia, and at The Westchester mall in White Plains, New York. Blue Nile will open a fourth store later this summer, at the Washington Square mall in Portland, Oregon.  

The blockbuster $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn by Microsoft may benefit retailers trying to effectively recruit and manage employees who typically do not stick around for long.   The acquisition is being touted as Microsoft’s entry into social networking, an area where the tech titan has not been that active besides holding a stake in Facebook. However, LinkedIn is primarily a professional services platform and will probably not become a major consumer touchpoint anytime soon.  

Consumers will have a new, convenient way of making online purchases this fall.   In conjunction with the release of the new iOS10 operating system, Apple late on Monday announced that an online version of its Apple Pay digital payment service will be available to Mac device users in fall 2016. Up until this point, consumers could only complete Internet transactions using Apple Pay through a mobile app.  

Wal-Mart Stores is undertaking a series of executive changes at its international divisions, starting with a new head for its struggling United Kingdom business, Asda.
 
Andy Clarke, president and CEO of Asda, will step down on July 11, after having worked at the British company for more than 20 years. Asda has been under heavy competitive pressure and has reported seven straight quarterly sales declines.

Aéropostale has received final approval for $160 million in debtor in-possession financing provided by Crystal Financial LLC.