News

Radically redefining the Starbucks experience
Portland will be the proving ground this fall for a new mobile commerce initiative from Starbucks called Mobile Order and Pay that is part of the company’s broader effort to radically transform the retail experience.
The retail industry’s new best friend
President Barack Obama has taken heat over his use of executive orders, but that wasn’t the case on Friday when retail trade groups lined up behind the president in support of wide ranging data security measures.

Starbucks launching mobile ordering in Portland; full U.S. rollout in 2015

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Company continues to extend its mobile offerings. The coffee giant will launch mobile ordering in its locations in the Portland, Ore., area by year end, with a full rollout nationwide in 2015. The mobile-order app will enable customers to place orders in advance of their visit and pick them up at their selected Starbucks location.
ICSC: Holiday shopping to begin early; electronics to be most popular gift

New York -- Holiday shopping is going to start early this year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers’ latest consumer tracking survey. About 35% of consumers have or will have started their holiday shopping by the end of October. Roughly three out of five shoppers will begin shopping by Thanksgiving this year, and by the end of the Thanksgiving weekend 86% will have started making purchases.
Survey: 63% of online shoppers never familiar with Alibaba

Los Angeles -- More than half (63%) of U.S. online shoppers are not familiar with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.com, according to a survey by Bizrate Insights, a division of Connexity (formerly Shopzilla).

Interestingly, respondents not familiar with the Alibaba brand or website skewed toward younger generations and women (who traditionally are the decision makers behind the lion’s share of retail).
Transforming a vacant building into a LEED-certified office space

Test Test TEst
Report: Total online Thanksgiving Day sales to top $1 billion

Wilmington, Del. -- Total online Thanksgiving Day sales will top the $1 billion mark this year for the first time ever, increasing year-over at least 23.4%, with most purchases made after 6 p.m., according to BestBlackFriday.com, a website providing information regarding holiday sale pricing, shopping tips and news.
NRF: Per-person holiday spending to rise 5%, with 44% of shopping done online

Washington, D.C. -- The average person celebrating Christmas, Kwanza and/or Hanukkah will spend $804.42, up nearly 5% from 2013’s actual $767.27, according to the National Retail Federation’s 13th annual Holiday Consumer Spending Survey, conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. In other results, the average shopper plans to do 44% of their holiday shopping online, the most in the survey’s history.
EBay beats Street on Q3 revenue; lowers full-year forecast

San Jose, Calif. -– EBay Inc. beat Wall Street estimates with its third quarter revenue results but lowered its forecast for full-year sales due to the impact of a May 2014 security breach. Net income fell 2% to $673 million from $689 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2013.
Amazon to hire 80,000 holiday employees

Seattle – Amazon.com is creating 80,000 seasonal positions across its U.S. network of fulfillment and sortation centers for the 2014 holiday season in order to meet an increase in customer demand. In 2013, Amazon converted thousands of seasonal employees into regular, full-time roles after the holidays, and expects to do the same this year.
Gap approves $500 million share buyback program

San Francisco –- Gap Inc. has approved a new $500 million share repurchase authorization for the company’s common stock, in an effort to return excess cash to shareholders. The new $500 million repurchase program for Gap’s stock follows the company’s previous $1 billion share repurchase program.
Shopko expands omnichannel ship-to-store program

Green Bay, Wis. -- Shopko is expanding its omnichannel ship-to-store program, including the ability to buy products online and ship them to the store for free. After a successful pilot launch, the retailer expanded the program to its 310 locations across the U.S.