News

By Tom Caporaso, CEO of Clarus Marketing Amazon Prime’s recent decision to raise its annual membership fee probably didn’t come as a surprise to anyone within the online retail or subscription e-commerce industries. The company had been talking about increasing its subscription fees by $20 to $40 since at least January, so the biggest news might have been the price point Amazon chose.

Sephora has launched Beauty Board, a social shopping platform designed to engage clients through beauty images. Users will be able to post, share, browse and shop Sephora's photo gallery directly on Sephora.com, the mobile site, iPhone and Android apps.

Users will also be able to upload photos, tag the products they use and give helpful tips on how they achieved the look.

New York -- Nordstrom is going to be a big success in Canada, according to Antony Karabus, president, Hilco Retail Consulting. (Nordstrom has plans for six stores in Canada, with the possibility of adding a few more over time.) “Every one of the six stores they (Nordstrom) picked in Canada is a home run in terms of the location. It’s the perfect time, perfect sector and the perfect time in the sector,” Karabus said during a recent presentation on “The State of the Canadian Retail Market.”

Bolingbrook, Ill. -- Ulta Beauty’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings rose 9.5% on better-than-expected sales. The fast-growing beauty products retailer plans to add 100 net new stores, expanding square footage by 15% and remodel 12 locations in its current fiscal year.

“Ulta Beauty achieved excellent top line growth in the fourth quarter,” said Mary Dillon, CEO. “We delivered earnings growth consistent with our expectations and made significant progress with our key growth strategies.”

On the heels of record growth in 2013, Ulta Beauty plans to open 100 new stores this year and increase funding for e-commerce and loyalty initiatives.

Austin, Texas – In addition to wanting to efficiently find and purchase products, online shoppers also want to have fun. According to a new survey from Compare Metrics and The E-tailing Group, 70% of shoppers want to go online to browse and have fun, but find current online shopping experiences uninspiring. When asked about their discovery experiences on top retail sites, shoppers gave a “mixed bag” average rating of six-out-of-10. Other key takeaways from the study include:

St. Louis - Brown Shoe Company beat internal expectations with net earnings of $6.2 million during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, up 55% from $4 million in the same quarter of the prior year. Net sales dropped 3% to $600 million, from $618.7 million.

Hibbett Sports experienced a significant slowdown in January due to significant weather-related store closures and a less favorable sales impact this year from the college football championship game. However, sales trends improved in February as weather patterns normalized and the retailer rolled out its spring assortment. Net sales for the 13-week period ended Feb. 1 increased 0.2% to $217.8 million compared with $217.4 million for the 14-week period ended Feb. 2, 2013. Comparable store sales increased 1.7% on a comparable 13-week period.