News

Starboard sends Staples a ‘Dear Ron’ letter
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.
Roundy’s selects Market6 for vendor portal
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.

White House Black Market opens e-boutique

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.
Study: Mobile coupon redemptions exceed norms

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:
How Amazon wages price war with Walmart

Retailers interested in fine-tuning their digital pricing strategies may want to look at a new index called the Price Perception Index.

The index, created by e-commerce startup Bommerang Commerce, measures how retailers optimize prices to attract buyers, compete with other retailers and build their business on a mix of profit margins and volume.

The first Price Perception Index looks at the complex competition between Amazon.com and Walmart.com.
The rise of the machines (in retail)

Retailers at NRF’s Big Show are hearing a lot about “machine learning.” But what is it and how does it help retailers grow sales?

Machine learning, in which supercomputers learn from mining masses of data on the cloud without human intervention, unlocks insights into consumer demand.
Analysis: Target's Canadian Lessons

In reviewing Target’s troubled expansion into Canada, Kantar Retail breaks down the misfires into a finance-operations model:

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Belk streamlines workforce management with Reflexis

Charlotte, N.C. – The store is still the center of profit, and Belk Inc. is focusing on increased control, efficiency and visibility of workforce activities to maximize that profit. Belk has implemented Reflexis Workforce Manager, Reflexis Time & Attendance, Reflexis Task Manager, and Reflexis Advanced Analytics & Reporting to streamline corporate-to-store communication, track completion status of important tasks and projects, increase labor efficiency, reduce costs, and comply with complex labor laws.
Walgreens legal eagle hired by Hertz

Walgreens Boot Alliance will be looking to fill some big shoes, as Thomas Sabatino Jr., executive VP, global chief legal and administrative officer, will be leaving the company to join Hertz Global Holdings effective Feb.9.

Sabatino will join Hertz Global Holdings as senior executive VP, chief administrative officer and general counsel.

Sabatino will remain in his current role with Walgreens Boots Alliance through the end of January to ensure a smooth transition of his current responsibilities.
Alibaba testing mobile messaging app

New York -- Chinese online giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is testing a mobile messaging app designed to combine social networking with business.

The app, called DingTalk, is still in beta testing.

Capable of carrying conference calls and group messaging, DingTalk targets small- and medium-sized enterprises, many of which are already Alibaba's customers, according to Reuters.