News

Watch out Amazon…Home Depot narrowing price gap
Ottawa, Canada – Home Depot is narrowing its price gap with Amazon.com, which typically offers the lowest overall prices on home improvement goods.

According to a recent study from pricing analytics provider 360pi, “Building Up to Home Improvement Season,” Home Depot was the most aggressively priced home improvement “category killer,” with an average price of just more than 5% above Amazon, narrowing down to around 3% above Amazon by the end of the sampled period (May 1 – June 16, 2015).
Changing the world, one school supply at a time
Staples is shaking up the back-to-school aisle with an innovative promotion that makes a difference for children around the world.

The company is partnering with Me to We and Free The Children to help children around the world by allowing customers to digitally track how their purchase makes a difference.

It’s all about image for mobile Flipkart shoppers

Bangalore, India – Image is important, and that extends to mobile commerce. Indian e-commerce platform Flipkart is recognizing the importance of image for its mobile shoppers by rolling out image search on its mobile app, using ViSenze technology for visual search and image recognition.

The newly introduced image search allows users to upload photos of fashion items and find similar products in terms of color, pattern or style inside the Flipkart merchandise database. This eliminates keyword searches, simplifying the search process.
H&M feels pinch of strong dollar but keeps expanding

New York -- Swedish fast-fashion giant H&M isn’t letting the strong U.S. dollar hurt its expansion plans.

The chain plans to open about 400 new stores in 2015-2016. It is expanding into five new markets: Taiwan, Peru, Macau, South Africa and India. Other plans include the launch of H&M Beauty this July, starting in about 900 stores and online. The company also hinted at the development of a mysterious new brand.
The next big thing in e-commerce?

U.S. grocery shopping habits appear to be changing as consumers increasingly seek out the convenience of online ordering when it comes to food, according to a new study.
Costs hinder earnings at Family Dollar

Family Dollar had a dip in profit in the third quarter as the company reported higher costs ahead of its planned merger with Dollar Tree.

Family Dollar Stores Inc. reported a profit of $79.9 million, or 70 cents a share, for the third quarter ended May 30, down from $81.1 million, or 71 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding restructuring- and merger-related charges, the company’s profit was 74 cents a share, compared with 85 cents a year earlier. Net sales rose 2.60% to $2.73 billion.
P&G veteran joins QVC finance team

QVC has named a Procter & Gamble veteran as its next business planning and analysis chief, as the company looks tomaximize efficiencies and organizational synergy.
Sears Canada CEO out after less than a year

Sears Canada Inc. is looking for its fourth CEO in a little over two years as the company seeks to return to profitability.

Sears said Ronald D. Boire will be departing from his position as president and CEO of the company at the end of the summer to pursue an opportunity in the United States. On the same day, Barnes & Noble announced that opportunity is CEO of that company's retail business.

Sears Canada said that Brandon G. Stranzl, chairman of the board of the corporation, has been named executive chairman effective immediately.
PayPal is in the money with new acquisition

San Jose, Calif. – PayPal Inc. is getting itself “in the money” with a major acquisition as the company prepares for its impending July 17 split from eBay Inc.

PayPal will purchase digital money transfer service Xoom Corp. for $25 per share in cash, or about $890 million.
Another unexpected way IoT will affect retail

The explosive growth of device connectivity, wireless technology, cloud computing and advanced analytics has driven the Internet of Things (IoT) from vision to reality. Devices with embedded sensors are enabling advanced, automated communications for retail businesses and customers. These connected devices are driving deeper engagement, providing new experiences and opportunities, creating new revenue opportunities and enabling better business insight.