News

Deerfield, Ill. - Roundy’s Inc. has selected Market6’s retailer/supplier collaboration software platform, Market6 Foundation, to deliver a new vendor collaboration portal for Roundy’s enterprise-wide merchandising team and consumer goods supplier community.  Roundy’s needed a simpler, more efficient way to exchange information and work with its suppliers on a daily basis around shared high-value business processes, such as executing promotions, managing inventory, driving new item introductions, and reducing out-of-stock items.

If Staples fails to merge with Office Depot, activist investor and major Staples shareholder Starboard Value LP is warning the company’s share price will crater and Chairman and CEO Ron Sargent needs to go.

In a letter to Sargent, Starboard contends a combination with Office Depot, which hasn’t fully integrated with OfficeMax following a late 2013 merger, is the best way to maximize value for Staples' shareholders.

Belmont, Mass. – To ensure coupon redemption, retailers may want to take a mobile approach. A recent study of retailers using CodeBroker mobile marketing solutions showed CodeBroker mobile coupons, ranging from in-app to on-demand offers, resulted in redemption rates as high as 50%.

The study also showed that multi-channel promotions are highly effective in increasing redemption rates, while on-demand offers, in which consumers request a coupon, have the highest average rate. Other key findings include:

While House Black Market is taking an innovative approach to attracting more customers by launching an online wedding and event boutique.

The online boutique hopes to take the guesswork out of shopping for an event outfit by selling specific dresses along with coordinated belts, shoes, and accessories, making it super easy for shoppers to put together a cohesive look for that big wedding or gala.

Plano, Texas – Meet the new catalog, same as the old catalog. The J.C. Penney Co. Inc. is reportedly bringing back its print catalog, often referred to as the “big book,” which the retailer discontinued in 2010.

Michaels Companies Inc. had plenty to smile about during the 2014 holiday season -- its first holiday season since going public in June.

Net sales for the eleven-week period from Nov. 2 to Jan. 17 increased 3.5% and same-store sales increased 1.5% from the comparable prior year period. For the full fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, net sales are expected to be in the range of about $1.59 billion to $1.6 billion, with an expected increase in same-store sales ranging from 0.8% to 1.2%. Michaels expects operating income to be $286 million to $291 million.

Bentonville, Ark. -- In its newest move to offer more in-store financial services, Walmart is offering shoppers the option to pick up their tax refunds in cash. The new service, called Walmart Direct2Cash, is available nationwide starting Jan. 20.

According to Walmart, the option will help customers save time and money when compared to traditional tax refund options. Many people without traditional bank accounts must pay sometimes high check-cashing fees to cash their tax refund checks, the retailer noted.

Montreal – Canadian bookstore chain Indigo Books and Music Inc. has enhanced its implementation of XCCommerce’s Promotion Solution Suite across all its channels by rolling out the Central Coupon Module.