News

Emarketer: U.S. e-commerce to reach $303 billion in 2014
New York -- Retail e-commerce in the US grew 16.5% in 2013 to reach $264.3 billion, and will increase another 15.7% in 2014 to reach $305.7 billion, or 6.5% of all U.S. retail sales, according to Emarketer. In other findings, mobile retail sales in the U.S. totaled $42.28 billion in 2013, 16% of all U.S. retail ecommerce sales, and will increase another 37.3% to reach $58.07 billion in 2014, accounting for 19% of the total US ecommerce market.
Build-A-Bear Workshop swings to Q3 profit; plans holiday pop-ups in Macy’s
St. Louis –- Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. swung to a profit in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 from a loss in the same quarter a year earlier. The retailer also announced that will open five pop-up stores for the 2014 holiday season, including one in Macy’s Herald Square flagship in New York City, and its State Street location in Chicago.

Survey: Half of consumers will order online gifts days before Dec. 25

London, U.K. - Almost half (47%) of consumers will order gifts online this Christmas with less than a week until Dec. 25. According to the latest ECustomerServiceIndex results from EDigitalResearch and IMRG, when asked what date they would be comfortable placing a holiday online order, the majority of consumers (53%) said Wednesday Dec. 17 or before.
German retailers partner with Shopkick

Berlin, Germany –- Five leading German retailers are partnering with U.S. shopping app Shopkick. At launch, Shopkick’s German network is comprised of more than 1,400 stores: all Douglas (largest beauty retailer in Germany), Media Markt and Saturn (together the largest consumer electronics retail chain in Germany), OBI (one of the largest do-it-yourself retailers in Germany) and Karstadt (one of the largest department stores in Germany) locations.
Taubman to offer interactive "Frozen" attraction at 10 malls this holiday season

Bloomfield Hills, Mich. --Taubman will offer a special "Frozen"attraction at 10 of its shopping centers across the country from Nov. 6-Dec. 24. The attraction comes a few days before Disney releases its "Frozen Sing-Along Edition" DVD on Nov. 18.
Cabela’s misses on Q3 results, to open 13-15 stores annually going forward

Sidney, Neb. –- Cabela’s Inc. missed Wall Street estimates for earnings and revenue in the third quarter of fiscal 2014. Net income rose 8% to $53.8 million from $49.9 million, dampened by provisions for income taxes. The retailer said it plans to open 13-15 stores per year for the next several years.
HSN celebrates holidays with special events, deals

St. Petersburg, Fla. –- HSN is offering a range of special events and deals for the 2014 holiday season. The interactive retailer will offer special “Black Friday” sale events on Nov. 7, 14 and 21, and also run its annual “Thanksgifting Weekend” event Thursday, Nov. 27 to Monday, Dec. 1 with special “Doorbuster” sale items.
GE Capital provides financing to MX Restaurants for Corner Bakery Cafe

Scottsdale, Ariz. -- GE Capital’s Franchise Finance business announced its first financing for the Corner Bakery Café brand. It comes in the form of a $5.6 million loan to Texas-based MX Restaurants and Bakeries, which already operates seven Corner Bakery restaurants in the Houston and South Texas markets. MX will use these funds to pay off short-term debt related to a recent acquisition and to develop four additional units.
Canadian operations cut into West Marine Q3 profit

Watsonville, Calif. –- A tax valuation allowance related to its Canadian operations helped reduce net income at West Marine Inc. to $4.9 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014, down 24% from $6.5 million in the same period the prior fiscal year. Net revenues were $196.5 million, a 2% jump from $193.4 million, and same-store sales rose 0.6%.
RadioShack offers price matching, new payment options for holidays

Fort Worth, Texas -– Radio Shack is launching its new “R Promise” initiative to offer holiday shoppers services including price matching and new payment options. Radio Shack stores will match prices on identical products from local brick-and-mortar competitors, major online retailers (excluding wireless phones from online retailers) and RadioShack.com at the time of purchase or within 15 days of the purchase.
Survey: 90% of holiday shoppers expect consistent experience across channels and devices

Wakefield, Mass. -- Ninety percent of consumers said they expect the customer experience to be consistent across channels and devices used to interact with brands this holiday shopping season, according to a global study by SDL. The figure represents a 17% increase from what consumers reported last year.
Tesco chair to step down as net income plummets below estimates

Cheshunt, U.K. –- Sir Richard Broadbent, chairman of Tesco PLC, will step down in the wake of a 99% drop in net income for the first half of fiscal 2014. Tesco reported first half profits of $9.6 million, about $333 million less than previous estimates.