News

Cute cat videos and funny dog tricks are everywhere on the Internet so it only stands to reason that Petco would unleash customers’ creativity with an Instagram contest as part of a larger holiday initiative.

Petco is encouraging shoppers to enter its holiday photo contest from Nov. 23 to Dec. 18 by submitting photos of their pets showing holiday spirit by following @petco and posting photos with #JoyLovePetsContest on Instagram. A winner will be selected every Friday and will receive a $1,000 Petco gift card.

New York --Chain Store Age invites retailers, design firms, architects and suppliers to submit entires for its 33rd annual Retail Store of the Year design competition. For more information and an entry form, click here.

Ken O’Brien has been elevated to the role of SVP of merchandising at QVC reporting to Doug Howe, QVC’s, EVP of merchandising and planning.

In his new role, Obrien will be responsible for setting and executing QVC’s merchandising strategy for product brands across categories, as well as leading the engagement and management of QVC’s vendor community.
 

New York -- Amazon has quietly launched another hardware device, a  voice-recognition device called Echo that doubles as a high-tech music speaker. The 9-inch tall cylinder device sells for $199 but is available for $99 for a limited time to Prime members. It is designed around the user’s voice, which it can hear from across a room.   

A one-of-a-kind interactive holiday adventure awaits families in several malls across the country. General Growth Properties (GGP) today unveiled Adventure to Santa, a DreamWorks DreamPlace holiday experience that starts with Shrek, ends with Santa and blends storytelling with cutting-edge technology.

By John M. Pierre, Linguastat    The single greatest challenge that retailers face today is to have an individualized “conversation” with each customer and to do so on a global scale. Consumers expect a similar personalized experience regardless of channel, from the marketing offers they receive to the products that appear in search results.  

J.P. Bilbrey, CEO of Hershey, has been appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to President Obama’s newly-established Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA).  

Bilbrey will be one of the 15 private sector leaders providing guidance to the president on strengthening partnerships with African nations to leverage the opportunities for U.S. companies committed to supporting the continent for the long term. 

The private-sector council will focus on strengthening the U.S.’ commercial relationships with African nations. 

Dedham, Mass. -- Reflexis Systems Inc. announced that more than 50 retailers/brands, quick serve restaurants (QSR), and hospitality companies have selected real-time execution, workforce management, and advanced analytics solutions from Reflexis to date in 2014.