News

Game on: Retailers aim to boost customer engagement
The majority of retailers plan to use gamification to increase engagement with customers, according to a new survey.
Ingles net income soars in Q2
Asheville, N.C. – A significant increase in gain from the disposal of assets helped boost net income 37% at Ingles Markets Inc. in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 to $14.3 million, from $10.5 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Lower gasoline prices helped reduce net sales 3% to $915.3 million, from $947.76 million.

Excluding gasoline, same-store sales rose 1.2%.

Coop Denmark to install Displaydata ESLs

Albertslund, Denmark -- Kvickly Supermarkets, part of Danish grocery retailer Coop Denmark, will implement Displaydata’s Chroma electronic shelf labers (ESLs) across 29 of its store locations. Coop Denmark, in partnership with Displaydata’s partner Delfi Technologies, has already implemented ESLs in more than 300 of its stores, including brands: Kvickly, SuperBrugsen, Dagli’ Brugsen and Irma.
Macy's seeks charities for annual campaign

Macy’s is looking for charity partners to participate in the retailer’s 10th annual national “Shop For A Cause.”

The retailer’s one-day-only shopping event, which is very popular with shoppers, is designed to support local charities’ fundraising efforts.
Amazon opens second New Jersey fulfillment center

Seattle -- Amazon.com is opening its second one million-sq.-ft. fulfillment center in New Jersey, in the town of Carteret, as its looks to facilitate same-day deliveries in Manhattan.

Amazon opened its first one million-sq.-ft. fulfillment center in New Jersey, in Robbinsville, in July 2014. The company employs thousands of full-time employees at its Robbinsville fulfillment center and continues to hire to meet growing customer demand.
Alibaba buys 9% stake in Zulily

Alibaba Holding Group Ltd. went on a buying spree at Zulily this month, but the Chinese Internet retailer wasn't buying baby shoes.

Alibaba purchased about 4.8 million class A shares in Zulily, about 17% of Zulily’s Class A stock. The stake, valued at more than $150 million, was disclosed in a securities filing that showed Alibaba this month spent $56 million buying Zulily stock as the U.S. company’s shares plunged following a disappointing earnings report.
Wayfair furnishes another strong quarter

Both first-time and repeat customers were on the rise for Wayfair in the first quarter, suggesting the company is doing what it takes to grow into a powerful player in e-commerce.
Tech Bytes: Three Disruption Insights from SAP’s Sapphire

The theme of SAP’s annual Sapphire conference, in Orlando, Florida, was “Run Simple.” SAP focused on how its HANA business intelligence platform and growing number of HANA-powered applications can assist companies with the complicated task of creating simple enterprises that run on real-time data.

However, underneath the SAP-specific information was a lot of more general insight into how IT is disrupting the way businesses operate and engage their customers. Following are three insights with particular relevance for retailers.
Study: Retailers eye gamification to engage customers

Boston – With engaging the customer and managing the customer experience as top priorities for retailers, Boston Retail Partners’ 2015 CRM/Unified Commerce Survey indicates that 87% of retailers plan to use gamification to engage the customer within five years.
NRF urges Congress to restore trade promotion authority

The National Retail Federation is calling on Congress to pass Trade Promotion Authority legislation, which Congress is expected to debate this week.