OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Columbus, Ohio -- Big Lots announced the appointment of three general merchandise managers as part of realigning the merchandising organization into customer-centric categories of food and consumables, furniture and home decor, and seasonal, toys and electronics.

Trey Johnson was promoted to senior VP, general merchandise manager for food and consumables.

Guangzhou, China -- Vipshop Holdings Limited, a Chinese online discount retailer for brands, has appointed Lily Fan as the company's VP of human resources, effective Dec. 2.

Kirkland, Wash. -- Consumers actually favor ease-of-use more than the latest device specifications, with many intimidated by jargon and technical data, when choosing a new smartphone.

A new survey from WDS, a Xerox company, also shows that a physical retail store remains the most popular destination for purchasing a new smartphone. Sixty-seven percent of consumers treat it as their primary destination while only 19% of buyers older 60 would buy their device online.

Other notable findings include: 

Toronto – Sears Canada is undergoing a six-month reorganization that will result in 712 job cuts, including 79 staffers that have already been terminated at its head office. According to Sears, the head office staff reduction aligns its support structure with the size and volume of the organization and also takes advantage of internal processes that have been recently implemented to improve efficiency.

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples officially launches Staples Connect, an offering that lets customers’ home or office technology interact and be controlled by a single app. With the touch of a button, in-store and online Nov. 27, Staples Connect lets customers shut down their office, turning off lights, lowering shades and locking doors, while at the same time turning on their lights and heat at home.

Toronto -- RBC, Best Buy and Future Shop are partnering to offer a redemption option in Canada that provides clients access to more than 90,000 merchandise and electronic items, through the RBC Rewards online channel.

Wayne, N.Y. -- Toys “R” Us CEO Antonio Urcelay has replaced Gerald Storch as chairman of the company. Urcelay, appointed interim CEO at Toys “R” Us in May 2013, was officially named chief executive in October.

Storch, who had previously served as CEO, is stepping down as chairman to dedicate more time to his consulting company, Storch Advisors, Toys “R” Us said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Richmond Hill, Ontario – Cross-channel fulfillment programs are the top omni-channel priorities among retailers, a newly released study of 337 global retail decision-makers, “The Retail Order Management Imperative,” conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of OrderDynamics, revealed.

While only 49% of retailers currently use an order management system, many of these solutions are ill-equipped to support complex cross-channel fulfillment offerings.