News

Cheshunt, U.K. – Philip Clarke, CEO of leading U.K. grocery and general merchandise retailer Tesco plc is publicly resisting calls for his resignation following a 6% decline in annual profits and 3% quarterly drop in U.K. same-store sales. Tesco has reported falling profits for two consecutive years following 20 years of continual profit growth.

Owning the shopping experience of the future is how Gap chairman and CEO Glenn Murphy described the motivation behind a wide range of omnichannel strategies he and other senior executives shared during an annual meeting with investors.

Murphy and Gap’s top division heads provided an overview of strategic initiatives designed to achieve long-term, profitable growth across its portfolio of brands and also highlighted how the company plans to use technology, innovation and scale as competitive advantages as it looks to deliver a world class omnichannel experience.

By Rodney Mason, CMO, parago

Today, consumers have more information sources to help them make purchasing decisions. Smartphones, tablets, social media and the Internet — combined with traditional shopping channels like magazines and direct mail — means that deal-finding and comparison-shopping methods are almost always at consumers’ fingertips. As a result, shoppers are making their purchases faster.

Building and delivering unique and connected digital beauty experiences was the rationale behind L'Oréal's selection of Sitecore as a provider of customer experience management software.

Sitecore announced that its customer experience platform was selected by The L'Oréal Group to enable their marketers to deliver personalized customer experiences for its leading brands such as Vichy, L'Oréal Paris, Maybelline and Garnier.

Atlanta -- Aaron's Inc. has acquired Progressive Finance Holdings LLC, a merchandise lease-to-own company, from Summit Partners in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $700 million. Aaron's expects the transaction to be double-digit accretive to cash earnings per share in 2014 and significantly more accretive in 2015.

Pep Boys is looking to accelerate a range of digital and physical offerings as part of a strategy called, “Road Ahead,” after the omnichannel efforts resulted in 152% growth.

Pep Boys operates 800 locations in 35 states with 7,500 service bays which differentiates the company from parts-only players such as AutoZone and Advance Auto Parts who perform basic services in their parking lots such as changing batteries or wiper blades.

By Jason Glassberg, co-founder of Casaba

Target’s massive data breach continues to reverberate in the headlines, but in reality it’s just one of countless attacks that affect the retail industry on a daily basis. Whether it’s highly sophisticated malware developed out of Russia, local hit-and-run point-of-sale thieves or insider threats, retailers must adapt to this increasingly risky environment.

Bauer Performance Sports, a leading designer and manufacturer of high performance sports equipment and apparel, has completed the acquisition of the Easton Baseball/Softball business from Easton-Bell Sports.

Under the terms of the asset purchase agreement, BPS acquired Easton Baseball/Softball for a total all-cash consideration valued at $330 million, plus a working capital adjustment and fees. BPS expects the acquisition to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share in the first year of ownership.