News

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has introduced a host of new capabilities as part of its Mobile Service platform to simplify the development and management of apps.

Simon, a global leader in retail real estate, has appointed retail and real estate executive Stephen Yalof as CEO of premium outlets and senior EVP of Simon.

Yalof has served as SVP of real estate for Ralph Lauren Corporation since 2002. His 15 years of experience within the retail industry also includes his role as senior director of real estate for Gap. Yalof began his career in real estate under the leadership of Arnold Labich at New Plan Realty Trust, and became VP of leasing for their factory outlet business.  

If Amazon makes good on its guidance for the second quarter, sales during the period ended June 30 rose somewhere between 15% and 26% to range from $18.1 billion to $19.8 billion.

Fairway Market has doubled in size in the past three years and, to help further its growth strategy, it has renewed its Revionics Price Optimization license for three years and expanded the agreement to include the use of Revionics Promotion Optimization.

The partnership between Fairway Market and Revionics began more than two years ago. The company leverages Revionics’ solutions to manage and optimize its rapid growth across all product categories, including key value items (KVIs), the company said.

Leading footwear manufacturer and retailer Wolverine World Wide plans to close 140 stores in the next 18 months as part of a strategic realignment plan focused on strengthening omnichannel capabilities.

Most of the stores to be closed operate under the company’s Stride Rite banner. Sixty of the units will close by year end with the remainder to close next year, the company said. The disclosure was made in conjunction with the release of solid financial results for the company’s second quarter ended July 14.

Woonsocket, R.I. — CVS Caremark said Monday that it has agreed to buy the assets of Miami-based Navarro Discount Pharmacy, the largest Hispanic-owned drug store chain in the U.S. The transaction includes Navarro's 33 retail drugstore locations and Navarro Health Services, a specialty pharmacy serving patients with complex or chronic diseases.

New York -- Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba increased its valuation to $130 billion less than a month before its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.

The new figure is approximately $13 billion more than the company valued itself at in its original filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June.

Alibaba is expected to raise more than $20 billion, which would make it one of the largest offerings ever.

New York -- Visa has entered into an agreement with Borderfree, a leading international cross-border e-commerce solutions provider, to offer customers in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan, special promotions from retailers in the United States.

iBeacon technology, the Apple iOS 7 feature that helps mobile devices track their position relative to stationary beacons by using low-frequency Bluetooth transmissions, is getting quite a bit of attention from retailers. Grabbing their interest is not only that devices can obtain individualized information from beacons, but that beacons can also obtain individualized information from mobile devices.

By Russ Wilson, IBM director, Mobile Innovation Center

Millennials’ comfort with mobile technology, in a world where just about everything can be done with an app,  is driving businesses to provide apps of their own – enabling the purchasing of products and services in a way that is more natural to this tech savvy generation.